With us coming to the end of the seventh week of 2026, I’ve already got two trips under my belt and 2026 is going to be another year of travel and exploring for me. Of course, if you follow me on social media (check out my Threads, Insta and Facebook if not!) you’ll have seen my Meander to Moldova back at the start of January and my daytrip to Paris last week. Those trips are just the beginning though and by the end of the 2026 I’ll have visited at least 11 countries this year and have passed the 40-country mark in my total countries visit. This bonus blog is to give you a bit of an idea of what’s coming up in 2026 and what to look out for on my socials and on the blog.

Back at the start of June I took a trip to the north-west of England to take a ride on some trains, do some plane spotting and generally have a couple of days exploring. One of the things I had added to my to-do list was to visit the newest station on the Merseyrail network which had in fact been open for almost nine months by the time of my visit. That station is Headbolt Lane and this blog will have gone live to coincide with the station’s first anniversary.

Since taking my first trip onboard the Caledonian Sleeper in November 2020, I've become a firm fan of travelling by sleeper train. Not only is there the efficiency of travelling great distances whilst you sleep, there's the romance of falling asleep in one place and waking up in somewhere new and exciting! Having recently travelled from Brussels to Zagreb by sleeper trains, I thought I'd share with you some general thoughts and tips that may come in use if you're planning on travelling across Europe by sleeper train.

Paris’ Metro network is wide reaching across the city and its suburbs with 16 lines spanning the city along with the five lines of the RER. During our stays in the French capital I was able to take a ride on 15 of the 16 lines (annoying I know!) and took the opportunity to explore some of the Oddities of the Paris Metro.