Interview – Jessica (A Passion and A Passport)

Chris Boothman
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Interview – Jessica (A Passion and A Passport)

We would like to give a special welcome today to Jessica from A Passion and A Passport who has graciously given her time to speak with us and help us learn a little more about his travel thoughts and his website.

Please feel free to comment, ask questions and connect with Jessica using her various social media fronts listed below.

We would like to give a special THANK YOU to Jessica for taking time to interview with us!

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Name: Jessica

Website: A Passion and A Passport

Social Media: 

What is your favorite aspect of traveling and if you are a travel blogger, why did you decide to create your website? 

For me, I love visiting new places and having new experiences. I crave new-ness. I’ll never dismiss anything without trying it first. I was recently in Hawaii and tried stand-up paddling (SUP). Although I had some fun, it was an epic fail – I almost broke my nose! But I’ll probably try it again, next time in a lake! I decided to create my website to not only document my travel experiences, but to show and inspire others that travel is possible all why holding (and succeeding at!) a full-time 9-5 job.

How many continents have you visited? 

Three

How many countries have you visited? 

11-20

What is your favorite destination in the world and why? 

For some reason Rome always comes in my mind when I’m asked this question, but it may be out of habit (before I did more traveling). Last year, I fell completely in love with Santorini, and Oia specifically. The town is just so beautiful it’s hard to put into words. Check out my photo essay on the place and you’ll see exactly what I mean. Oia is exactly how you picture Greece- gorgeous white buildings with blue-domed churches, a clear cloud-less sky, and so much positive energy.

If money/time was no object and you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you travel to and why? 

Am I allowed to say the entire world? No?! Damn it! If I had to pick just three, I would choose New Zealand (and explore every single inch of it), Iceland (but for forever because I’d freeze), and Bora Bora (because we all need a little relaxation in our lives). But I would really love to head to Turkey, South Africa, and South East Asia. What a tough question for a girl with so much wanderlust!

Which of the following gadgets do you take on your travels? 

Camera, Phone, Tablet and My DSLR, point and shoot, and an underwater camera are all necessities for each and every one of my travels! (Just came back from Hawaii, and took about 4,500 photos… whoops!)

What is your preferred method of transport? 

Air. Although I do love walking from time to time to take in the local flavors and get some exercise under my belt!

Complete the following, “Everywhere I go, I visit….” 

Everywhere I go, I visit at LEAST one beach (if humanly possible). Although it may be a challenge, since obviously not every country/city shares a borderline with the water, I like to say each trip isn’t complete without some water action.

Here is your chance to sell yourself and your website! Tell us some more information about yourself, what your travel philosophies & future plans are and anything else that people may find interesting to read about… 

Jessica is the creator and lead writer at A Passion and A Passport. She is attempting to travel the world as much as possible to control her wanderlust, all while holding a full-time job and starting her career. She is not a long-term traveler; she simply travels over long weekends and breaks from work. Her goal is to show others that travel is possible without being on a RTW trip, and cheaply at that as well! She hopes to inspire others to get up and explore, whether it be in their own backyard or 15,000 miles away. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Experiencing Non-League Football in England

Chris Boothman
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Experiencing Non-League Football in England

For many years I have been an avid follower of Ramsbottom United Football Club, located in the heart of North-West England, about 20 miles north of Manchester.

The History

Before you start asking questions such as ‘Who are Ramsbottom United?’ or ‘Why not watch Manchester United?’, I want to take a few minutes to introduce the reasoning behind following my local side.

  1. Non-League football is the true grass roots football in England. In other words, the lads are amateur/semi-pro so generally have other jobs and are playing for the love of the game!
  2. Admission into non-league games is much cheaper and easier than trying to get tickets to overpriced Premier League games.
  3. Support your local side! You can get close to the players and there is much more banter created with both players and fellow supporters.
  4. Ramsbottom United are a local side ran by an avid group of hard working members, lead by Chairman Harry Williams who has been with the club since it was founded in 1966. Die hard supporters and folks like Williams are hard to come by in football, so this shows the passion that there is in an outfit like this!

I started watching ‘Rammy’ in the mid 1990s when they first entered the North West Counties football league. To put this into perspective, look at the English football league system as a pyramid and the reality is that the NW Counties league is about 9 steps down the ladder (more now since restructuring took place in recent years).

