top of page

Carol Duval
Writer
Educator
Lifestyle Researcher
Search


Season's Greetings 2023
2023 has been a year of revisiting places and friends. We started the year in wet, snowy England dog sitting and suffering from various...
Carol Duval
Dec 14, 20232 min read
Â
Â
Â


Time to Say Goodbye
I was struggling to come up with a title for this final blog of this series. What could capture the essence of the Costa Brava--the...
Carol Duval
May 22, 20233 min read
Â
Â
Â


A Month in Provence
Well, close enough. From northern Spain to our first stop in France, two days at Les Bruhasses, near Condom. The French/Canadian owners...
Carol Duval
May 17, 20234 min read
Â
Â
Â


Spanish Paradors
After the usual harrowing airport experiences and chaotic car rental in Madrid, the silver lining was being upgraded to a rather gorgeous...
Carol Duval
Apr 20, 20233 min read
Â
Â
Â


North and South
The M1 north to Leeds is never fun but in winter its litter-strewn hard shoulders without the camouflage of bushes in leaf made for a...
Carol Duval
Mar 31, 20234 min read
Â
Â
Â


West Country
From one side of the country to the other--Kent to Wales. This time we're staying in a converted barn deep in the Welsh countryside, ...
Carol Duval
Feb 28, 20233 min read
Â
Â
Â


Best-Laid Plans
Unplanned changes can have unexpected--and sometimes positive-- consequences.This was the case when we had to leave Markyate a day early...
Carol Duval
Feb 15, 20232 min read
Â
Â
Â


Winter Solstice 2022
December began with a drama trifecta, the least important being the rush to complete School Gaze. Then there was Noah's surgery with all...
Carol Duval
Jan 1, 20232 min read
Â
Â
Â


School Gaze: A Teacher's Tale
To all my friends and family. AT LAST! THE book is now available as paperback and on Kindle. I've kept the price as low as possible. This...
Carol Duval
Dec 23, 20221 min read
Â
Â
Â


A Bit of Background
School Gaze takes readers on a round-the-world school trip spanning six decades. Each chapter is a snapshot of life from the ‘50s to the...
Carol Duval
Mar 14, 20221 min read
Â
Â
Â


2021 Year of Lockdowns
COVID-19 has been the defining feature of the year but so has gratitude. Never have we been so grateful for science and vaccines, to live...
Carol Duval
Mar 14, 20222 min read
Â
Â
Â


Farewell 2020, Welcome 2021
I admit to not entirely looking forward to this year after Australia's horrendous bushfires in 2019 not to mention the crazy political...
Carol Duval
Dec 15, 20203 min read
Â
Â
Â


Author Interview: Birds of a Feather Press
Podcast (Part 1) Author Interview
Carol Duval
May 16, 20201 min read
Â
Â
Â


Season's Greetings 2019
This has been one of those consolidation years, settling back after last year's wonderful house swapping experience with Elaine in...
Carol Duval
Dec 7, 20194 min read
Â
Â
Â


Trying Lives: A House Sitter's Tale
Trying Lives: A House Sitter's Tale.
This book tells the stories of house sits and swaps across four years and five countries.
Carol Duval
May 10, 20192 min read
Â
Â
Â


Celebrating Sydney
We're lucky to live so close to Sydney's beautiful harbour. Down the road at Balls Head, we have the Coal Loader, now reinvented as a...
Carol Duval
Apr 23, 20191 min read
Â
Â
Â


Christmas Cheer
To get us right into the winter holiday spirit, we spent an unexpectedly joyful day at the Weald and Downland Living Museum which...
Carol Duval
Dec 30, 20182 min read
Â
Â
Â


2018 Year of Contrasts
It’s been an eventful year with a hefty mixture of good, bad and everything in between. We started the year with a fantastic road trip to...
Carol Duval
Dec 16, 20183 min read
Â
Â
Â


Yorkshire - Leeds and Harrogate
23rd November 2018 Harrogate—A bit like a northern Arundel but with department stores. Lovely Christmas lights and festive shop windows....
Carol Duval
Dec 1, 20181 min read
Â
Â
Â


Cities, Towns and Villages of the South Downs
Chichester — Nearest to 'home' and so our local shopping town. Cathedral, ancient walls, Roman Museum, buzzing shops—what’s not to love?...
Carol Duval
Nov 28, 20183 min read
Â
Â
Â
bottom of page