What’s the point of going on vacation? Expanding your cultural horizons, seeing new things and places, treating yourself to fun experiences you don’t have in the everyday, and relaxing could all be good answers. Relaxation isn’t our strong suit when we go away; we often return from a holiday wishing that we had a few recovery days before resuming work. Some combination of developing a bad cold in the last few days of the trip, coming back to non-stop rain, worrying about our cat’s ongoing health issues, and my husband already having a manically busy start to the term has left me feeling like staying put for the foreseeable.
Apt reading for a coffee stop on Lindisfarne.
Jenny Diski understood that. Her collection of travel pieces, On Trying to Keep Still, was the one book I read in its entirety on our trip (along with parts of novels, poetry collections and many, many short story volumes). Essays and short stories were perfect reading for a public transport trip: ideal for taking out on a train or bus and reading one or a few. I’d earmarked the Diski for 20 Books of Summer but found a better setting for it after all. A couple of pieces touch on her traumatic childhood and time spent in a mental hospital as a teenager, which I vaguely remembered from her other autobiographical work. The essay “On Anatomy,” which doesn’t really fit with the others but may have been my favourite, matter-of-factly recounts her rape at 14, and her midlife diagnosis of Freiberg’s disease. Her doctor’s dismissive response to her debilitating foot pain was her first experience of age-related discrimination.
Diski expresses how troubled she is to have become known as a travel writer – through the two books of hers I’d previously read, Skating to Antarctica and Stranger on a Train – because, for the most part, she much prefers to stay at home and do nothing. Ironically, she ends up writing a travel feature on Lapland for the Observer, even though what she actually proposed was spending a few days in the polar dark. But the paper talked her into undertaking all sorts of uncomfortable adventures like a reindeer-drawn sleigh ride and sleeping in a tent – and this for someone who specifically hated being cold.
This is the stuff of Part Three. In Part One, she speaks at a book festival in New Zealand and resists the compulsion to skydive; in the long Part Two, she courts solitude by renting a cottage on a Somerset farm for two months. She holes up with a mini-library of silence- and seclusion-themed reads and shows her face only often enough so the owner won’t fret about her. (It took me a little while to work out that the farmer was Janet White, author of The Sheep Stell – quite a neat connection. Diski also lived with Doris Lessing as a teenager.) Here, too, Diski is delighted to eschew outings and exercise and just stay in comfort. The fact that she brought pristine Prada hiking boots tells you she’s no outdoorswoman. By the book’s end, she’s concluded it’s best to save the money and effort and just research or imagine your way to places instead. Tongue-in-cheek advice, perhaps, but the tone of cheerful indolence appealed to me. (Secondhand – Awesomebooks.com) 
Sprinting to make buses, hours-long bone-shaking rides, heavy luggage: we were out of practice at using public transport, sure, but the rigours of this trip were a bit much for me. It can’t just be age, though at nearly 41 I do long for my own bed on any stay away from home. It’s partly a matter of accepting that chronic illness means I will have limitations. Much as we wanted to do the right thing by not driving, travelling by car is so much more practical and comfortable. Trips to the Continent may still be doable by train as European services seem reliable. But within the UK? Unless it’s a short city break, I’m not sure.
All that said, we did have a nice time. Our cottage in Berwick-upon-Tweed was spacious and we had unexpectedly glorious weather for daytrips to Bamburgh Castle, the Farne islands and Lindisfarne, Alnwick and Alnmouth, and especially the fishing town of Dunbar in Scotland. If you ever find yourself in Berwick, do walk the medieval walls (plus try a charcuterie platter at Atelier wine bar, sample the sweet or savoury offerings at Northern Soul Kitchen, and find time for a drink or two at The Curfew micro-pub). Speaking of drinks, we also enjoyed our time with friends in York, not least an afternoon at the annual beer festival.
Bookishness included a return trip to Barter Books, where my store credit got me a free book and badge; Berwick’s Berrydin Books and Slightly Foxed, as well as several charity shops; the “Books by the Sea” Little Free Library network; and the John Muir birthplace museum and trail in Dunbar. Muir was a forefather of modern environmentalism involved in the inception of the U.S. national parks system. I’ll have to seek out his memoir of childhood.
