New Year, New Adventures: Things to Do in 2021 — Random Shenanigans in the UK

Happy New Year, my fellow travellers! After a rather uneventful New Year’s Eve, I had the opportunity to start off 2021 with one of those spur of the moment decisions leading yet to another random experience I would not have wanted to miss. It also reminded me of my promise to you, as well as myself — to bring back those Sunday Adventures and many many more.

With that in mind and being conscious that I still owe you some info on my future travel plans, (so we can inspire each other, the whole purpose of this blog,) I thought I go ahead and share some of my bucket list items. Given the current situation, I’d like to bring up a few smaller entries first which should be easier to put into action depending how things develop, before looking into long-haul trips and challenges that might be a bit further away but shall not be forgotten.

Feel free to comment or send me a message if you’ve done any of the activities listed below or if there’s anything else you think I should add. After all, that’s how my to-do lists come about, by either someone mentioning a place or activity that piques my interest or simply someone asking me to come along banking on my inability to say no to random shenanigans — the latter leading to my nippy start to this year.

What did I get up to? Well, let’s start our list of things to do in 2021, shall we?

Moonlight Dip at Hampton Pools

It is a heated outdoor pool, apparently the hottest with its 28℃ all year round, but getting in and out of it still requires a bit of willpower and madness, what better way to start off the year?! You can probably think of quite a few but a travel buddy of mine whom I met in South Africa the year before thought it would be a grand idea, especially in contrast to the dip we enjoyed last time around.

Slightly different view and a tad colder but definitely worth a try once back in tier 4 or lower as outdoor pools are allowed then, something we did not realise until it was almost too late to make use of our booking. But thanks to that spur of the moment decision, we jumped into the (chilly) deep end and can now share the pictures hopefully motivating you to give it a go as well.

If not this year, maybe keep an eye on it for next year. I know I will because I can totally understand the appeal of a New Year’s Day Dip now. It wasn’t quite a Polar Bear Plunge like they call it in Canada which does not involve a heated pool I’m sure, but it was still a great way to wash off the old year and start all over with a fresh canvas — so, bring on 2021 and whatever it might throw our way!

The National Poo Museum

Next up, The National Poo Museum on the Isle of Wight. Don’t ask me how that one ended up on my list. It might have been another wonderfully random gem of wisdom from good ole Mr Bryson, or possibly down to one of the tour guides in South Africa who loved sharing animal facts by analysing the poo droppings we came across on our nature strolls — an interesting concept to consider for our lockdown walks maybe, no? Either way, the Isle of Wight can expect a visit from me this year and who knows, I might come back with one of those infamous poo spheres, the perfect present for friends and family one might say.

Having now typed this out, I think I might have remembered the culprit leading me to this bucket list entry — have you ever been on a London Loo Tour*? Well, I have, and I dragged along a friend of mine, who suffers from the same inability to say no whilst also having a great sense of humour making this most likely one of the funniest and most random city tours I’ve done so far. If you haven’t been yet, add it to your list. If you got something better, I’m all ears?!

*Besides many other fascinating facts that tour taught me, the main one that comes to mind is the origin of the saying ‘the wrong end of the stick’ which apparently goes back to Roman culture when toilet paper had not been invented yet and they usually used a sponge on a stick. No need to go into further detail I’m sure. I do apologise if you’ll never be able to use that phrase again but as we are heading into lockdown 3.0, I just couldn’t resist sharing that fun fact, although I do hope TP shortages shall remain a thing of the past!?

The Isles of Scilly

Okay, how to move on from this to the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the Cornish coast in Southwest England with beautiful white sand beaches that have been calling me for quite a while now? That’s it, exactly the segway I was looking for — did you know that the famous white-sand beaches of Hawaii, for example, actually come from fish poop? Parrotfish poop to be precise, a fish that uses its parrot-like beak to bite algae off rocks and dead corals, grinds up the inedible calcium-carbonate reef material (mostly coral skeletons) in his guts and then excretes it as sand. Topic-wise, we’ve just come full circle but I do hope I did not put you off Scilly or any other sandy island.

Walking a Llama Along the Jurassic Coast

Leaving sand and exotic fish behind, how about an activity that involves a more local animal, although I did not realise they were until I spotted loads of them and their smaller siblings along the North Downs Way — have you’ve been walking with a llama yet? I’ve done many things, but that one is still outstanding and apparently a thing in the UK. Having done a little google on llamas in the UK, I came across a company offering strolls along the Jurassic Coast, an area I would like to explore anyways, Durdle Door and all, so why not do so with not lame but llama company?

Kayaking Through Tollesbury’s Marshes

And speaking of impressive looking areas in the UK, the Tollesbury Wick Nature Reserve in Essex has been on my list for quite a while as well, or to be fully honest, ever since I watched the TV show Liar and could not get that arial shot of the marshes out of my head. It just looks surreal and reminds me of those labyrinth games you have to tilt in certain angles to get the tiny silver ball to the middle. How much fun would it be to kayak through that scenery, a lovely nature escape along with some ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ potential, something I’m always drawn to and can’t wait to fully embrace again once we made it over the travel-less hump we’re still battling with.

What next?

Hopefully these few activities might rekindle the adventurous spirit and get us hoping for more. I definitely have further items on my list which I will continue sharing, so keep stopping by for further inspiration and if so inclined, send some my way. I’ll make sure to include them in future posts and most likely give them a go when I can. After all, 2021 is all about embracing new experiences. At least that’s what I decided for myself. How about you? How did you start 2021? And what’s on your agenda?