Why not take inspiration from Alton’s own Philippa (Phinna) Brealey, who is using her bus pass to traverse the south coast of England – and beyond! I sat down with her to hear all about her journey so far.
“Originally, the plan was to go to Bournemouth. I live alone and I wasn’t travelling very much – partly because as I’ve got older I have become more anxious about driving, particularly at night and on the motorway. That’s quite limiting. But I wanted to go to Bournemouth and I was trying to work out if I could get there by bus when I realised just how many places I could get with my free bus pass – amazing! The adventure started there, really. I began poring over OS maps, seeing what might be possible, and realised I could tour the entire south coast – in chunks – by bus.
I started in February 2024 on the Isle of Sheppey with a stay at the aptly named Queen Philippa Hotel and throughout the year I’ve done the entire Kent coast, all of East and West Sussex. I usually travel for about 4 or 5 days at a time, trying to take at least 2 nights at every stop so I can make the most of the visit. Though the ambition is to travel the south coast, the point is to see it all – not just pass through. Having a base makes it easier to do some good walks while I’m there – and there have been some lovely ones. Ramsgate to Sandwich was one of my favourites, and of course the Beachy Head walk from Eastbourne. In September, I took the whole month to travel the coast of Devon and Cornwall, which was wonderful. I got the train down there and just worked my way around at my own pace.”
On a practical note, Phinna has a lot of sound advice for anyone thinking of doing the same thing.
“Of course we all know buses can be unreliable, but I use the Traveline and Stagecoach apps so you can find out when the bus is coming and where the nearest stop is, and all that useful stuff. When you’re travelling for leisure, like I am, it helps to have the attitude that another bus will come along. I’m not in a rush. I’m very relaxed about it all. I also use apps to book my hotels, like Hotels.com, where you can build up discounts the more you use the app. I’m quite specific about what I’m looking for in a hotel – it has to be close to the sea and close to a bus or railway station, and of course as cheap as possible. Off season, that’s not as hard as it sounds.
“In terms of luggage, I carry what I call Reggie the rucksack – a big Regatta rucksack – and Lightweight Larry – a day bag. That way I’m not carrying all my luggage around with me all the time. When I was away for a month, I would wash my clothes in the shower and hang them up to dry on a piece of string – not always successfully! But again, I try not to let these things worry me. I can use a launderette or send clothes home and restock from the charity shop.
“It can get very tiring travelling so much, especially when I’m also doing some long walks! So I also try to build in rest days where I can just relax. The bus service is widely pretty terrible on a Sunday, so that’s often a natural rest day.
“I haven’t made it to Bournemouth yet, but once I’ve completed the south coast I’ll certainly be looking further afield – East Anglia, Northumberland, perhaps even Hadrian’s Wall and Offa’s Dyke. If anyone is thinking of doing a trip like this, I’d wholeheartedly encourage you – why not? Get the maps out and get inspired. It’s a wonderful way of seeing the country!”
Thank you, Phinna, for sharing your adventures with us! I hope that this little snippet of bus life gives all our readers some inspiration for the new year.
We’ll see you again in 2025!
