Yesterday was a day of really bright sunlight and  a temperature of about 2 degrees Centigrade.

It was a day of dog walking, admin and another painting of Coogee Beach, more sunshine.

Beyond my day’s domestic plans, there was also some Tennis Club admin that needed to be done with a friend.

Beyond Tennis chat, we talked about Christmas, Grief, an erotic novel, kitchen plans, and our holidays. Mine in the past and hers upcoming. She is heading to Bergen and beyond in Norway. She is expecting to experience sunshine and temperatures of about -30.

The whole conversation blew my mind a little bit. Mostly because travel blows my mind a lot. The ease with which we discuss such things as women in the 21st Century is a delight unknown to most women in the past.

The kitchen that we sat in, nattering away, was built about 175 years ago. A home suitable for professional men and their families . The men would have worked either in a nearby Military base or Dockyard or been involved in the Maritime or Fishing industries. Plymouth was linked to London by train in 1848, making Plymouth an International Travel hub.  Travel would not have been an unfamiliar subject even when my kitchen was new.

Travel would have been much more complex. Timescales would be significantly different. Climate adjustment slower and riskier

Sailing to Australia would have taken three to four months, one way. Sailing to Bergen took about two weeks.

Luggage of only 23 kg is more than adequate for either of us to have the right clothing for hugely different climates.

I cannot imagine how much luggage we would have needed to make such journeys 150 years ago. English women of all classes were wearing Bustles.

Just one dress would weigh more than 23kg!

Very few women travelled for pleasure or exploration in 1850. For the most part British women were shipped around the world to service the sexual and dynastic needs of British men abroad who were busy doing British things like Colonisation.

British men being the powerful people. Taking political, economic, and cultural control over other territories and populations. Exploiting resources, labour, people and land for the benefit of Britain.

How lucky are we in 2026 to be able to travel quickly to anywhere in the world and to any temperature with just 23k of luggage. Know with almost 100% certainty that we will return, to natter, at the kitchen table after our travels. Safe in the knowledge that travel will expand our minds and not require us to search for a husband or create children.

Big changes at the kitchen table.