This post will be updated in italics as we progress through 2019 and tick things off our bucket list!

I think 2019 is going to be a somewhat limited family travelling year for us.  I am in the middle of saving an emergency fund and I have decided to give it a big push in 2019 and hopefully reach my target of £10,000 by the end of the year.  This means we probably won’t be going on any big holidays in 2019, unless I suddenly discover a lot of extra cash or my workload goes through the roof!

[Update – we saved it during the first half of the year! Woohoo!  So we travelled a few times in the second half of the year. Read all about how we saved £6500 in 6 months to reach our £10k emergency fund savings goal]

I’m self-employed and so earnings are always a worry and something I feel anxious about constantly.  To ease this anxiety I want to have a substantial emergency fund saved up that will cover my household contributions for several months should work dry up for me or I need to spend time finding employment.

It’s also to cover unexpected bills, such as our Mazda Bongo camper repair bills!  I fear we purchased a money pit having already spent £400 on a new turbo and it now being back in the garage for over one week already with an engine problem that will cost us £1200 providing they don’t find anything else wrong in there…

Arg!

This means we probably won’t have as many luxurious holidays away as we have been in 2018 – Fuerteventura, Center Parcs and Bluestone and several smaller camping trips/nights away.

We do already have a couple of festivals booked as I purchased tickets this year to take advantage of early bird prices.  So it’s great to already have something paid for to look forward to.  I’d also like to go away at Christmas again if we have a great time at Bluestone this year.  I’m really looking forward to our last adventure of 2018 which is a 3 night stay at Bluestone in Wales with lots of festive activities booked for the children.

Our family 2019 travel bucket list

I’ve got an idea of things I want to do in 2019 and I’ve asked the kids and Ben for their input too:

Branscombe, Devon, 2018

Here are our 2019 family travel/events/day out plans so far, and our 2019 bucket list:

2019 booked travel plans

Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham – we already have our tickets for this as we bought early bird tickets to take advantage of a cheaper price.  It’s a festival in our county so I’m not sure we’re going to camp there as being able to drive home and have an actual bed and shower is too tempting for me!  It’s a great family festival and we’ll all be going for the full three days.

We’ve been!  Click to read my Wychwood Festival review

UK Vegan Campout, Nottingham – we went this year and I wanted to return without the kids next year so I’ve arranged childcare and bought me and Ben early bird tickets.  There were some bouncy castles and activities for the kids, but the main event is lots of talks and 18+ films being shown which the kids either can’t sit through or would be too bored.

To get the most out of the event I really want to be able to go to all the talks and screenings as well as take part in the many yoga and meditation sessions they hold throughout the day.  I thought it would be better to go as adults only to fully get the most out of this event, so Ben and I will be going alone which I’m really looking forward to.

The best part is the numerous food stalls with incredible vegan junk food!

We’ve been!  Read my review here: UK Vegan Campout 2019 review

Exmouth, Devon, 2018

2019 bucket list

And here are our bucket lists for 2019.

In 2019 Victoria wants to…

Learn to ski – I have never been on a ski holiday and I have never before skied!  I’m in my thirties and it’s about time I learnt.  On my bucket list this year is to take part at a ‘learn to ski in a day’ event at an indoor ski slope.  If I love it then this could open up the possibility of a ski holiday for the family in the future!

I didn’t manage to do this in 2019 🙁 Time was always limited as the kids had swimming lessons at the weekend.  It’ll be added to my 2020 list instead.

Visit Snowdonia, Wales – Wow, wow, wow!  Someone I know just posted a load of photos from here on their Instagram and I thought they were in some crazy mountains abroad.  They are absolutely stunning and I must go!  I had no idea there were such stunning mountains, beaches and lakes so close to me in Wales.

We’ve been!  Check out my travel diary here: Snowdonia National Park with kids – 3 day travel diary

Visit Stonehenge – I have never been to Stonehenge before, so I need to tick this one off.  I love how mysterious the rocks are as no one knows exactly what their purpose was.

We’ve been!  Check out my review and photos of Stonehenge here: Stonehenge: my review of this ancient wonder of the world

See the fireworks at Alton Towers – I’ve been to one of their amazing displays as a youngster with my Mum, or perhaps I was a teenager.  I’d love for Ben to see them and the children.  In my memory they are the best display I’ve ever seen.

