JustPickOneUK

This morning I woke up to the message that I had received money from a stranger.  A bit of background.... JustPickOneUK is a labour of love. I love making the videos and doing the travel in order to get the footage. Unfortunately, the channel isn't big enough yet for YouTube to give me money for it and neither is it big enough for companies to be interested in sponsoring me or gifting me things. While travel companies keep on insisting being paid for their services, the financial burden is currently falling on my family. I'm not working at the moment and so I have a strict budget on how much I can spend on my trips.  I know I am in an incredibly fortunate position and I don't take that for granted. My 40Before40 adventures have been some of the best experiences I've ever had and I will be forever grateful.  However, if I am to continue to have more adventures I need to find the money from somewhere. Which is where Ko-Fi comes in. It's a way for creators to have a pl...

Knowing things is absolutely fantastic. Knowing what you want in life, knowing how to get there, knowing the lottery numbers in advance would be awesome too. But there is something to be said for who you know.  There is no way on earth I imagined being asked out to lunch by someone who has a membership at the Chewton Glen hotel. This is one of the most prestigious hotel locations on the south coast. They make no bones about being expensive. But they are classy about it. As long as you have the cash, (and you will need it), you are welcome. I like that.  A place doesn't have to be snobby to be classy. T-shirts and trainers are ok. But with the look of the place, you want to dress a little fancier. Your best t-shirt and trainers perhaps.  I'm sitting in the entrance to the spa waiting for my friend (a top executive for an insurance company) who has invited me out to lunch. I mean who says no to that. Ladies who lunch is life goals for me.  I've arrived onto the grounds...

I will say from the off that this post is a series of first world problems and I am very well aware that I am privileged to have these as small issues, but they felt bigger at the time and this is my blog about my feelings so with that out of the way here we go.  I love travelling and have been trying to build my own YouTube channel based around it. www.youtube.com/@justpickoneuk if you weren't aware. Travelling with my family is wonderful, I love sharing the world especially with my son, we have been on a number of holidays and days out now and he loves travelling too. But being able to travel alone is a wonderful privilege.   My most recent adventure was for 10 days and I was able to go on a 2 night cruise from Southampton to Hamburg, then a sleeper train to Stockholm, then after two flights to the mid west of the USA where I was sight seeing and chasing tornados. It was an incredible adventure and such an amazing experience.  Travelling solo allows me to stop and...

On 26th March 2025 I achieved Number 12 from my list of #40Before40 items. I gave a talk in public. This was for a Dorset based tech event called Dev.Talk ( https://devdottalk.uk/ ) where I was invited to speak about my first year on YouTube. I was welcomed so warmly by the community and I had a great time. Here is the post in which I based my presentation. There will be a YouTube video featuring me in due course (I haven't edited it yet) but for now here it is!  Introduction I started my YouTube channel on 18th May 2024 so not quite a year ago but close enough and these ar e my current stats .  My first video was actually about unboxing my new camera. The DJI Pocket you see filming all of you.  I filmed it on my phone, with the wrong camera I used the front camera rather than the back one (forehead slap) with no script, no added features on the video, no text, music, proper thumbnail (this one has been added since it was uploaded) and little thought about the title. Sinc...

 In the immortal words of Bilbo Baggins "I am going on an adventure!" I love travel and am actively making a YouTube channel based around the subject. But this time, my #40Before40 challenge has forced my hand a little bit in this one. I am trying to achieve a number of items off the list in one big adventure and this is certainly a mixed bag! For this trip I am going to be going on many different forms of transport. Firstly in a car to Southampton Cruise Port as I am going to be boarding Cunard's Queen Anne cruise ship and taking a 2 night trip over to Hamburg. I haven't been to Germany in many years and I am excited to board a new ship. My previous experiences cruising have not been as formal as this and so I am looking forward to the comparison.  I have paid £230 for the 2 nights in an inside cabin (Grade IC), not the cheapest grade on the ship but it was the cheapest option at the time I booked the cruise. I will not know my cabin number until nearer the time but ...

Back in February 2024 I decided to I decided to buy a National Trust annual pass for the family. We were visiting Bath earlier in the year and we had some ideas for the summer holidays to travel around the UK check out my blog series about our adventures called 3 peaks in 3 weeks. So with this adventuring I thought it would be a good idea to have the option of some plans for days out, culture, beauty and generally less thinking would be involved when we travel.   So what is the National Trust? For anyone outside the UK or does not know, the National Trust is an charitable organisation which looks after and manages over 500 properties, has properties all over the England and Wales of varying different styles. Houses, gardens, coastal areas, and sites of global historical interest. These are all very important sites and without organisations like the National Trust, a lot of them would have been lost to time or disrepair. What sort of place does the National Trust offer? Each locati...