2023: a year in travel

Looking at my 2023 Google Maps timeline, one thing's clear - I am following the business, and the business in Poland that I am engaging with runs in a crescent from Świnoujście to Rzeszów – north-west to south-east, west, south-west, south – and of course, central. But no north (not a single visit to the Tri-City last year) nor north-east, nor east (no Lublin, no Zamość this year). Białystok – haven't been there in a few years. The blue circles surrounding the red dots represent overnight stays (though I see Google Maps missed a few).

When I say "following the business", I am referring to those places where the local business is interested in trading with the UK or seeking investment from the UK. For companies from the west of Poland, geography makes the UK a relatively attractive trading partner (once the inconveniences of Brexit are overcome – something that's much easier the larger a firm is).

Gdańsk and Gdynia are home to branches of Warsaw-headquartered investors, but historically, UK money has flowed into the south of Poland, along the A4 motorway corridor from Legnica down to Rzeszów. Factories, in automotive and aerospace, and increasingly in shared-services centres in Kraków, Wrocław and Katowice.

The south-west of Poland fascinates me particularly; it's the landscape of wooded hills, Germanic architecture and dark, mysterious history that draws me in. No plans have I for 2024 other than two trips to Łódź this month; my itinerary is flexible. I would like to visit Bystrzyca Kłodzka (where my grandmother lived before moving to Lądek Zdrój in the 1970s) and retrace the route of my family holidays in 1961 and 1966, as we drove through Czechoslovakia to the (West) German border. But that would be for the summer… 

In the meanwhile, where my business agenda takes me, that's where I'll lay my hat.

This time last year:
Letters to the Postman

This time two years ago:
Progress at Warsaw West station
[Still a long way to go!]

This time five years ago:
From West London to South Warsaw

This time eight years ago:
Anger and hate have no place in political discourse

This time 10 years ago:
Is Conservatism rural or urban in nature?

This time 11 years ago:
Poland's roads get slightly less deadly

This time 12 years ago:
It's expensive being rich in Warsaw 

This time 14 years:
Winter commuting in colour and black & white

This time 15 years ago:
Zamienie in winter

This time 16 years ago:
Really cold (-12C at night)

[Today as I write it's +8C]