A Very British Homecoming
Our Next Adventure
Any of you who’ve been reading me for a while realize that I’m a travel junkie and my British roots run deep. I’m excited to announce that my wife and I have just made our arrangements for our next adventure...our very first trip to England in May!
I’ll finally have a chance to see the village, Oxhill Parish, that my ancestors embarked for America from in the late 1600’s. From what I understand the house they lived in is still standing and, apparently, Waltons live in the house today. What a homecoming it will be.
I’ve been geeking out on research to make the most of the trip and have found a stellar YouTube channel called Love and London.
The host is an American who moved to London three years ago. She offers some amazingly helpful tips and the videos are categorized smartly so you can learn a lot about any one topic in well under ten minutes. Our trip will be a much better one because of these videos.
It’s Not A Man Purse
Speaking of globetrotting, I’ve developed a new hobby, learning new travel hacks and acquiring gear that makes travel easier. I’ve been a fan of the Timbuk2 company since I bought my first classic messenger bag over a decade ago (I still have it). A few years ago I bought a Timbuk2 backpack and it’s been my constant companion for the past few years. It’s gone with me to Montreal twice, several trips to New York City, and SteemFest 2 in Portugal. It’s been great but it’s just too bulky.
As I’m gaining more travel experience I’m finding I need to pack way less so I decided it was time to downsize to a Man-Pack Classic 2.0. My wife, jokingly, told me she couldn’t believe I bought a man purse.
This new bag thing will fit my trusty 13” MacBook Pro as well as everything I need for day trips away from our Airbnb in the Covent Garden neighborhood of London. The Man Pack is way less bulky than my old bag and will hopefully travel with me to many exotic locales in the near future. It’s a cross body bag, it’s not a man purse (not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
A full review of the Man Pack will be forthcoming.
Amstel Update
As you might remember we recently found out that our beagle, for the first time in his life, is five pounds overweight. We've had warmer temperatures for the past few days and this made it far easier to get out and exercise.
Amstel’s spring weight loss regime is now in full swing and this picture was taken after a long walk in the sunshine. Between getting a little less to eat and taking longer walks he'll be transformed from "Hamstel" back to Amstel in no time. He's not happy with us now but will thank us later.
Cheerio and thank you for reading,
Eric
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
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Let’s Keep In Touch
I didn't realise it would be your FIRST trip to the UK! If your going to Oxhill then maybe a visit to the birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon.
It is! I've wanted to see England since I was a boy. We're trying to figure out the easiest way to get to Oxhill, it doesn't look like there's a whole lot around there but Stratford would be well worth the extra few miles.
One thing I still find hard to believe is that The Walton house still stand from the 16th century, what a great preservation of culture and tradition. It's rare to see such here.
Enjoy your stay in London.
Thanks! I was surprised too! I did a little research and there are homes much older over there (from 1100AD) that are still being lived in. Coming from the US, that kind of history amazes me...many of our cities are barely 150 years old.
When you come I'll take you to London Wall, where you can see parts of the original fortifications put there by the Romans circa 2000 years ago!
Cg
How wonderful to be able to visit the very village your family hails from, that's really going to be special!
My nephew recently did a dna test which gave him the names of third and fourth cousins and made contact with one who has been doing much geneological research into my granny's family (who hail from England btw) It's been a wonderful journey of discovery. Enjoy your trip Eric!
Poor Amstel having to diet, must be difficult! Gorgeous photo.
The internet is such a wonderful tool when it comes to genealogy. Many of the English churches have kept meticulous records going back hundreds of years. I recently had the good fortune of seeing my ancestor's (William Walton) signature from the 1600's. Did your nephew use 23andMe? That's the company my brother and I used for the DNA test. We're finding all kinds of relatives in Europe and the US. Thank you, @lizelle! I'm bringing the trusty laptop with me so I'll be taking lots of pictures and chronicling our journey.
