JustPickOneUK

Well today is August 12th 2026 and it is time for a (near in the UK) TOTAL Eclipse.  Its not quite a full one here in the south of England but it is for some close by and it is the nearest we've had for 27 years. I remember the last one and being excited that it was happening. My sister and I ended up going to one of her friend's houses to see it. Not that it was any better there and mostly we just noticed it got darker and watched the live reporting from Land's End on the TV but hey, I remember where I was when it happened.  This time will be a bit different though as I have a cool kid at home for the summer holidays and we will be watching. We don't have any eclipse glasses as I need regular ones to see properly and I am a big proponent of not messing with the sun when it comes to eyes in particular.  So instead we are going to walk to to the top of the near by hill and use a pin hole viewer. This tech has been around for a very long time and it is the second safest w...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sleep on a train? No I don't mean passing out in a carriage surrounded by other passengers when having a panic when you woke up with a dribble of drool coming out of your mouth as you try very quickly to discover if you are still in time for your stop or if you have to get off at the next available one and do a double back ride of shame..... I mean sleep in a small room all to yourself like in the Agatha Christie novel Murder on the Orient Express. Well I have.......minus the murdering.  I thought about it enough to make it my number 33 on my 40Before40 list. I was thinking about doing the London to Edinburgh journey because London is easy to get to from the South Coast of England where I live and I can fly back to a close enough airport to get home again, so it sounded like a win win.  But considering the cost of doing all of that, London and Edinburgh didn't quite seem exotic enough. So when the chance came to have some time to...

From a throw away comment about what I want to do for my birthday, to having the adventure of a lifetime all in the space of 9 months. This is 40Before40. For those who haven't followed my journey this year I am turning 40 on 29th June 2025. My husband asked me last summer what would you like to do for your birthday as it is a milestone one. I said well loads of things not just one. Then I said why don't I get myself 40 things to do before I turn 40? And so,  I have been working my way through a list of 40 challenges that I set for myself (some have changed along the way).  Some were simple, but worthy, like going out for coffee with a friend (which I rarely do), reading a full length novel (which I never do) or eat something I'd never had before. Others were more extravagant. Go on a ship, see a geographical wonder and see a tornado in real life.  I had no idea where this idea was taking me and didn't have a full list when I first started.  I haven't achieved all o...