Up and Away with Abi

What is your name?

Abi Whittaker

Where do you live currently?

Nottingham

Where are you from?

Suffolk

What do you do?

I’m a graphic design tutor right now

Where and when did we meet?

Me and Charlotte met at university! We were on the same course together. I can’t remember our exact meeting but I do remember walking together on a road called Peel Street in Nottingham and thinking I have a lot of time for this girl. Turns out she’s pretty great and we’ve been friends now for nearly 10 years.

Where’s the last stamp in your passport from? Or where was your last staycation to?

The beautiful city of Barcelona. I went to a music festival called Primavera and ended up getting engaged so was pretty great!

Were you planning to travel this year, if so, where to?

I wasn’t going to travel too far this year because of money so I think I’d be taking day trips around England to see what our country has to offer. Like go to the wood that inspired Winnie the Pooh or go see the Mappa Mundi or Bletchley Park where Alan Turing worked. The one trip I would have made though would have been to Sweden to see another of our uni friends who now lives there listening to ABBA among the beautiful coloured houses.

Once this is all over – name three (or more) places on your bucket list you plan to visit.

There are so many places I would love to go to and it changes all the time! Right this second I’d love to visit Cuba and experience the culture and music there. Japan has always fascinated me both for its captivating history and the super high tech cities – seems like it would be a real sensory explosion. I’d also love to visit New Zealand because of the lush greenery and natural landscapes. There’s also a lot of sea and I bloody love the ocean!

What is the biggest lesson travelling or your life travels so far have taught you, that you’d share with me?

I suppose the biggest is you have to just go with the flow. If things don’t quite go to plan that’s fine because plans can change and you won’t die! If you miss a train there’s always another one. I once arrived in another country and got a call to say our accommodation fell through. We just took a breath, had a cuppa and regrouped. We ended up staying on someone’s sofa for one night and all was fine in the end. I think especially at this time where things are uncertain it’s important not to get stuck on one path and know that it will all be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end.

Do you have any travel tips to share?

I think my biggest tip would be leave yourself room to manoeuvre and breathe. I think it’s a great idea to have a list of things you’d like to do or places you’d see prepared beforehand but I wouldn’t completely pack your schedule. One of my favourite things to do is people watch and discover unexpected things when travelling which is impossible to do if every moment of the day is planned out! If you’re someone who panics when things aren’t organised, why not just set a few hours or an afternoon aside here and there to just be? You never know where that afternoon may take you.

We’ve got a lot time on our hands now. What books, podcasts, or TV series’ / films would you recommend I check out?

I’m big into my podcasts while I’m doing stuff around the house and would highly recommend “99% Invisible” by Radiotopia. It’s a podcast that explores all the things in life you never think about, like where did fortune cookies come from? Or what’s the darkest material on earth? They recently did an episode about some of the opportunities in science and research that have come about because of coronavirus so if you’re looking for a lift I’d definitely recommend that. I’ve also just treated myself to what is essentially a picture book but a very beautiful one called “Through a Life” by Tom Haugomat. I’m a big believer in filling your home with beautiful things and this book is a beautiful thing.

How are you spending your extra free time?

I’m actually still working from home right now so learning how to teach remotely has been an interesting challenge! Aside from that though I am trying to do up the house a bit as I’m sure a lot of people are right now. I’m not sure I’m succeeding, I drilled a hole in a door the other day that I didn’t actually need.. but I’m certainly trying!

Is there anything you have been / are now working on that you would like to share with me and the world?

I wish I could say yes to this but alas I don’t currently! I do have Instagram but hardly post. I would like to get back into painting and post some bits but as of now there’s very little to see. Sorry!

Please drop your socials, websites, and creations here, so anyone who wants to know more about you can find you!

@abi.m.whittaker is my instagram but I’m SO BORING. Sorry. Have got www.abiwhittaker.com too but it’s so out of date. I’m embarrassingly out of touch with the digital world