That's so exciting Eric, I believe it's so important to find one's roots, enjoy your journey of discovery! Jason did his DNA test through ancestry.com, will check which company actually does it. It's quite a story, he's the one who lives in Minnesota. He was hoping to find anyone related to my Mom's biological father.
Mom only found out when she was a teen that the man she knew as her father married my gran to 'save' her reputation as such. The young man who was Mom's real father wanted to marry my gran but his family were against it as they were more 'upper class'!
Terrible how people were back then. We only know his name and where he came from.
I want to get Mom to do a DNA test asap and see if we find any links. All the people who knew about it have died. Mom just wants to know what he looked like or what her half brothers or sisters look like, if there are any. She's too old now for dramas so would never force herself on them.
The cousin Jason made contact with is trying to help too but she lives in Australia.
Her story is fascinating as well.
She discovered some of her family on her mother's side were classified 'coloured' back in apartheid South Africa and they were basically snubbed by the 'white' family and not spoken about and not allowed to keep in contact, so horrific!
Virginia made contact with one of them who now lives in Canada and is so excited as she will be meeting her 'darker' family soon!
Looking forward to reading about your discoveries!
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That is so interesting @lizelle! I hope you can find out more of the truth! So many think the world was better back then but, in many ways it wasn't.
My mother tells me about how her paternal grandparents shunned them because my Mom and her sister were Catholic. I can't imagine that kind of division and judgement, especially towards family.
My sentiments exactly! Cutting off one's blood relatives because of stuff like that is unthinkable today, although it still happens in some cultures, it's just horrible!
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This is all quite exciting. I am enjoying the planning too.
I'm glad! The planning is a large part of the fun for me too. I try not to over plan though...there's a lot to be said for spontaneity. : )
Thank for sharing the information about the book.
Thank for giving the free to steemitians,.
You're welcome! The sequel to ACD is more than half done. I hope to finish it very soon.
The dog doesnt look over weight to me, looks cute and gloomy all the same.
Am sure England is going to do you great good since you're a travelling junkie, and for a writer, your next point of inspiration might just come from there.
Do have a nice trip.
He's carrying his weight around the middle but is still in very good shape for a dog his age. Thank you, @grandiosae!
Love Amstel... which by the way is also a rather tasty European beer :-)
Cg
Thank you! This beagle is one of the smartest dogs I've ever seen. He was named after Amstel Light! It is good beer. My wife has a tradition of naming her pets after beers. Our last Beagle was named Bud, after the American beer Budweiser. My favorite is a local craft beer called Surly...so that might be earmarked for a future pet. The system works pretty well. : )
Hahaha, what a great naming protocol! Can't wait to meet your wife she sounds funny :-) The four of us have to do lunch... How long will you be over for?
Cg
That sounds like a great plan! It looks like Covent Garden is about 40 min away from you by public transit. We'll be in town for seven days, we'll have to connect on a date/time/place and get it onto the books! It'll be awesome to meet you.
Yes! You guys better come and see me... Never mind the Youtube channel, I'll show you all the best places to go and see :-)
Can't wait buddy!!
Cg
We can't wait either!! That would be great to see the city with a native Londoner! Which part of London are you in @cryptogee?
I am in North West London NW6, near the famous Portobello Road, Notting Hill...
Map Link
Cg
Great view, Eric and it's very good that you will go to London, this is a stunning city. Amstel looks very nice, well done!
Thanks, I can’t wait to see it!
@ericvancewalton, Good luck and wishes from my side brother and hope that you will going to have fruitful and blessed travel time. And when we take same bagpack and other travel stuff with us for different travel tours then we develop special connection with it for sure.
And Amstel is having a pleasant time with with his best friend. And those eyes are expressing the mood of Amstel.
Stay blessed brother.
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Wow five pounds overweight it's too much for a small dog so you have to try go out with it and plat at least 30 minutes per day, about london i have to say i don't know london i'm from colobia and london it's to far from here but i would like traveling to europe at least one time in my life :). Regards
Yeah, 5lbs is a lot for a 23lb dog. He's taking off the extra weight pretty quickly though.