J

About @leics2

Female

I started travelling abroad about 25 years ago, many decades later in life than most people (personal circumstances rather than personal choice). My first solo trip outside the UK was to Rome, which I loved.....especially Ostia Antica.

Since then I've been to 40+ countries, almost always as a solo traveller, and have visited some countries several times. I've enjoyed every trip and have had no problems at all. I almost always organise everything myself, though I have taken one organised tour and a few off-season cheap package holidays which provided me with a base for my own explorations. I've done my best to map most of my past trips on TP but I can't possibly map all the places I've visited, especially in the UK, so from now on I'm going to stick to mapping new trips.

When I'm not visiting archaeological and historical sites (my passion) I like to spend my time wandering around, seeing how people live and (especially) seeking 'what once was'. 'Modern' things hold no real interest for me, though I do sometimes visit shops and markets to see what's on offer and at what price. Shopping and sports bore me rigid.

I was an active member of VirtualTourist for 14 years, uploading thousands of photos (that's where my 16000+ photos on TP come from), writing hundreds of travelpages and tips and answering many, many questions on the VT travel forums. During that time I met well over 300 VT-ers at VT meetings big and small, making many friends in reality as well as in the virtual world. I'm pleased to say that our VT meetings still continue, with large 'Euromeets' in Iceland (2018) and Bulgaria (2019) plus smaller meets like the annual London VT Treasure Hunt. :-)

Tripadvisor's unjustified decision to destroy VT along with all its content meant that, like many other VT-ers, I needed a new 'home'. I, like all ex-VT-ers on this site, am hugely grateful to TP's owners for devising a way of importing all my VT content. :-)

• Hobbies:

  Exploring new places (obviously!)
  Archaeology
  History
  Walking
  Reading

• Favourite places:

  Italy
  Orkney
  Shetland
  Jordan
  and many, many more.........