My modest book haul (compared to our previous trip to Northumberland, anyway) of 12 books is testament to great restraint; had we been traveling by car, I probably would have acquired more books at each stop. I majored on short story collections and novella-length works. And I’ve started reading several already!
Other reading experiences, on a rail replacement bus and on the nearly empty Bamburgh and Dunbar beaches:
If you had to choose, would it be far-flung adventuring or the comforts of home?
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
Unfortunately, the British public transport system doesn’t lend itself to easy holidays except for city breaks, as you say, and the added consideration of a chronic health condition can take the shine off more adventurous trips. I’m glad you had a lovely time despite all that. Eton mess ice cream sounds scrumptious!
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A failed experiment, perhaps. Previous hybrid approaches (e.g. Outer Hebrides by public transport as far as Stornoway, where we rented a car) have worked better. Eton Mess seemed like the perfect flavour for a day that still felt like summer — and there was a cricket match on at the castle grounds, too. All very English.
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Strangely we were in Northumberland last week on holiday we were at Hagerston near Berwick we went to north Berwick and barter books of course I lived in alnwick when it first opened and we also had a a walk around Berwick
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How lovely! We enjoyed walking the old walls of Berwick, and of course Barter Books is a must, even if I only found one book this time.
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A lovely trip but it is always a struggle by public transport. We don’t have a car and can’t drive so we always have to do that and I have to say as we’ve got a bit better-off we do go for an uber rather than a bus in Spainsh on arriving on holiday these days quite often! I’m not sure how we did our Northern Odyssey now as we were in Manchester, Preston and Penrith for that. I am staying still and at home myself as have Covid (exactly a year after last time) and I hope your bad cold isn’t that. I’ve got to the point of being lonely and bored, so must be improving! Take care and I hope all the various things pick up a bit soon.
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So sorry about your repeat bout of Covid. I’ve had two bad colds within the past month, both with different symptoms and not very Covid-y, though I did test last time just to be safe. I guess there’s just a lot going around. I was also intrigued to see you mention that seasonal allergies seem to be worse post-Covid, as I spent a whole week in Berwick sneezing before the cold proper came on.
There’s got to be a balance between being green and thrifty and just making things difficult for yourself. We’ve never used Uber and we’re highly resistant to taxis based on price, but maybe it’s worth it on certain occasions. We don’t own a car but share a neighbour’s second car for a monthly fee. The arrangement has worked out very well for us but we thought a public transport trip would be a treat for my husband as he’s the only driver in the UK and finds the long journeys tiring.
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I refused to use Uber until they had better employment practices. We are both careful with money but sometimes it’s just so much easier to get a cab. I think we’re doing the Bus In Spanish thing on our upcoming holiday actually as there’s a handy one so I’ll have to practise extracting a suitcase from a bus driver in advance! On seasonal allergies that is A Thing which has been researched but no one knows yet if it fades away which is annoying!
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Gosh, you look like you were busy. I had a long vacation this year, a cruise around the British Isles, but I got sick almost immediately, so it felt exhausting. Bad timing for me.
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That sounds like an exciting trip! Where all did you stop on your cruise? I’m sorry illness put a damper on it for you.
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We spent a couple of days in London and then started the cruise at Southampton, went to Cobh in Ireland, then Dublin, then across to Holyhead in Wales, then up to Scotland for Glasgow, Inverness, and Edinburgh, then clear around to Portland Island in England, and then over to Le Havre. I totally missed Glasgow and Le Havre and felt bad for almost all of the trip. It would have been great except for that.
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The Slightly Foxed bookstore looks adorable!
I hope you recover soon and your various troubles feel lighter soon as well. I often think (when it’s too late) why didn’t I schedule a rest day or two after a vacation? Especially one that is a sightseeing type of vacation.
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Slightly Foxed was very cute indeed, especially that back children’s area. I only bought the one book but I enjoyed my browse. The statue is down the street a ways and commemorates a former owner who died.
In future we should definitely try to incorporate a rest day or two!
