Past Adventures and Future Adventures
Whitby to York | Friday 14th August 2026
Intro
Friday was a day of endings, beginnings and transitions. My time in Whitby with Zoe and Katie was coming to an end, but instead of heading home I decided to add another three nights in York.
Between the two came an unexpectedly perfect early birthday present — a map for marking past and future adventures — followed by goodbyes, a five-star coffee, a familiar hostel and another collection of chance encounters.
One journey was ending while the next was already beginning.
BLOG
I woke early in Whitby, around six in the morning. While the girls slept, I sat by the open lounge window drinking banana milk, looking across at St Mary’s Church—the very same graveyard where, less than ten hours earlier, a proposed relaxing sunset had devolved into a frantic search for my missing 22-year-old daughter. Viewed from an armchair with a quiet coffee, St Mary’s looked considerably more serene.
Before potentially waking the girls, I made a decision about the days ahead. Instead of heading straight home to Newcastle, I booked three nights at Safestay York Micklegate. It added a third distinct leg to the trip—two nights alone at YHA Whitby, two in the flat with Zoe and Katie, and now three in York.
By mid-morning, we had packed the flat, stripped the beds, and loaded Zoe’s car. But before we parted ways, the girls handed me an unexpected box. It was a birthday present, delivered six weeks early: a framed map of the UK titled Life Is an Adventure, complete with gold and silver marker pins to track past and future journeys. Printed directly across the south west coast were six of the exact stops for my upcoming September route. It was absurdly thoughtful—even if it meant lugging a cushion-sized picture frame around York alongside my books and leaflets.
After saying goodbye at the Rawcliffe Bar Park & Ride, I caught a £1.40 bus into central York. Before checking into the hostel, I treated myself to a £4.75 cappuccino and a free glass of water in the opulent lounge bar at The Grand Hotel. There is a simple pleasure in starting a stint of hostel life by sitting with all your luggage in a five-star hotel, charging your phone, and catching up on writing.
At 15:20, I crossed the short distance across town to Safestay York. Dawa, the receptionist who had checked me in during a previous visit back in April, recognised me immediately. I unpacked properly into my bottom bunk, converting it into a private little sleeping pod with privacy curtains and my travel towel stretched across the end. Later, Dawa and I shared a remarkably personal conversation over coffee at the bar, talking about her family in Bhutan, loss, and how an ordinary chair can hold special meaning after a parent passes away.
Early in the evening, as I sat in the foyer after a brief walk around town, a chorus of loud alarms suddenly erupted from every phone in the building—a national UK Government Emergency Alert warning of wildfire risks during the heatwave.
Exhaustion finally caught up with me before 20:00. I climbed into my bunk for what I assumed was bedtime, slept for 75 minutes, and woke up feeling entirely revived. Realising my “bedtime” had merely been a substantial evening nap, I headed back downstairs at 22:30 with my laptop, bought a cider over ice, and settled in to watch the rest of the night unfold.
REFLECTION
Friday felt like a natural bridge between one adventure and another.
I said goodbye to two days with my daughters carrying a gift that quite literally represented journeys already taken and those still ahead, then arrived alone in York to familiar faces, new conversations and another temporary home.
Travel is often described in terms of destinations, but increasingly I find the transitions just as interesting — the people, pauses and unexpected moments that connect one place, and one part of life, to the next.
Jess Ambrosine