We didn’t go as we had other plans and it was soon after our Cornwall holiday so funds were non-existent.  Maybe in a couple of years when the kids are a bit older and can stay up later.

Visit more beaches in the UK – I love beach walks and cliff walks.  I feel free by the sea and like I can breathe so much better with the fresh sea air.  We visited a few beaches in 2018 that I never been to before such as Berrow, Branscombe, Oxwich Bay, Swansea, Rhossili Bay and Seaton beach.  I’d like to continue exploring more of the Gower peninsula and whichever beaches we can get to in Devon and Wales that are close enough for a night away in the camper.

Yes!  We saw lots more beaches in the UK this year:

• Cornwall with kids: West Portholland
• Cornwall with kids: Hemmick Beach
• Cornwall with kids: Pentewan Sands Beach
• Cornwall with kids: Porthluney Beach

Go away at Christmas – I’m hoping our trip to Bluestone in December 2018 will be really magical and enjoyable.  We’ve not been away at Christmas before, so it’s a first for us.  Usually the week is jammed full of family and friend visits and we have no time to ourselves, so I’m hoping we’ll get some real quality time together for the three nights away between Christmas and New Year.  If we love it, then I hope to return next year or book something similar somewhere else.

Yes!  We went to Bluestone again!  Read all about it: Bluestone National Park Resort twixmas holiday review + Kingdom of the Elves

See an airshow – I may have been to one as a child, but I can’t remember.  I really want to see an airshow such as Fairford.  Maybe 2019 will be the year!

We didn’t manage to see one in 2019.  We had hoped to go to Fairford, but ended up on our European Road trip on those dates.

Ogmore Castle, Wales, 2017

In 2019 Ben wants to…

Visit Wookey Hole – Ben sees an advert on the motorway for Wookey Hole on the way back from work every day and it was on Salvage Hunters so he wants to visit!  I’ve been as a child and don’t remember much as I was quite young, but I remember it was good and that was 20 or so years ago!

Aaaaand that’s basically as much as I can get out of him.  ‘How do I know what I want to do next year?’ is his response!  Well I tried to include him!  I don’t like to feel like I’m always making all the plans and he’s just going along with them, but he’s not giving me much else to work with!

We’ve been!  Click to read our Wookey Hole review

Morro Jable, Fuerteventura, 2018

In 2019 Bella (age 6) wants to…

Go to Fairyland – Bella wants to go to Fairyland, but I can’t find anything like this in the UK.  Let me know if you know of anything!  I have showed her the Wild Place Project which is somewhere we’ve not been yet and it looks like they do a fairy door trail for Easter, so this could be ‘Fairyland’ for Bella in 2019.

We didn’t go to a specific Fairyland, but we did see some fairies at various places such as Sudeley Castle Spectacle of Light

Go to the beach – The kids love the beach and it’s so rare we go as we don’t live very close to any.  I just read my list to Bella and she shouted ‘I want to go to the beach!’

We’ve been!  Check out what we did in a few hours in Weston and we also visited lots more beaches in Cornwall!

Visit London – We’ve not taken the kids to London and in fact, me and Ben haven’t even been together.  I used to visit London a fair bit as I had friends who lived there, but that was before I met my husband.  I’ve not been since.  It will be great to take the kids so they can see all the iconic London things!

We’ve been!  Read all about it in our 3 day London family itinerary + travel diary

In 2019 Reuben (age 3) wants to…

See some dinosaurs – This can tie in with Wookey Hole where Ben wants to go as they have Valley of the Dinosaurs as an attraction.  We went to All Things Wild twice in 2018 and it is amazing, but it will be nice for us to visit somewhere different with dinos in 2019.

We’ve been! We saw dinosaurs at Wookey Hole and also at the Natural History Museum when in London!

I love that all the kids are bothered about doing next year are seeing fairies and dinosaurs!  Cute!  We’ll have to make that happen for them.

Hopefully we can tick all this off and hopefully Ben will have some inspiration and ideas too!  I’ll be posting reviews and updates in the family travel and days out sections as we visit places and I’ll add them to this blog post too.

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