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Jenny Diski has been on my list for quite some time! I would almost always choose the comforts of home, though an empty beach is pretty enticing. Love the Prada hiking boots detail!
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I’ve only tried Diski’s NF thus far, and love it. I have a novella and collection of short stories of hers, too, so it’ll be interesting to see what her fiction is like. I keep thinking she died recently but it was actually 8.5 years ago now.
It’s pretty easy to find deserted beaches in the UK (especially if they’re not sandy ones).
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Since covid, all our trips have been Australian based. Neither of us feel up to dealing with catching the inevitable flu or another bout of covid whilst overseas. So our last trip was a driving tour of Tasmania. We had never been before & absolutely loved the short drives between towns as we travelled in a clockwise direction around the island.
Very excited to see your pics of Bamford castle though as we were there in 2007! I wish we had had more time to wander.
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Australia is such a large and varied country that it hardly restricts your travel options! I have heard wonderful things about Tasmania. I read a Richard Flanagan earlier this year and I have Kate Kruimink’s novella lined up for NovNov if not Aus Reading Month — which is October, yes?
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Actually I won’t be hosting AusReading month this year as I’ve run out of steam. Although you are the second blogger this week to ask when it is…but I saw something about the Kruimink novella (shortlisted for something I think) & it sounds really interesting – perfect for NovNov 😊
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Ah ok, sorry to hear that, but blogger burnout is definitely a thing and you must look after yourself!
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I am so impressed that you guys did a relatively rural holiday without a car. One of the points of me learning to drive is to enjoy rural holidays, because we (28 and 32, so it’s not just your age!) can’t cope with doing UK public transport holidays unless the destination is a city-break or somewhere else with really good train links. Provincial buses are notoriously awful and with luggage, worse still. (I’m going to have to rely on one for three days while I undertake a research trip to Chawton House in October, and am already a little anxious about it.) It does seem to be much more reliable on the Continent.
Amazed that you managed to pick up 12 books with no car backseat/boot space to put them in, too! Barter Books really appeals to me 🙂
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Good luck with the driving lessons. I’ve never plucked up the courage. I know the ‘right’ thing is to be less car-reliant, not more, but I also don’t want to martyr myself. And real revolution requires system-level, government-led changes.
Ooh, Chawton House! I’ve been there, many years ago. It’s a lovely little village and we liked the Jane Austen museum.
I had to carry all my purchases home in my backpack, so I was careful to only pick up pretty slim paperbacks. Got my first Balzac (Old Goriot) from the LFL.
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It’s not been easy (I’m doing it the hard way: manual transmission, suburban driving, most of my lessons during Monday late-afternoon rush hour!) but it is really rewarding to learn a new skill. Obviously far better not to be car-reliant—we don’t intend to purchase a car after this, unless/until we move further into the country, and will instead rent when necessary. But it is a skill I think I need and it will make elements of life a lot easier, more pleasant, and/or more viable. (Plus, if we had renewable-energy cars, we’d be laughing!)
Can’t wait to go back to Chawton: I’ve been once, as a young teen, and really enjoyed it. I’ll be doing work at the Jane Austen museum’s library, which also has holdings on other women writers of the era. The house is doing a special exhibition on Mary Robinson, who’s one of my thesis subjects, so I’ll also see that and hope to write something about it.
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Off to Northumbrland ourselves soon – like you, by car. It’s hard to imagine getting to many of the destinations by public transport I wonder if we’ll be book-browsing too?
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We did public transport this time — possible, but difficult and tiring. There are book browsing opportunities everywhere you go if you seek them out (charity shops if not secondhand bookshops, and Little Free Libraries)! Enjoy your trip.
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Thanks. I’m quite well trained in second-hand opprtunities, though not as good as you.
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Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip Rebecca but travel can be exhausting. I’m heading to Paris on Saturday for four days and I know that I’m going to wish I had a few days off after it (I don’t!)
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Ooh, have a lovely time! We were in Paris in December and all the travel (Eurostar/Metro) was so much easier than here.
