What’s your favourite travel story?

I have so many favorite travel stories from different years and stages of my life.  One that jumps to mind was a trip to the Northern Japanese Alps. It's a scenic and adventurous journey through the Japan Alps, connecting Toyama and Nagano prefectures. It's known as the "Roof of Japan" due to its elevation changes and dynamic scenery. The route involves various modes of transportation, including buses, cable cars, a ropeway, and a trolleybus. If you time the trip just right, it's spring at the base of the mountain, but still the end of winter at the top. There's a road just wide enough for vehicles and is cleared each spring, creating a road surrounded by 20m high snow banks which you can walk or drive through. On either side of the Alps there are lovely towns to explore - our trip included Matsumoto - the home of soba noodles, exploring a local wasabi farm, and the thatched farmhouses of Shirakawa-go.

What is the one thing you don’t travel without?

I have a whole drawer of travel essentials so this is a hard one!  And the travel essentials with kids is a whole different thing!  For myself, I have an electronics bag always ready to go with a universal adaptor, all charging wires, a portable speaker.  And I always bring a laundry bag that can also be used as a wet bag!