What a month! My parents spent about 2.5 weeks in the UK this June and I had so much fun getting to see them and show them some of my favorite places. This was the real highlight of my month (and of the year!) and we did so much! I can’t say enough how much I loved getting to see them. Here’s what all I got up to this June.
Where I Went
York, Fountain’s Abbey, Ripon, Ripley, Levisham, Hole of Horcum, Whitby, Goathland, Newlands Valley, Catbells, Buttermere, Keswick, Castlerigg Stone Circle, Loughrigg Fell, Windermere, Bowness-on-Windermere, Castle Howard, Castleton, Eyam (United Kingdom)
Best Moments
MY PARENTS VISITING!!! Of course, I don’t think much else this June could compare. I hadn’t seen my parents in a year and a half, and this was their first trip to the UK since I moved permanently over 2.5 years ago. So many people get to see their parents regularly, but unfortunately since flights to Minneapolis aren’t cheap, I don’t get to go home very much. (Or I could go home more often, but I wouldn’t have money or time for any other trips.)
It wasn’t easy staying in cramped quarters, our house is very small, and four people sharing one bathroom takes a lot of work! But I loved that they got to see my house, I could show them where I work and where I used to work, my grocery store, my favorite places in York, and some of the places I love most in the entire country.
It was so wonderful and I appreciate them making the effort to come out and see me so much. It’s hard when you miss people all the time. But so worth it when you get to see them and spend time with them after so long apart!
Our accommodation in the Lake District was amazing. I’ve stayed in some awesome places in the Lake District, but I don’t think any of them yet compare to where we stayed this time. We booked to stay at Ellas Crag Guest House, and everything was just phenomenal! The views from our rooms were incredible, breakfasts were delicious, and the location was so quiet and peaceful. I’ll be writing a full review of this soon, but honestly this was a real stand-out moment from the month. I would definitely want to go back!
Hiking Catbells in the Lakes! I was really excited that my parents wanted to do something new that I hadn’t already done on our weekend in the Lake District. So we decided to hike up Catbells, since it was so close to our accommodation. I’ve never done this walk before, but WOW! The views over Derwentwater were just stunning. Especially to say that the walk only takes a few hours! I would absolutely recommend this walk as a moderate hike in the Lakes.
Daytrips to my favorite places. This June I got to visit so many places I loved during my parents visit. In Yorkshire, we spent one day visiting Fountain’s Abbey, and stopped by Ripon in the afternoon. We did my favorite walk in the North York Moors, the Hole of Horcum, and then spent a sunny afternoon exploring Whitby (with a stop in Goathland on the way home). We spent a day in awe at the beauty of Castle Howard. Besides our weekend in the Lake District, we also did quick visit to the Peak District to do a walk around Castleton, and stopped by Eyam for history and food at the end of the day. These are some of my favorite places in the entire country, and I got to visit so many of them in just a few weeks.
I ran into the man who delivered our milk (at my former job at the theater) at a pub in Levisham in the North York Moors. It was such a strange coincidence, but I think if I’m seeing milkmen in rural country pubs, I must officially be a local now!
Worst Moments
My parents leaving (boo). Of course, what goes up must come down, and saying bye to my parents was pretty shit. I honestly don’t know when I’ll see them next, which is never fun. And after such a fantastic few weeks with them I just didn’t want them to go! It felt so normal getting to see them every day and hang out and I really miss them now that they’re back home in the US.
Our train journey to the Peak District was (of course) delayed. We took the train from York to Sheffield, where we switched to take the train through the Hope Valley from Sheffield to Hope. We had a pre-booked taxi from the station in Hope to Castleton. And of course our first train was delayed by just enough time that we missed our connecting train. We only ended up an hour later than scheduled, but we had to re-arrange our taxi (luckily they could pick us up an hour later still, as it’s a small rural taxi company with not many drivers). It was seriously annoying, and meant that we lost an hour of our precious time in the Peaks!
We also didn’t have the best weather on our day in the Peak District. This was the view from the top of Mam Tor!
I was really busy with work when I was working. I was luckily able to get off all the time I wanted during my parents’ visit! But I was very busy when I was at work, including working back to back weekends (which I hate) to get the time off when my parents were around. It was so worth it, but not necessarily fun while I was doing it!
Posts Published
I was able to get a lot of new posts published this month thanks to having time in the morning during the days off with my parents—yay! Here are all the posts I published this June.
The Best Wild Camping Spots On The Isle Of Skye
Hostel Review: Midtown Hostel, Gdansk
How To Spend 24 Hours In Vancouver
An Evening Hike In The Peak District With Salomon
Visiting Malta By Public Transportation: Tips And Tricks For Getting Around!
Alternative Isle Of Skye: 4 Ways To Avoid The Crowds
Instagram Top 3
With the Instagram algorithm constantly pissing me off and not showing my posts to anyone, I’ve lost a lot of motivation to post on Instagram. Most of my most popular photos were from Scotland! Here are my top three most popular photos on Instagram.
Coming Up In July
After so much time off in June to hang out with my parents I’ll be working most of July! I do have a short weekend in Edinburgh at the beginning of the month to look forward to though! I’ll also be in Nottingham for a few days at the end of the month to see a friend before she moves away. Besides that, I intend on doing lots of blog work in the meantime, and hopefully seeing more of my friends in York!
Over to you! What did you get up to in June?!
