Author: Ted Richards

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Armchair Travel Challenge

I’m a man who likes to set myself a challenge.  About 40 years ago I set myself the challenge of walking around the entire coastline of England and Wales.  It took me 20 years to complete but I did it.  Then I set of walking up all the mountains and 15 years later I finished that list.  At about the same time I set off trying to find a pint of Guinness in all 52 European Capital cities.  Fortunately I completed that challenge in 2019, just before Covid hit.

Completing my European Capital City Challenge in Dublin in 2019

Ever since then people have been asking me what my next challenge is. I kept saying I hadn’t got one as yet but I was beginning to feel under pressure to think of one.  And this is what I have come up with – the Armchair Travel Challenge.

Travelling at the present time is itself a bit of a challenge. Plus there are other factors to consider such as advancing age, cost and the environment.  So I thought do I need to travel?  Why not do it virtually.  There’s a lot I can do from home to take in the atmosphere of a destination such as the food and drink and music.  It would also have the advantage that I wouldn’t get robbed, lost or fall ill with and exotic disease.

There are around 197 countries in the world.  If I were to spend about a month in each that should take me about 16 years. I like the random nature I approached the Guinness challenge where my next destination was picked out of a hat by the person pouring me the Guinness in the previous destination.  In this challenge I would use a random number generator to pick the next country. 

So far my list of things to do in each country includes:

Try to eat and drink something typical of that country, either in a restaurant or making it at home.

Read something of the history, culture, politics, news etc.

Read something by a local author (or a book set in that country).

Read a travel book or travel blog based in that country

Listen to some of their music.

Watch a film made in that country.

Make a clock in the shape of that country (that sounds weird I know but believe it or not I used to make clocks in the shapes of different countries)

Try to meet someone from that country (and maybe give them a clock!)

Sporting – follow the football or cricket team or some other sporting event. 

Go on some ‘virtual trips’ within that country – using my vivid imagination.

Railways – I especially like train travel so a ‘virtual’ rail trip would be good.

Highest point – anther ‘virtual’ trip – to climb the highest mountain in that country.

Geocaching – solve a puzzle cache in that country.  That’s another fairly specialist one, but geocaching is a hobby of mine and they can be found all around the world.

Stamps – purchase some stamps from that country

Charity – find a way of helping someone out in that country in some small way

I’m wondering what you, my U3A friends, would if you tried to travel to a country ‘virtually’?

Progress to date

We started in mid-November and have so far spent a month in Burkina Faso and a month in Libya.  This month we are in Rwanda (the random number generator seems to like Africa!)

We met up with someone from Libya but are still trying to find someone in Cardiff from Burkina Faso and Rwanda.  If anyone in U3A can help put us in touch with someone from either of those countries then please let us know.

Remember lessons learnt form the U3A Computer Group

So what’s this got to do with the U3A Computer Group?  Well, last week I tried to order some Rwandan banana beer from a website, U&I Drinks.  I forgot some of the basic advice we had spoken about at some of our previous meetings, manly is the website genuine?  It looked genuine but the beer hasn’t arrived as yet.  What I forgot to do was to search to see if there were reviews of that company online, positive or negative.  Going back now and doing a search I can’t find any independent reviews.  The thing which raised my suspicions was that as soon as I placed my order I received 3 emails back, an order confirmation, a PayPal confirmation and an e-mail from a USA tracking company implying my luxury handbag was on its way! I’ll keep you all updated as to whether I receive some banana beer, a luxury handbag or nothing.

In the meantime, here’s a link to the Armchair Travel Challenge

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Creating a Google Map

The purpose of this note is mainly a thank you to David and everyone else in the Computer group for furthering my learning over the past couple of years.  It has helped me pick up a lot of news and tips which have helped in day-to-day life. 

One topic we discussed that I have found particularly useful and implemented in a number of places is Google maps and especially ‘my maps’ and ‘your places’.  I have drawn up a number of maps and embedded them into a website etc.

The latest instance where I have used this is to breathe new life into a project U3A had with the Cardiff Story Museum to devise a Heritage Walking Route in the middle of town.  A small group of us spent about three months carrying out the research, being sent on a training course and devising a route and editing the material.  Unfortunately the end product never materialised.  Whether the museum ran out of funding, personnel or enthusiasm we never found out.  We were always told publication was imminent whenever we made enquiries and that was 18 months ago.

In order to salvage something from our efforts I have recently devised a Google map to include the material we researched and wrote.   I have already shared the link with the U3A researchers and would now like to share it with members of this group.  I would like to hear any comments you have on content or style etc so I can may be instigate improvements before making it available to all.

Here is the link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1XZeLwbexn6Dq2Y_lntbB9UQqkb7C-et0&usp=sharing

The other place I have used a Google map extensively is on the Roath Local History website and in particular on the Roath Virtual War Memorial page.  Again I would appreciate any comments you have.  The page itself is beginning to get very long now and I need to start to thin somehow about putting the information on sub-pages.  https://roathlocalhistorysociety.org/local-history/war-memorials/roath-virtual-war-memorial

Here’s just a reminder of how to devise your own map:

  • Log into your Google account.
  • Click on the nice dots next to your avatar in the top right.
  • Click maps
  • Click on the three lines on the top left of the screen
  • Click Your Places
  • Click maps
  • Click create map

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Starting to Trace your Family Tree (meeting notes from 10th Oct 2018)

Start by writing down what you already know of your family history.
Gather together any birth, death and marriage certificates your already have for the family.
Talk to other family members about their knowledge of the family.
Take copies of any certificates or family pictures they may have.
Then you are ready to start using online resources to help expand that knowledge.
 
Most important sources of information:

  • Births, death & marriages cartificates
  • Census information 1841 – 1911

 
Useful Websites

  • Ancestry.com – subscription site / free at library
  • Find My Past – subscription site / free at library
  • General Register Office – Free – needs registration
  • FreeBMD – Free
  • Family Search – registration
    • https://www.familysearch.org/

 
Accessing ‘Find My Past’ and ‘Ancestry’ in Cardiff Libraries

  • You will need your library number and a library PIN number.
  • Log into one of the computers in the library – note you may have to reserve a computer at busy times. At other times you will be able to walk in and start using one.
  • Double-Click on iBistro Library
  • Double-click on e-Reference
  • Double-click on either Ancestry or Find My Past

Recording your Family Tree
As you build up your family tree you will start to want to record all the information you have.  There are various ways of doing this:
The various websites (subscription and free) now enable you to record your family tree e.g. Ancestry.com.  You can sometimes choose to share that information with others but sometimes it is the default setting to share the information so take care.  Some sites automatically make information on living members confidential, others do not.
Many people purchase a bit of family history software to record their family tree.  I personally use Family Historian.
I also sketch out my family tree in Excel.