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It’s interesting what you say about travelling by car. I absolutely think it makes sense if you find public transport so uncomfortable but, after having lived without a car for my whole adult life, I find I now really hate car journeys, especially long car journeys, on the occasion when someone else is driving me (I can’t drive myself). I feel so cramped and trapped compared to a bus or train, can’t read or work, and am always surprised that it doesn’t cut journey times as short as people say. Obviously there are some places where a car is essential, but I try to avoid them! I also hate using taxis although for social awkwardness reasons rather than discomfort reasons, so I’m always the person taking the bus while everyone else is in an Uber… I don’t even have an Uber account (the rating system sounds terrifying!)
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We’ve attempted to live without a car since our last one died about 6-7 years ago. For a while there was a car club car in our neighbourhood, but that service was taken away, at which point we entered into an arrangement with a neighbour/book club friend who has a second car that she rarely uses and felt bad about keeping on such a busy street. So we pay her £30/month plus my husband’s annual insurance and get to use it pretty much whenever we need to. It’s been invaluable for, e.g., increasingly frequent vet visits (car club cars don’t allow animals in), events at country locations not served by the bus network, trips to see family and friends, and, yes, often holidays. Packing a Honda Jazz to the gills and taking it on the ferry to France or Spain actually ends up being pretty efficient! (We would never do a cheap flight in such circumstances.)
Of course, cars have their own annoyances. For every train cancellation or rail replacement bus, there could be an hour stuck in traffic or a flat tyre. I’m lucky that I can read on pretty much any transport (though some of the Northumberland buses had even me feeling nauseous). You have long legs so I can see why you’d find a car restrictive. You must be an expert at Northumberland transport by now!
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I’ve also only read NF by Diski, but I just loved how she (and introvert like me) was able to find a way to make these experiences interesting. I would like to try some of her fiction, though.
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I was so intrigued to read she based several novels on Genesis.
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Yes, sounds interesting. And I know that book VERY well (which I read in the original in Synagogue every year).
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We try to alternate between relaxation vacations (at a beach of lake) and adventure vacations. Like you, I feel like I need a recovery period after an adventure vacation. They are so much fun, but exhausting!
However, I am extremely jealous of the public transportation in the UK (even with its rural limitation). I would like to be able to take the train to visit family in Ohio, but what is a six hour car drive or a 45min plane ride, is an 11-17 hour train trip – always arriving around 2am and usually more expensive than a flight. Given that DC and Cleveland are two main stops on the same “bullet” train line, I don’t understand how it can be such a terrible option.
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U.S. train travel is mostly a joke. I’ve twice taken the train from my aunt’s in South Bend, IN into Chicago and it takes several hours to traverse what should be only half an hour. The only route I’ve known people to regularly take is DC to NYC, which actually has some useful stops. A cross-country trip is actually appealing, but that would be about sightseeing rather than getting from here to there. Biden loves trains and I hoped he’d try to make some improvements to the network, but I’m guessing there were other priorities.
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Travel hasn’t been a feature for me since 2018 when my husband ended up in a New Zealand hospital for 11 days. It’s been a long road to recovery so we confined ourselves to shortish trips until this summer. Now we’re trying to plan a few days in London and I’m not exactly looking forward to contending with tubes and buses and crowds. I know I’ll return exhausted after just two days.
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Oh dear, that sounds like a nightmare.
At least London is very well served by public transport, but I confess the ‘London change’ bit of any long journey is my least favourite part.
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[…] our holiday I popped into the Dunbar library (East Lothian, Scotland) while my husband was touring a nearby […]
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All this places reminds me of a wonderful holiday in Northumberland. Klausbernd and I spent long hours in Barter Books, what a splendid place for book lovers. We travelled by car and returned home with two boxes of books. 🙄Today I also enjoy travelling by public transport so this week we set off on a day trip to London by train. The “London change” system took time and costed nerves, such a trial every time, but in the end all went well and we have erased the exhaustion and have happy memories. Thanks for introducing On trying to keep still by Jenny Diski. We love her work and I have just ordered it.
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It’s lovely to hear from you. Had we been going by car, I surely would have been less restrained during all the secondhand book shopping! I hope you enjoy the Diski. How gratifying that you bought it on my recommendation 🙂
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