Welcome!

There are so many tragic and terrible aspects to the pandemic, that it’s impossible to find a silver lining. But I’m going to give it a red-hot go and say that I am surprised team were talking about their favourite holidays of all time and it was so much fun. Rachel nominated the time, 10 years ago, when she used her last $10 to buy a raffle ticket for a luxury island holiday. And she won! ‘It was in the Maldives, which I’d never have been able to afford,’ she told us. ‘I took my best friend and although the meals were paid for, we had to buy our own drinks. So one night we pooled our cash to buy a bottle of champagne, which we drank on the beach. We felt like millionaires!’ Jude nominated a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy two years ago. ‘Both my sons were living in London so I was planning a visit,’ she told us. ‘But they hadn’t counted on spending 30 days with me exclusively, so I quickly realised I should organise something else. I ended up spending 15 fabulous days in Italy seeing all the sites I’d only ever read about. And then I had two lovely weeks with my boys.’ Sarah’s was her very first trip to Australia from the UK as a 20-year-old backpacker. ‘I thought it was the most amazing country,’ she said. ‘I feel so lucky that it’s now my home.’ I loved hearing all their stories. Although it’s not likely I’ll be going to the Maldives or Italy or some of Sarah’s favourite Aussie spots soon, we all felt like we’d had a bit of a holiday. And there is always the magic of the internet to call on! I went online straight after reading this week’s spooky story (Page 72) about Trina Rain’s Scottish trip. I was lucky enough to visit Edinburgh a long time ago but had no idea about The Real Mary Kings Close she visited. Like the other places, it’s now firmly on my bucket list. I’d love to hear what’s on your list!