We'd been having a heatwave. A horrendous, 30 degree plus even late into the night level of heatwave. Therefore, for my July day out, I wanted to choose somewhere with indoor options, as well as maybe some shady woods to walk round. Castle Howard had been on my "maybe I should visit" list for ages. I have been before, but I would be willing to bet that it's been the better part of 15 years since I was here, and there were parts of it that I couldn't remember, or wasn't sure if I'd muddled up with other stately homes. It was time to refresh myself. Even if, when I was getting ready on the morning of my trip, I clocked that the temperatures had dropped and the skies were clouded over! Typical! The entry way to Castle Howard is through a courtyard stable block that had some really nice shops and a cafe. You could go sit in this part, or browse the farm shop without going through to the ticketed areas, so it would be really nice if you lived locally to just po...

OK, I have to be honest here. This one wasn't strictly speaking a dip into the day out fund. Every June, I go to West End Live in Trafalgar Square in London, as it always sits around my birthday. This year, the Saturday happened to be my actual birthday, so of course I was doubly excited. For my birthday present, my Mum always sends me some money to book my hotel, train, theatre tickets, and whatever else I might be able to eek out of it when you consider London prices in summer! I did use the money on the usual travel expenses, but I also decided to treat myself to something that I had wanted to do for a long time. I was going to walk over The O2. First things first. The main reason for me travelling to London in the first place was for West End Live. It's a real highlight of my year, and I've been going since 2017 and the days when you could rock up an hour before starting time and get yourself a nice spot in Trafalgar Square to see it all from. Those days are, for better...

May's trip out was another case of being a tourist somewhere local. I have lived maybe 40 minutes from York all my life. Have I ever been inside the Minster before? No. It's one of those things that, when you live close to somewhere, you seem to get a bit non-plussed about some of the amazing historical sites and attractions that it holds. I couldn't even begin to explain to you how many times I have walked past York Minster, so it seemed about time that I stepped foot over the threshold.   When I'm visiting York, the park and rides are my best friend. Parking charges are absolutely extortionate. They're maybe not so bad if you're in a group, and they're split a few ways. However, as a solo explorer, the bus fare was considerably more reasonable. Plus, it saves the bother of driving round York, which isn't too bad to be fair, but zoning out on the bus with your air pods in is definitely more relaxing.  When I got to the Minster, there were already quite ...