A-Z activities

A-Z countries

What's this blog all about?

Hi, I'm Nicola - welcome to a blog begun in 2012 about family travel around the world, without leaving the UK.

I love travel adventures, but to save cash and keep my family's carbon footprint lower, I dreamt up a unique stay-at-home travel experience. So far I've visited 110 countries... without leaving the UK. Join me exploring the next 86! Or have a look at the "countries" you can discover within the UK by scrolling the labels (below right). Here's to happy travel from our doorsteps.

Around 2018 I tried a new way of writing my family's and my own UK travel adventures. Britain is a brilliant place for a staycation, mini-break and day trips. It's also a fantastic place to explore so I've begun to write up reports of places that are easy to reach by public transport. And when they are not that easy to reach I'll offer some tips on how to get there.

See www.nicolabaird.com for info about the seven books I've written, a link to my other blog on thrifty, creative childcare (homemadekids.wordpress.com) or to contact me.

Friday 24 February 2012

Invitation to a stay-at-home playdate

This blog is about family travel around the world without leaving the UK. Impossible? No. We've made memorable day trips to 108 countries - yay!! - without leaving the UK.  Just 88 more to visit. This post was made in Feb 2012 by Nicola Baird (see www.nicolabaird.com for more info about books and blogs). 


Just in case you are planning a summer holiday (or Easter break or May Day mini-break) I hope this blog post will inspire you to think about new ways of travelling the world without clocking up carbon miles on a plane. By staying in the UK you can get a taste of so many places in the world (thank you for being so multicultural Britain!). A very small happy result is that my 13 year old has now chosen to study geography at GCSE. 
How many countries has the aroundbritainnoplane blog visited without leaving the UK? 
A: 108
Quiz question - how many countries in the world? 
A: 196 (see www.geography.about.com)
How many countries in the UN?
A: 193(admission date 24 october 1945, fiji currently expelled)
How many countries  in the commonwealth?
A: There are more than 2 billion people living in 54 countries.


Below is the list of all the places this blog has taken you:
1.      afghanistan 2.      albania 3.      algeria 4.      america/usa5.      amsterdam 6.      antarctica 7.      arctic 8.      argentina 9.      Atlantis 10.  australia 11.  austria 12.  bangladesh 13.  belarus 14.  Belgium 15.  bosnia and herzegovina 16.  brazil 17.  burma 18.  canada 19.  caribbean 20.Chile21.china22.christmasisland 23.  croatia 24.  cyprus 25.  denmark 26.  DRC Congo 27.  easter island 28.  egypt 29.  england 30.  Ethiopia31.  fiji 32.  france 33.  French dom toms 34. galapagosislands35.  georgia 36.  germany 37.  ghana 38.  greece 39.  guianas 40.  gulf states 42.  holland 43.  hong kong 44.  iceland 45.  india 46.  iraq 47.  isle of man 48.  israel 49.  italy 50.  jamaica 51. japan52.  Kazakstan 53.  kenya 54.  kiribati 55.  korea 56.  la renunion 57.  lapland 58.  lebanon 59.  lesotho 60.  lithuania 61.  malaysia 62.  maldives 63.  mali 64.  martiniqu65.  mexico 66.  montenegro 67.morocco 68.  namibia 69.  nepal 70.  new caledonia71.  new zealand 72.  northern ireland 73.  norway 74.  pakistan 75.  papua new guinea76.  philippines 77.  poland78.  portugal 79.  russia 80. samoa (oops no 81)  82.  saudi arabia 83.  scotland 84.  senegal 85.  serbia 86.  singapore 87.  slovenia 88.  solomon islands89.  somalia 90.  south africa 91.  spain 92.  st pierre et miquelon93.  sudan  94 sweden 95.  switzerland  96.  taiwan  97.  tanzania 98.  thailand 99.  tokelau 100.    tonga 101.     tuvalu 102.                      UAE 103.    uganda 104.   uk 105.      uzbekistan 106.    Wales 107.    wallisand fortuna 108.  zambia 109.  zimbabwe  (see above, no 81 so actally 108 countries!)


RESULT: A proper travel diary, but not a single air mile wasted on these journeys. 


Over to you
Saving air miles are not my first thought on these day outs - it's all about the pleasure of exploring home. Let me know where you've been, or where you think I could take my family to continue the adventure as there are still 88 countries to visit.

2 comments:

around Britain no plane said...

From Facebook:
Kelly "I fear I am about to be reprimanded: the states, canada, france, spain, portugal, italy, the balearic islands, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia... I may have forgotten some. I have done many of these by train and car... x Forgot Greece, canaries and Austria!

Matt "Lived in Kenya & El Salvador (as a nipper mind)
Holidays in Turkey, France (drove), Austria & Greece
Plan, in 10 years time, to travel the world (when the kids have been forced out the door) but that will be by campa-van & boat..."

Penny "I can recommend going to Golders Green for a taste of Israel. Happy to take you on a tour of the best eats and sights one Sunday. You can come for Purim when everyone dresses up in fancy dress and gets drunk. Plus there are no less than 8 second hand shops on GG road (not one to be found in israel) with some great kids games and toys, books and more."

Penny "I have been to Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Canary Islands, Turkey, Lithuania, Poland, France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, USA, Ireland, Scotland, Wales....um... Oh yes, Spain of course"

Penny "Having now been at the Xmas market in Cologne, Germany, I can say that the German market at Xmas time in Birmingham is exactly the same. I mean totally exactly, it's bizarre."

Chris "I have yet to 'do' the Continents of America (North and South), India and Africa...but that will be remedied. Countries I have visited: Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Portugal, Spain (including the Balearic Islands), Italy, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong (now China), Israel, Jordan, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Cyprus, Monaco, UK (most parts, including Scotland and Wales, but not N. Ireland), and Vatican City. Probably missed somewhere..

Marina "Europe - Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belguim, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Tenerife. Africa - Tangiers, Morroco. Caribbean - Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, Anguilla, St Marteen, St Kitts, Nevis. Americas -Suprisingly, you'll be pleased to hear that apart from my more recent regular jaunts to Barbados, most of the other journeys were by bus, rail or sailing. (There's an Atlantic, North Sea, Bay of Biscay and several channel crossings there!)"

around Britain no plane said...

More from Facebook:
Vicki: "Tim's counted and for him its 51..He mostly got that by driving down all of Africa from London in the 80s... so no flight and lots of good appreciating of culture and peoples and nature."

Chris "My travel to Europe was in the past mostly by train and coach..."