The word 'travel'conjures up the idea of planes and exotic locations, sipping cocktails and sun, but for the daily traveller, it's a monotonous routine of trains and cars and boredom. This blog post started as a photographic image in my head. The experience of commuting becomes ingrained in your being, a cycle of repetitive journeys where you participate as an automaton, not observing or feeling, just going through the motions again and again.
It made me think of journeys, journeys to work in particular, and how the frenetic pace of our lives is all geared towards that goal of getting to work, performing our tasks, and then getting home again.

And in that process, we use so much energy. Literal energy - we are burning climate-destroying fumes in our cars, in our haste to get where we need to be. Bodily energy - the caffeine induced adrenaline of trying to overcome early starts and force our bodies to keep going. Psychological energy - we are absent, yet not relaxed, hanging on by a thread till the day is over. Tired parents missing their kids, lonely people surrounded by the swell of other bodies. All humans, together yet not connected. This was my day of trying to be present in that experience and looking at how people travel.

The Day Begins

It's always Nine O'Clock

The Walk

Motor or not?

Bicycle Meets Art

Obey the Sign

I can Park though

Or I could scoot...

Walking, walking

First on the Platform

Rinse, Repeat

We're not long back from a trip to West Cork, it's a place I've wanted to explore for some time so I was pretty delighted to see a Pigsback special offer for a holiday village stay for a week.

We were based in Ardgroom, a little village not too far from Kenmare. It was honestly one of the prettiest little places I've ever seen in Ireland - all the houses were painted in bright cheery colours (which seems to be a very common thing in Cork) and every corner had flowers and little touches that made the place feel so welcoming and lovely.


Harrington's, which was the post office, shop and café, was the base for us for shopping, getting coffee, picking up wifi, etc. Everyone was super friendly and chatty and I guess because it's West Cork, there were lots of tourists from all over Europe. I got chatting to a man from Devon who had met a french man and they decided to travel a bit together - I got to practice my french a bit which was nice although it made me realise how rusty I've gotten!

Out the road from the village is Glenbeg lake, about a 4k walk from the main street. It's a glacial fjord formed during the ice age. It's possible to drive right up to it but we opted to walk as it was a sunny day and it was much nicer, the views were incredible as we walked along. The mountains loomed ahead in tones of mossy green and you could see the land stretching out for miles and the sea.

It's too long a walk for small kids but our 15 year old was well able, if slightly less than enthusiastic :)

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves - I'm not sure if they can convey the incredible sense of peace but hopefully they show some of the beauty. It would be a perfect picnic spot and actually we met a family by the water's edge who had stayed there overnight in their camper van. I can't imagine a more gorgeous spot to wake up.





And some sheep we passed en route :)


Later on the first day we also paid a quick visit to Derreen Gardens, very close to us in County Kerry. It has a woodland walk, featuring lush tree ferns and rhododendrons (not in flower when we were there) and you can wander down to the bay or have coffee in the little café.
The Bay was my favourite part and I loved the little ladies' bathing shelter by shore.





The next day we drove the glorious coastal route from Ardgroom to Eyeries, to Kilcatherine Point.
We stopped at the pier outside Ardgroom and Mark got chatting to a fisherman who worked on the mussel farm. The mussels are attached to ropes and suspended from buoys in the water. They take roughly two years to grow to full size and then the vast majority are exported to France apparently!





We went on to visit the Hag of Beara, a weathered rock which is supposed to be the embodiment of the 'Hag' who lived 3 lifetimes of youth and was then turned to stone by a saint after stealing his prayer book. It's a fascinating story, further explained here and although to the eye, it's just a rock, there was an undeniable sense of magic, helped by all the little offerings placed on the stone.



We spent another day heading to Dursey Island - unfortunately it was lashing rain so not great for taking photos but the cable car was pretty cool!

The rain cleared and we got the sun back for our visit to Allihies and the Copper Mine Museum. We were meeting Mark's cousin for coffee and the Copper Café was the perfect spot for some good food and relaxed company. There's a fabulous selection of lunch food and yummy cakes and you can sit outside in the little courtyard and enjoy the view.
We also popped in to the Museum which tells the history of mining in the area. What struck me the most was a list of deaths - life in the mines was incredibly hard and children worked as well as adults. It was hard to imagine how difficult it must have been to work in these conditions where dying on the job seemed to be a regular occurrence.

Our final big trip was to Garnish Island, crossing the Healy Pass. The Healy Pass is a stunning drive although you'd want to be a fairly confident driver as the roads are narrow - this applies to most of the coastal routes actually - be prepared to stop frequently for oncoming traffic!


Garnish or Ilnacullin is reached by ferry from Glangarriff Pier - it is an island garden based on an Italian model and like many of the gardens in the region, the warm climate means that exotic species can flourish. The first stage was the boat trip and I love being on a boat of any size so this was a treat - the ferry isn't a long crossing but you head out into the bay and pass colonies of seals and we even got a glimpse of some dolphins! This was pretty amazing I have to say :)



You pay for the ferry and then for entry to the gardens on arrival. It's not too expensive though and well worth it. It's a beautiful place and maybe because the sun was shining again, it felt like being somewhere on the Mediterranean. There are elegant structures such as the Italian Temple and Tea House and the Grecian Temple.


The view from the Grecian temple -



There's also a Martello Tower on the Island which we climbed to take in the sea views -


We strolled around the walled garden which honestly felt tropical in the sun and was blossoming with incredible colour and scents - in fact the whole island garden was dotted with bright flowers and foliage.




There is a coffee shop there so you can sit down and relax after your walk and it would also be a fabulous place for a picnic.

We headed back across the bay, spotting another boat passing by and looking out for the seals again.