Following the lads home and away for several years, you certainly go through the highs and lows with them, near relegation battles along with the uproar of a promotion campaign are all part and parcel of following your local side!

Match Report

After leaving for the States in 2006, I have been left to experience the Rams only a couple of times each season and this season was no different. On Boxing Day (Thursday, December 26th), the Rams hosted Salford City, a real local rivalry and a proverbial six pointer with both sides pushing for a playoff position.

After a disastrous start to the season, the Rams have been on a real positive run of results and are certainly a team that most will fear in the Evo-Stik league. Salford, under the guidance of former Ramsbottom player Barry Massey have picked up some good results in recent weeks so this was going to be a tough encounter for two of the league’s in-form sides.

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In front of a bumper Boxing Day crowd of 341, the Rams started in fine form. Attacking the railway end, they quickly found themselves three goals to the good. Following Dominic Smalley’s early strike being disallowed for a dubious offside decision, Phil Dean popped up at the far post to slide home the opener after just 8 minutes. The lead was doubled soon after when Lee Gaskell calmly lofted the ball over the onrushing Salford keeper.

The goal of the game arrived midway through the first half when Dean picked up the ball on the left wing, cut infield and let fly an unstoppable right-footed (any of the Rammy contingent will tell you that Dean is predominantly left-footed which made this even more spectacular) drive that flew into the top corner.

Credit to Salford as they fought their way back into the game though it was more of Ramsbottom’s lacklustre defending that allowed Mark Battersby to grab two goals before half-time reducing the arrears to only 3-2. The half ended with Salford’s full-back James Moss challenging for a 50/50 ball but after falling awkwardly appeared to be in excruciating pain and left on a stretcher with what was later diagnosed as a broken arm.

The second half started in similar fashion with the Rams on top and it appeared to be only a matter of time before the lead was extended. The fourth goal duly arrived just after the hour mark when Gaskell ‘rose like a salmon’ to nod beyond the despairing dive of Keiran O’Boyle in the Salford goal.

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The encounter was made safe for the home side when substitute and former Salford star John Robinson was brought down in the penalty box and fellow sub, Grant Spencer confidently slotted home the spot kick to make the scoreline 5-2.

In reality the Rams comfortably won this encounter and had it not been for some dubious defending by the hosts midway through the first half, the margin of victory could have been much wider!

Reaction

This was Heather’s second experience at a football match in England and on both occasions I have taken her to see Ramsbottom and we have been treated to two very entertaining encounters. I would certainly encourage anyone interested in football to take a trip to a local non-league side because this is where the real football takes place.

Of course, watching the global stars play in the Premier League at Old Trafford or Anfield is something that you have to do at least once in your lifetime but I prefer to give my money to my local team rather than a bunch of overpaid professionals.

I miss following the ups and downs of Rammy but thanks to Twitter updates and the great match reports by Tony Cunningham, I am able to at least keep up to speed with what’s going on down at the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium.

Check out the official match report from Ramsbottom United vs Salford City here thanks to Tony: Match Report.

Merry Christmas From England

Chris Boothman
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Merry Christmas From England

Just a quick post today to wish everyone around the world a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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When thinking about some of the great Christmas traditions here in England, here are some of our favourites that we have experienced already this year:

Christmas Crackers

For the American readers on here, you probably haven’t experienced the British tradition of pulling Christmas crackers. Just the little novelty gifts that you get inside these crackers along with a joke and Christmas hat may seem very trivial but it’s just part of the whole Christmas experience that makes this such a wonderful tradition.

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Christmas Dinner

The stereotypical British Christmas dinner with all the trimmings including turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots et al followed by Christmas pudding and brandy sauce (I have to admit that I am not too fond of that myself but many folks do like it!) is always a treat especially when home cooked.

Over the last few years we have sampled Christmas dinner in an English pub, at my parents home and at Dallas airport in 2012 on our way to Australia (ok so not really a Christmas dinner!). Nothing can beat home cooking for sure!

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British Christmas Music

The old Christmas classics such as Wizzard’s ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas’ and Shakin Stevens’ ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ are always playing on local British radio stations throughout the Christmas period to set the mood and get everyone in the Christmas spirit. Wandering around the stores doing some last minute Christmas shopping, you will hear a range of Christmas classics that you always stereotype with Britain.

These are just a couple of traditions that spring to mind when we return to England each year. I know that every country is different and we all have our different traditions but for me Christmas is just not the same without these!

