Pack your bags!

I've written scores of travel stories during my career as a journalist. It's great fun to capture the exciting memories of special trips and share them with an audience. Now, this is my space to share free travel stories from places far and near. Of course, you'll notice I have a strong affinity for travel in Great Britain where I find myself very inspired by the landscape, history and people. I hope you travel there with me as I meander the foot paths, visit some pubs and travel back in time.

An Invitation to Submit Your Travel Stories

We invite you to submit your travel stories and photos. If they meet our guidelines, we'll post them, credit you and link to your Website! There's no better way to share your love of travel and promote your Website at the same time! You'll find specific instructions for sending us your travel stories and travel photos along with an outline of the mutual benefits we can share.

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Travel Stories Take us Away

After weeks and months of serious business there's nothing like a travel getaway - if we can't make the trip physically, a good travel story might take us there. Select a travel story to read and go somewhere fabulous, adventurous, interesting and, most importantly, away!

Many of these travel stories are free to reprint and use as content, with proper attribution and links back to this site. Visit CONTACT US FOR Guidelines for specific information about reprinting free travel stories!

South Yorkshire, a Serene Setting for a Homecoming

By Darby Patterson

I grew up with my grandfather, a man whom I remember as handsome, sharply funny and almost completely overwhelmed by the two other women in the house - his wife and their daughter, my mother. Thus, it was natural that I would identify with him, standing strong against the dominating powers of the other females in our tiny house in the Midwest. So, I listened intently to his tales of his childhood in England, how he'd sailed across the ocean at the tender age of 15 and been sick the entire trip from being conscribed to the deck below the waterline that was reserved for the cheapest tickets. And each time he traveled back to England for a family visit, in my imagination I sailed with him, and I mourned for the loss of my only friend in the house. At the same time, I eagerly awaited his return and the tiny costumed dolls he brought me. I drank in the stories of the places he'd been. Birmingham, Silsden, Wolverhampton, Netherton, Dudley - all music to my ears.

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Avebury's Standing Stones Align with Time

By Darby Patterson

I hadn't planned to visit Avebury on the most auspicious day of its year but there I was, on a sun drenched dawn of the Summer Solstice. This very ancient World Heritage Site is older than the more well known Stonehenge and I might add, more accessible.

Across the great swath of verdant green and along packed dirt pathways, people wandered freely. They sat in the grass, leaning against Neolithic standing stones as sheep grazed, undisturbed by human company. Many of the guests had spent the night at Avebury, awaiting the rising sun and the spark of imagination that might transport them far back in time. Waiting for the moment when the sun would strike the standing stones of Avebury and cast shadows as they have for more than 4500 years. Imagining they were the ancient people worshiping the forces of nature that framed the sky so perfectly at just this time of year.

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Shining Light on the Black Country

By Darby Patterson

The wind was biting cold and a gray pallor coated the industrial city of Dudley where nail making, iron and steel, and coal mining once drove everyday life. This is the land of the working man, woman and child of England's past, a history of great contrast between rich, and poor and the north and south of this powerful island nation. Dudley is tucked into the midlands and is generally off the beaten path for tourists. It is, however, a unique culture and landscape worthy of visiting. Certainly, the Black Country Museum is an attraction that in itself, puts the region on the map for tourism.

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