Many are familiar with the age-old maxim that travel broadens our horizons. Some may think this is a cliché phrase, but it is not. Travel teaches you, opens your eyes to new opportunities and gives you a sense of joy to which few other activities can compare. I was born with the wanderlust bug; however, after living for five months in the UK, the urge to travel has overwhelmed me.

People often think that a holiday to the UK means a trip to London, yet I spent my months taking every opportunity to travel to other places and resist the magnetic pull of the cosmopolitan capital. I travelled from Leeds to Brighton and back up to Birmingham and experienced each place with its own unique characteristics. 

When I travel, it is important that I not only take note of the locals, the buildings and the historical sites, but that I also experience the atmosphere – the smell of traditional delicacies, the sight of popular landmarks and the sound of cheerful music played by street performers are just a few of the reasons why being present in a place is so much richer than reading about a place.

Relish the feeling of transporting my life elsewhere, as though I am visiting another time, a temporary charade of being just one of the locals. In reality, however, I am the quintessential tourist and would likely never be mistaken for a local. While travelling, everything that I encounter is beautiful and longs to be photographed, maps are turned over and over to locate popular attractions and everything looks too good not to be tasted. 

Travel allows us to experience the pure joy of simply being. Savouring that moment when we come across a beautiful old church door, the curve and ripple of a river cutting through a small town, the delight of an alluring confection in a bakery window. Travel opens your eyes to the endless opportunities, the diversification of the world and the humbleness that is felt when we realise how small the world truly is.  

Special memories of my travels in the UK include the tranquillity of Bath Spa and heart-warming innocence of Leamington Spa. The character of Bath is unparalleled, with locals enjoying their morning pastries in the rare English sunlight, students covering the lawns of the many parks around Bath and the occasional tourists snapping photos outside the Bath Abbey. While Leamington Spa shares this peaceful setting it also offers a unique travelling experience as you immediately feel at home with traditional sweet confectionaries amongst the many dainty shops, along with the perfect balance of busy local restaurants and peaceful parks. 

 The elegance and richness of Oxford, on the other hand, will leave you in awe. Here, everything seems to fit the stereotypical notion of Oxford, with orchestra’s playing classical music on the cobblestone roads, tour guides preaching stories of the university and students that leave you with a wistful desire to submit your application for study. At one point, our map betrayed us and we asked a local for directions to the university – we were told that the university is all around us. Truer words were never spoken – everything about Oxford, especially the fascinating architecture, shares the same prestige as the university for which the town is known.

he Liverpool Pier and the Lanes in Brighton are not to be missed if you long to see a different side of the UK. A visit to the Liverpool Pier feels like a trip through time as you imagine writers scribbling thoughts in their journals and artists sketching their surroundings from this famous vantage point. In comparison, Brighton offers the distinctive feeling of seeing a photo in real life as the Pier is precisely how you would imagine it to be. Brighton also offers streets of unique shops that feed every curiosity as you join the locals through the busy Lanes. 

 Carve out a few days in your itinerary for a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon to view the UK through a modern Shakespearian lens. This small market town celebrates Shakespeare in every possible way, including the architecture and the picturesque canal, which boasts the location of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. 

 And then there is London, and London will always be London. This city gives me an electric feeling of which I will never tire. The city is literally alive – it is a constant rush of people, things to do and places to see. Many have a love-hate relationship with London. London excites me; London takes my hand and whirls me around with every visit and I hope I am always in a position to enjoy the spin.

My list of travel destinations is long and continues to grow - as soon as one city is ticked off, three more places are added. Another well-known saying is that the more you know, the more you realise how much you still have left to learn. It is the same with travel. The more places you see, the more aware you become of all the places waiting to be explored. 

Read more in the November issue of FIRST magazine