What are your favourite Christmas traditions where you are in the world?

How are you celebrating Christmas this year?

Christmas on the Champs-Elysees

Chris Boothman
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Christmas on the Champs-Elysees

Christmas in Paris – what could be more romantic? Well, we are technically not spending Christmas in Paris but we have just spent three amazing days exploring this beautiful city during the Christmas season.

Our experiences at the Louvre, Eiffel Tower et al. are all to come but for our first story we want to share with you our experience on the Champs-Elysees. The Avenue de Champs Elysees is probably the most infamous street in Paris, possibly in the whole of Europe. Approaching the Champs Elysees from the Louvre, there are a myriad of different attractions to see.

The Christmas Markets

Either side of the Champs-Elysees are wooden huts decked in Christmas decorations and selling a range of novelties or local French/European cuisine. We wandered up and down this part of the avenue several times and each time experienced something a little different.

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Sampling a Norwegian smoked salmon sandwich for only 6 Euros along with a German Nuremberg Bratwurst for 5 Euros were particularly appealing especially given the price of dining throughout Paris. Another great cuisine option if you are looking for a cheap dessert is the ‘Tête de Choco’  also known as a ‘Chocolate Head filled with mousse’ which is a delightful little delicacy ranging in a variety of flavors that I would highly recommend sampling!

Children and families can be seen experiencing the temporary ice rink that is in place but probably the most festive aspect of this part of the Avenue des Champs Elysees takes place above ground and is the ‘flying Santa Claus’ that runs every half hour in the evening. Our first night we stood at 6:30PM and experienced fake snow blown over everyone to set the mood and then Christmas carols playing as Santa Claus paraded in his sleigh across the night sky led by his trusty reindeer.

To make this even more realistic, a ‘real’ Santa is in the sleigh and speaks to the children below encouraging them to be good and wait until December 25th for ‘Père Noël’ to return bearing gifts!

The Ritzy Champs-Elysees

After moving through the Christmasy, traditional feel of the Champs-Elysees, you venture into the glitzy part of Paris where all the leading world-renowned stores are located. Tiffany&Co, Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz and Cartier are just a few examples of establishments that reside here.

Let’s be honest, unless you are a high roller with plenty of cash to go around this part of Paris may not be for you but I can say that just walking along here and taking a look in some of these stores even without buying anything can be a worthwhile experience.

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I really enjoyed visiting the car stores along here which is very different to anything that I have seen before. Mercedes-Benz, Citroen, Peugeot among others are located on the Champs-Elysees and have several of their leading models stacked on different floors inside their showroom. It’s not like a normal showroom that you associate with car dealers though because here they are advertising their Formula 1, World Rally Championship and Le Mans 24 hour vehicles. A really cool experience even if you are not that interested in what’s under the bonnet of a car!

What was interesting to me on this part of the Champs-Elysees is that it really wasn’t decked out in Christmas decorations. In fact, throughout our three days experiencing Paris I would say that we are both very surprised at the lack of Christmas feel throughout the city, of course the exceptions being the markets we mentioned earlier and other markets sporadically located around Paris that we saw.

Maybe the ‘ritzy’ stores don’t consider it to be necessary to adjust to the Christmas traditions or maybe it’s just because we are in Paris and they just do things a little different. Either way, this is not really a negative aspect rather an interesting observation that I wasn’t expecting.

Place de la Concorde to the L’Arc de Triomphe

Well the title of this section pretty much says it all. The Avenue des Champs-Elysees runs for just over 1 mile from the Place de la Concorde which currently houses a big wheel in front of the Obelisk of Luxor all the way down the avenue to the impressive L’Arc de Triomphe. After sampling the Christmas markets and high end stores, standing at either end of the Champs Elysees gives you a perfect view down the whole avenue.

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When thinking about experiencing Christmas in Paris, you will probably think about either going to the top of the Eiffel Tower or wandering the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. We would highly recommend sampling both of course but the feel of Christmas is more prevalent when you set foot through those little wooden huts that make up the markets. Not only do you get the stereotypical French experience with vendors selling crepes and vin chaud (hot wine), you can also sample some other European delicacies and experiences along the way.

The Avenue des Champs-Elysees is a must for anyone visiting Paris. You could almost say it is the heart of Paris with the area steeped in history and also the traditional feel that surrounds this avenue.

How are you celebrating Christmas this year?

What are your experiences on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees?

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