There’s only one thing I love more than writing and that’s reading, especially when it’s travel related so I was delighted to e-meet Author and Podcaster Janice Horton aka The Backpacking Housewife. I was even more delighted when she also agreed to be my next Breakfast guest.

Janice Horton, otherwise known as The Backpacking Housewife, is in her own words, ‘A middle-aged ex-housewife, mother of three, empty-nester and, under normal circumstances, nomadic world traveller.’

While travelling Janice and her husband lived in ‘Hotels and motels and hostels and homestays, city apartments and huts on beaches’, but they didn’t ever want their halcyon days of travelling to end. Janice says they’ve ‘Seen the most amazing sights and had incredible experiences while travelling and along the way met the most wonderful people’ whom they’ve kept in touch with thanks to social media.

But, of course, they could never have imagined that in early 2020 there would be ‘The nightmare situation of a virus pandemic raging around the world and that all but essential travel would be banned.’ Janice and her husband eventually found themselves living back in Scotland in a rented cottage very close to where they’d lived for many years before they sold up everything to travel.

Janice commented that it certainly did feel ‘A bit surreal to be back here after many years of wandering around the world and that ‘Life truly has come full circle!’

However Janice is feeling hopeful and positive for the future of travel and is currently making plans to start travelling again early in 2022. Janice and her husband hope to recreate the year that they had planned for 2020 by heading off the Caribbean and then making their way through central America with a plan to eventually end up travelling in Asia by the end of 2022.

Janice’s mission for her website, podcast, and books, is ‘To inspire and encourage all wanderlusting midlife people to travel more by sharing my own travel stories and travel experiences in a positive, but also in a realistic way, to inspire travel confidence in those over 50s who dream of travelling the world!’ I’m certainly feeling inspired Janice, your books are an absolute breath of fresh air and I am not surprised in the slightest that they are widely loved.

Janice is an author of books published by HarperCollins and her series of ‘Backpacking Housewife Books’ are romantic adventure ‘feel good’ novels featuring fictional characters who, in their midlife, boldly pick themselves up from an uninspiring life situation and a get a chance to live their travel dreams.

Would you like to WIN a copy of Janice’s latest book The Backpacking Bride?

Head over to Travel Radio’s website to find out more and enter on their Instagram page by sharing your dream destination with us on the giveaway post. Alternatively leave a comment on this blog post stating where your bucket list destination would be and why.

Winner will be announced on Afternoon Travel next Thursday (29th July) between 1-4pm. Terms and Conditions apply. Good luck!

*Giveaway has now ended*

The characters might be fictional but Janice assures me that the stories are all inspired by her own travel experiences and it was lovely to hear that her readers say her books are inspirational.

Janice’s customer service gripe is ‘Nothing specific’ but she says what really gripes her ‘Is when rules and regulations are so rigorously put in place and are enforced so inflexible that they make no sense and they benefit no one.’ Agreed Janice, not everything is black and white, there’s so much grey than ever before nowadays.

As for her travel experience of choice, Janice is currently ‘Longing to be reunited with my little grandson who lives with my son and his Korean wife in South Korea. The last time we saw him – other than on video chat – was in September 2019. He’s 6 and a half years old now and before the pandemic my husband and I had seen him every 6 months. We miss him and our Korean family very much.’

Janice’s top travel tips for 2021 are to ‘Travel mindfully whenever possible. While travelling in the New Future we need to be more aware of how, when, and where we travel and how best to interact with and benefit the places and the people we meet while travelling globally.’ Fabulous tips Janice, many thanks!

In 5 years time, Janice would like to be ‘Sitting at a tiki-bar on a tropical white sand beach, with my husband by my side and a cocktail in my hand!’ Same here Janice, that sounds just perfect!

Breakfast wise Janice always has ‘Porridge oats with oat milk and fresh fruit for breakfast and two cups of strong fresh coffee.’ She says she loves to have breakfast with her ‘Backpacking husband – who always has croissants and coffee for his breakfast. We browse the newspaper online (as an author with HarperCollins, one of the perks is that I get a subscription to The Times) and we discuss what’s going on in the world before we start our day.’

If you’ve enjoyed breakfast with Janice as much as I have and would like to know more about The Backpacking Housewife then you can email Janice through her Contact Me Page on her website at The Backpacking Housewife.

Or get in touch through Janice’s social media channels. She’s on Facebook as The Backpacking Housewife, Instagram as Janice Horton Writer and Twitter as @JaniceHorton. You can also browse and purchase all Janice’s books on her Amazon Author Page. 

Many thanks again to Janice for joining me for a truly inspirational breakfast. Let’s get planning and travelling again!

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