First Thing,

we were up and out as it was Diana's day off, 

a quick pose at home, 

and then out into a cold, slightly misty day, 

on to a couple of trains and the tube, 

eventually arriving here, 

at Olympia, 

for a show, 

it was the Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show at Olympia London, 29 Jan–1 Feb 2026. '600+ travel brands, expert speakers & ideas for your next adventure', as the blurb read, 

we were not quite the first in, but pretty close!

we had 2 destinations in mind, both with one purpose, photography, 

a 'normal' tour with a group of people would mean that the group would want to move onto the next place, whilst any photographers in the group would want to spend more time at each stop, I preferred a escorted tour, it takes away all of the faff of getting local transport and booking hotels at every stop, 

the two places I was interested in was Namibia and Costa Rica, 

so it was those stalls I called on, 

everyone was incredibly helpful, 

but not many offered dedicated photography holidays, where a experienced guide would also be a photographer, 

like for instance Andy Mumford or Will Grey, 

it was great fun looking, 

and here is one travel company that does cater for photographers, Naturetrek, the problem was that they only had huge booklets with their tours, they were happy to let me take one, but I thought it such a waste as I was only interested in 3 or 4 pages, so they will send me their specialist photography brochure, 

Diana popped upstairs, to take a photograph or two, 

I am down there, really!

it was the first day, so the place was a tad busy, 

many of the stalls had their countries food or drink on offer as well as their music and culture, perhaps demonstrated best by the video that Diana took, 

it was loud, lively and very enjoyable, welcome to Saudi Aribia!

I had as many brochures as I needed with a couple of companies sending me some details in the post and some by email that I can download. if you are thinking of a holiday many of the companies here are offering £500 off a holiday booked here over the course of the show, with some offering 10% off, so a reasonable saving if you know your destination and dates of travel, but be quick as Sunday is the last day of the show,

time to go, 

by now we were both hungry, 

but a pose first, 

after a bus ride we were here, 

in the Golden Dragon, our go to restaurant if we fancy a Chinese meal,

for our starters prawns on toast covered with sesame seeds, 

and spicy garlic ribs, 

which were delicious!

for our main course, chicken with cashew nuts,

three different kinds of pork and duck,

with garlic beansprouts, egg fried rice and a couple of sauces, plus a bottle of house red for myself and a coke for Diana,

'Cheers!', the bill came to £140.00, eating out is not cheap anymore! arriving home we watched a couple of quiz shows before our film for the evening,

The Time Machine, far better special effects than the original, but then this was made in 2002, the original in 1960, but for all of that I think I preferred the original, as we have the original on DVD we may watch it soon, after which Diana was off to bed, a 04.00AM start tomorrow, for myself one from Have I Got A Bit More News For You, before I too was off to bed.