That almost brought our trip to an end - we packed a lot into a week and we were very lucky with the weather. Other places worth visiting are the Buddhist centre outside Allihies which is in an incredible location and they do meditations in the morning that are open to everyone. Eyeries is an award winning village not too far from Ardgroom and Ballydonegan beach outside Allihies is good for swimming. It would be too hard to mention everything but you will find plenty to do!

Hopefully you have enjoyed my little tour of West Cork - some other posts you might like are:

Trip on a Barge

Burtown House and the Green Barn

Donegal Trip and Ahoy Café

So I use social media a LOT. I'm not an expert on engagement or figures but I'm pretty happy with the engagement and followers on my own accounts. I've built them up slowly, trusting in my own instincts and they are where I want them to be.

Finding stuff for teens to do can be a big challenge. Depending on age, family activities can cease to be in any way appealing. Definitely not cool to be hanging out with your parents after a certain point in time!

So I've tried to put together a list of potential diversions that might interest them and give a break from screen time and maybe even get them to go outdoors :)



My main tip for doing anything with teens is BRING A FRIEND! This has been a lifesaver for us over the years. My two have a 6 year age gap so their interests are quite different and my 21 year old doesn't really want to do family holidays anymore so we've almost always included one of our 15 year old's friends on holidays. Alternatively, you can go with another family which can work out really well and economically especially if you opt for self-catering. Two places I can really recommend are Parknasilla in Kerry and Waterford Castle Lodges. I availed of Pigsback.com offers for both of these and when you are sharing with other people it can be such good value.

These were both short breaks for us and buying in your own food saves money. You have the flexibility of being able to head out for a stroll as adults if the kids aren't interested.
When they have company they are happy to hang out with their friend and you can set them up with a movie and popcorn at night if you want to relax and have some adult time and a little glass of wine maybe :)

Another suggestion, as recommended by a friend who stayed recently, is River Valley Camping in Wicklow.  I haven't been but had a look at the website and there's a huge range of activities for kids, both indoor and outdoor from Badminton and Basketball to Crazy Golf, Archery and Tennis. Sharing a tent is probably the cheapest option but they also have more luxurious Glamping options which would definitely appeal to me.

If you are travelling on the road anywhere, I definitely recommend bringing a picnic. Roadside food can vary from bland to absolutely disgusting and eating in anywhere can work out quite expensive so we always bring food with us (having a teen with food allergies, this is the safest option anyway).

I normally do up some couscous and pasta salad in a big tubs, bring some rolls or bread and a few treats and you should be sorted for most of the day.

Pasta Salad with Sweetcorn and Peppers

Couscous Salad with Chives and Peppers

A day out idea is to go on a Bargetrip - Bargetrip.ie do fantastic options from an hour long cruise to a two and a half hour morning cruise, setting off from Sallins in County Kildare.  I ran this idea by the teen and she seemed pretty keen - it's a lovely way to spend some family time together and we did it ourselves last weekend. You can read about our trip here.  The cheapest option is to buy a family ticket for the Leinster Aquaduct Cruise. A family ticket costs €40 which is great value and I love the sound of hearing all about the canal history and just relaxing and taking in the scenery. We did the Digby Lock Cruise, this is the longer cruise and according to Ger, the skipper, it gives the best experience.




If you want a little break from your teens (so unlikely I know :) ), you could consider summer camps or workshops. I have to say, I found it very hard over the years sourcing interesting camps for the teen years. There are so many for younger kids but the options become very limited as they get older.
One I can definitely recommend from personal experience is Songschool. If you have a musical teen, these workshops are absolutely brilliant. Our eldest did a couple and I was blown away by the high standard and the end result was so professional. They learn about music technology, song writing and above all, play and sing and work together.

This seems so long ago now but here is my daughter at her end of workshop performance with her group. They wrote the song just before they went on so she had to look down to read the words :)


(Upcoming Songschool is from 17th-21st July and price is €150).

Florence and Milly in Clane do lots of workshops - those for teens include Junk Sculpture and Screen Printing. Perfect for the teen who's not into the more sporty camps and there is also a portfolio preparation class which would be great for anyone thinking of applying to Art College.

Another one I thought looked pretty interesting was this Summer Media Camp for 13-17 year olds. I have no experience of this one but the schedule looks pretty cool, especially for teens interested in getting into media.  The downside of this one is the price - €595 (excluding food) seems pretty steep for a 5 day course and would certainly be beyond my budget.

If you are at home with your teens, my best tip to keep them happy is just to invite their friends over. I like to think our house is pretty welcoming, if a bit chaotic at times, but honestly, a little bit of mess doesn't matter once they are occupied and content.
We don't have a huge house so if the teens friends are coming to stay or sleeping over, we usually just give them the sitting room and it's pull out couch bed and sleeping bags all the way.
They can make their own popcorn and watch tv or just hangout and as long as they clear up afterwards, we just leave them in peace and everyone is happy.

I was asked to work with Provident on their ‘don’t break the bank holiday’ campaign to advise families across the UK/Ireland on what to do, but on a budget.

Check out the some of the other fabulous tips here - Don't Break the Bank Holiday

Have you any tips for entertaining teens or any workshops you can recommend?

It's getting in to Summer season and one of the things we love to do is get out and about and visit places especially in nature. I had to write a post about our outing this weekend because I'd really recommend a Barge trip with Bargetrip.ie. I am currently writing a post in collaboration with Provident UK on things for teens to do, featuring a barge trip as one of the possible activities but I thought that the trip merited its own post as we really enjoyed it and I got some lovely photos en route.

We opted for the Digby Lock Cruise which is a morning trip, starting at 10.00 a.m. We were really lucky with the weather especially as rain hit in the afternoon!

We headed to Sallins - the canal is really colourful and pretty at the set off point with lots of boats bobbing merrily and the bright reflection of the water.