Being a Tourist 2023

Now that we are properly settled in here in Wales it's a good time to really start exploring what there is for us to see and do.  We've always felt that we didn't really explore Devon properly when we had the chance and we really don't want to make the same mistakes whilst we're here.  Especially as there is so much for us to see and explore around here.  Obviously, we are still trying to keep our spending low to help with our long-term goals, but we don't want this to be at the complete expense of enjoying ourselves now.  Thankfully, most of what we like doing is free /cheap and we have also been given a Cadw membership as a gift which has opened up even more things we can explore for free.

After doing a little bit of looking around we now have an initial list of places we want to see, walk, and swim around that are close to us, along with a couple of helpful books that will be useful as we're still getting to know the area.  This should make it easier for us to quickly make a decision about what we're going to do when we have time off.  Once we have more of a clue we can start working out our own walks to explore even more of the areas we've gotten to know.   One thing I definitely want to make sure that I do is explore the walks that are right outside our doorstep as it's all too easy to only think about walking in the Beacons, but then I'd be missing out.

As we've just started out we haven't crossed off too many things yet.  There is also the slight issue of our mismatching work shifts which means that we don't get as many days off together as we would like.  Though we would like to visit as many of these places together as we can, there have been some walks that we've done on our own just so we can still get out and see things.  We also want to fit these around learning to surf, but this just means that we have to be a little bit more organised to fit all these in.

Most of the places we've been about to cross off on our 'tourist board' I've already written about, but the most recent one was the Blaenavon Ironworks.  This turned out to be a very enjoyable day and also involved us having a little exploration around Blaenavon itself.  It's actually very close to where we live so I'm not entirely sure why we haven't visited it already.  It's very interesting to see how we use to make iron, but I personally really liked the workers' cottages that were on site and which they had decorated in the different styles of the decades that the cottages were lived in.  They seemed the perfect size for what we would like now, but maybe with a bathroom added on rather than just an outhouse down a lane.  There are a couple more industrial sites we would like to explore near us, especially as these played such an important role to those who lived here in southern Wales.

One thing we want to concentrate a little more on is wild swimming as we haven't done too much of that yet.  The warmer weather that is meant to be coming our way would make this the perfect time to really give this a go.  At least now we have all the equipment that we need to do this comfortably and we can just head out to a spot and enjoy it.  In fact, it would probably fit perfectly with surfing practice.

Plans Afoot 2023

As you know we've moved........to Wales, and all the plans we'd made previously no longer applies.  So, it's time to make new ones.  We're still trying to save money though so that means that we need to find stuff that is either free or as cheap as possible.  I've already started making a list.

We still have our National Trust membership, which is a gift, and there are quite a few places around us where we can go and gawp at luxury we will never be able to afford and that I'm glad we don't have.  It also means that there will be a few places where we can park for free when we go walking.  Of course, there is a whole lot of historical sites that are not owned by the National Trust (some of which we saw when we were on holiday here last year) and it'll be interesting to get to explore them too.  However, as they will most likely cost money we'll need to space out our visits to them.

We're wanting to get back into wild swimming again this year and, to that end, we brought the Wild Swimming Walks book for South Wales to give us an idea of places we can go.  We're going to start local to begin with and of course there's always the sea as well which isn't too far away from us.

I've also been looking at some pre-mapped walks in the area to help get us acquainted with the area.  I've picked walks that are relatively long so that it's more of a day event and included locations like the Black Mountains as well.  Once we get use to them we can start to map out our own walks to explore the area more.  There's also some hill walks that start right outside our front door and would mean no need to drive anywhere beforehand.  I'm also trying to find some old books that contain possible walking routes (and by old I mean pre-1960s) to see if it is possible to walk them still.

And then there's the coastal paths all around Wales that would allow us to get back to the sea again.  I'll need to research this a little more but they should be very easy to follow.  Of course, it would be practically sacrilege to not be in this area of the world and not visit Pembrokeshire.  Summer is always good but some part of me would also like to experience it when the winter storms are rolling in as well.

There is a lot to explore here and it'll take us a while, but we don't want to make the same mistake we did in Devon by not properly taking the opportunity.  The biggest issue for us is that our work shifts won't always match up so we won't have as much time to do all the walks and activities we want to do.  We will also be visiting family on some of the days we have off together as well.  I'll do some exploring on my own, possibly to places I know my husband won't be too interested in like the wool museum, but it wouldn't feel right visiting all the sites without him.  Especially as his work involves him getting to look at mountains all day long, but not getting to walk up them. 

Free Activities for Us

As things are going to be quite tight financially this year we've been wanting to look for free or really cheap activities we can do together to still make life enjoyable.  Thankfully most of the things we enjoy doing are actually free anyway so that should make things easier.

We have until the end of January before our English Heritage membership runs out and we're not going to renew it as it is unfortunately a little out of our budget at the moment.  So we've made a list of all the places we want to try and see before that point and it got me thinking about our National Trust membership, that's a gift so we don't need to worry about that, and we've made a list of these places as well.

We also want to go on more walks and swims this year and there are, thankfully, many of those around us.  We'll need to have a look at where we'd want to go and it'll be nice to have a selection of coastal and moor walks, as well as some historic areas as well.  The added bonus is that this will also help with our physical and mental health. 

The main costs of these trips will be fuel, but it looks like the hybrid car will be helping on that front so even though we'll be travelling more it shouldn't cost us more.

We've already started working our way through these and it's been good to get out of the flat and actually see the areas around us.  Obviously we don't want to make these a list of to dos we feel we have to get through as they're meant to be enjoyable.  It's also nice and perfectly healthy to spend a day or two doing nothing at all.  And by doing nothing I mean rearrange the flat and knitting a jumper.