“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience”
Not Just Another Travel Blog
Highways Byways and Beyond is a collection of personal travel experiences enjoyed by Author, Photographer and Travel Writer, John Ironside presented in Blog form and downloadable e-books.
Experiences to Challenge the Body and Mind
Areas of travel interests revolve around conservation, nature and our environment, local cultures and traditions and lifestyle holiday experiences suited to all the family and the independent traveler.
Home or Far Away
Whether you are driving, caravanning, camping or backpacking, my blog and e-books will be a source of information on personally tried activities that will contribute to you achieving your own travel goals.
A World Of Experience
John has travelled to many parts of our beautiful world, experiencing different climates and natural environments in all sorts of conditions. This Blog is an on-going project and my experiences will be updated regularly.
The effect of travel on you will vary because of personality and personal travel goals. Some people like to travel in the security of a group for support whilst others like to travel on their own. One thing for sure, a broad, wholesome and generous view of man and our environment cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth for all of one’s lifetime.
Moving out of the comfort zone, away from what you imagine is your secure zone, is difficult for most. Even a walk in the rain can pose a challenge. By not taking these challenges, you never really discover yourself. Is it always about what is safe or easy or what’s uncomfortable or momentarily unpleasant or the task of planning and preparation that limits you travel goals? How can you discover what makes you tick if you don’t move these boundaries outward and try something new; like speaking to new people, experience a completely different lifestyle, experience new cultures or navigate your way around a mountain.
“Ever changing horizons and new experiences, within those we truly live in the moment, we are gifted with the present”
Latest Posts
CLIFFS OF MOHER, FORMED 320 MILLION YEARS AGO
CLIFFS OF MOHER AND THE ISLAND OF INIS OIRR If you are visiting Co Clare in Ireland, just south of the Burren on the western seaboard are the Cliffs of Moher. Formed some 320 [...]
WHERE THE KARST LIMESTONE PAVEMENTS STRETCH DOWN TO THE OCEAN; A STARK BEAUTY
WHERE THE KARST LIMESTONE PAVEMENTS STRETCH DOWN TO THE OCEAN; A STARK BEAUTY. The Burren National Park in North County Clare is a limestone wilderness with green grasslands interspersed and divided by a latticework [...]
ILLUMINATED CARNIVAL AT WESTON-SUPER-MARE
THE ILLUMINATED CARNIVAL AT WESTON-SUPER-MARE; AN INCREDIBLE SPECTACLE OF LIGHTS, DRAMA AND FUN Weston-super-Mare is an old seaside resort town located on the Bristol Channel in north Somerset. Its waterfront is lined with beautiful [...]
DARTMOOR, AN INCREDIBLY WILD AND BEAUTIFUL PLACE
DARTMOOR, AN INCREDIBLY WILD AND BEAUTIFUL PLACE Dartmoor National Park is a unique and vast moorland in Devon County, in southwest England covering some 954 square kilometers. A place of natural beauty, the terrain [...]
THE WEXFORD STRAWBERRY, A SUMMER FRUIT OF PASSION
THE WEXFORD STRAWBERRY County Wexford is renowned for its strawberries which are reputed to be the best in the whole of Ireland. The quality of the fruit is due to the local soils and [...]
WICKLOW RAPESEED
Rapeseed Oil crop During the months of May and June, the landscape isbrightened by large fields of small, bright yellow flowers, balancing on a tall stem and swaying in the gentle breeze [...]