A Week of Reflection and Opportunities

Since Christmas I have been working on a presentation about being an entrepreneur in dark tourism, which I will be presenting to the students at Oxford Brookes University in April. I spent much of the first part of the week finishing my PowerPoint in preparation for a meeting with the lecture leader on the Wednesday.

I'm very excited to be giving this talk because I think it will provide students that are considering starting their own business an understanding of the challenges and setback they may encounter and how to overcome them. I believe that working on this presentation has enabled me to reflect on the development of my book. Since starting my book nearly 2 years ago, I have been multitasking between writing, researching, contacting attractions, and sourcing images, so I haven't really taken the time to think about the challenges I've faced and how I've overcome them. It also has shown to me how important the editors and my designer, Marie-Louise of Lovely Evolution, have been to the development of my book. Their experience has allowed them to offer suggestions that have not only enhanced the presentation of my book but also demonstrated that the readers' experience has been taken into consideration.

After the meeting, I came away with other ideas of career opportunities, which made me feel positive and motivated. Even though these ideas are not something I am going to act on immediately, I can keep these in mind for the future.

There has been progress in the design of my book this week. The design checks of the London section are now complete, and Marie-Louise has nearly finished the Midland section. Seeing the design of my book nearly halfway completed, it is now noticeable how the characteristics and the history of the attractions I have written about has been integrated into the visual designs.

On Thursday I received an invitation to attend a talk about Northamptonshire’s tourism strategy, which will be taking place at Northampton Museum & Art Gallery on Tuesday 19th February. I am thrilled to be part of this event as I believe it is a great step forward in businesses working together to showcase Northamptonshire’s history, heritage, culture and events on a national and international scale. I would most definitely like to work with others in promoting Northamptonshire’s history and heritage. There are many unique attractions that many people are not aware about, such as Rothwell Bone Crypt at Holy Trinity Church that displays the remains of 2,500 people beneath its church. In addition, I think it is important that the memorials across Northamptonshire are recognised as it is these that don’t just remember the terrible incidents that have taken place but honours those who have lost their lives.

As I am of to Palermo in Sicily this coming week, I will not be writing a blog post to the following week. I look forward to sharing with you more details of my book and my travels when I return. Please feel free to contact me with any recommendations of places that I should visit while I am there.