Hello!
I’m Mel and Planet Plodyssey is all about seeing more of the world by slowing down. Think long coastal walks, scenic train journeys, countryside escapes and adventures.
It all began with one slightly ridiculous idea: to walk the coastline of Britain, one section at a time. Rather than driving from place to place, I’ll be getting there by train and public transport, pulling on my walking boots and continuing from where the last plod finished.
Why? I’ve always loved walking, especially in the countryside and along the coastline and I realised that I was spending far too much time stuck in front of a laptop. I needed to be outside. As a peri-menopausal woman, that meant alone!!
The idea began when we went on holiday to Dorset and when it was time to leave, I realised I wasn’t ready to go home, so my husband dropped me off at Swanage and I made my own way back to Brighton.
This blog actually started off as Boarding Passes Ready. We have been avid travellers for many years. I am originally from Cornwall and I joined the Royal Air Force all the way back in 2001. I met my husband, Jim, whilst he was serving in the Army in 2002 and 10 years later, once we found each other again on Facebook, we got married.
We have lived abroad – Cyprus and Saudi Arabia, where our daughter was born, and have been extremely lucky to travel the world.
However, I found that even though I enjoyed going on holiday, whether that be lying on a sun lounger, or a city break to New York, I became increasingly uneasy about over-tourism. I would read itineraries of the best places to visit when going to new countries or cities and once getting there, would find that 678,995 other people had read the same blog and most popular places became swamped.
I have also become increasingly aware about air travel and how damaging it is to the climate, so I really wanted to start holidaying closer to home, using our EV to get about or catching the train.
Planet Plodyssey is about more than clocking up miles. It’s about finding a slower, more thoughtful way to travel. Taking the train instead of automatically jumping on a plane, exploring places on foot, supporting local communities and discovering the villages, landscapes, wildlife and unexpected little places we often miss when we’re rushing from A to B.
Along the way, I’ll be sharing practical walking routes, train journeys, places to stay, what things actually cost, sustainable travel ideas and eco-friendly finds. There’ll also be plenty of honest accounts of what went wrong, what was worth the aching legs and whether I’d actually recommend doing the same thing yourself.
Britain is only the beginning. Eventually, the plodding will head across Europe, following railway lines, walking trails and scenic routes in search of beautiful places that are worth taking a little longer to reach.
You won’t find Lisbon in 24 hours here (seriously, why are people flying for one day and wearing it like a badge of honour?), but Planet Plodyssey isn’t about travelling perfectly. It’s about travelling a little more thoughtfully, spending more time outside and remembering that sometimes the long way round is the best part of the adventure.
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