Southampton to Heathrow via the Cotswolds

From a very young age my parents instilled into me the importance of travel. They would always say 'travel broadens the mind. ' Decades later I found that to be a massive understatement. I started off travelling most of Europe and parts of the US up until the age of around 21. Then I took a leap into the dark and moved to Hong Kong for five years to work. This gave me the chance to see and experience how different cultures live, work and have fun. From here I spent months travelling around the Far East of Asia and Australia, as well as parts of Northern Africa, Europe and the US. During this time I saw many incredible things and met such wonderful people that travel became even more important to me. A few years later I became the Head of Activities for Oxford's top language school. This allowed me to spend time with younger people and help open their minds to all the amazing places and people that we can see and learn from. During my time at the school I became aware of just how lucky I am to live in an area like Oxfordshire with the Cotswolds on my doorstep. I saw how much people loved visiting this area, and so I decided to become a Cotswolds tour guide. I now run my own Cotswolds touring company so balance my time between that and spending time with my family. The Cotswolds is a wonderful place to spend a relaxing weekend. Whether it is natural beauty, wonderful English gardens, exploring history spanning 5000 years or retracing your ancestry this place has it all. My favourite Cotswolds destination: Swinbrook I am very lucky to get to visit some truly stunning locations but Swinbrook has to be my favorite. On a beautiful sunny day this small area is full of secret gardens and streams and hillsides. It reminds me of 'the shire' in the Lord of the Rings movies. It never ceases to amaze me how such a place still exists. My Most Memorable Cotswolds Experience: For me it has to be enjoying a nice BBQ at the ruins of Minster Lovell. Just sitting next to the bubbling brook in the sun. Daylight in UK summertime continues until 10:30pm often with the temperature a perfect 23C. Reminds me of what a fantastic country we live in :) Award winner of Lux Life Magazine's - Best Private Tours Provider 2019 - Southern England Award winner of Oxfordshire Prestige Awards - Oxfordshire Tour Company of the Year 2019 Registered private hire driver guide