How to Prepare for Camping this Spring

Spring time camping is a fantastic thing and there are so many wonderful experiences to be had from taking part in a trip that bit earlier on in the year. I’m not talking about the sort of lifestyle I led when I camped in Poatina, working on endless farms, but some slightly more relaxing camping… Read more about How to Prepare for Camping this Spring[…]

best antarctic islands

Backpacking In Antarctica🇦🇶: My Top 5 Islands

Every now and then I love to write about Antarctica again. It still ranks as my number one travel trip to date. A pure Winter Wonderland. An untouched paradise and a total dream backpacking destination. I’ve told my story countless times, of how I lived cheaply in Tasmania working 12hour days and 7day weeks on Read more about Backpacking In Antarctica🇦🇶: My Top 5 Islands[…]

Book Review: The Red Rucksack by Ben West

It’s time for another book review on Don’t Stop Living. As you’ve probably read from my previous book reviews, I love reading REAL LIFE travel books (such as Lisa and George’s “Travelling in Sin”), OK as well as a bit of fiction 😉 – Mike Delwiche’s “The Liar’s Guide to South America“. I recently came Read more about Book Review: The Red Rucksack by Ben West[…]

Sunday’s Inspiration: 10 Ways to get Noticed (and the Day I…Scored a Hat-Trick)

“Don’t be someone who they forget” – Melanie Chisholm. The Spice Girls were pretty big weren’t they? They were huge in fact. They were noticed. They won’t be forgotten. Neither should you strive to be the forgotten one. I hate anonymity. It grills me. It’s almost fake. Standing back and hiding yourself. Do you dress Read more about Sunday’s Inspiration: 10 Ways to get Noticed (and the Day I…Scored a Hat-Trick)[…]

long term backpacking

20 Tell Tale Signs You’ve Been Backpacking Too Long

OK so I hit the 12 year mark last year of being away from my hometown (Bangor, Northern Ireland), and whilst I have had a few bases (such as Bournemouth, Bishkek, Hong Kong and Parramatta), I have been backpacking for most of it, and somehow this is my lifestyle now and I’m used to it. Read more about 20 Tell Tale Signs You’ve Been Backpacking Too Long[…]

Watching Football in Manchester, England Without a Season Ticket

Time for another wee football post on Don’t Stop Living, and it comes from a city drenched in the sport…Manchester, England. I wrote about my trip to Old Trafford in 2005 before – on that occasion I watched Northern Ireland play England. Manchester is the home of two of England’s “best” (debatable at the time Read more about Watching Football in Manchester, England Without a Season Ticket[…]

northern ireland newtownards

Friday’s Featured Food: Morning Coffee and Scones in Knotts, Newtownards, Northern Ireland

When life takes you back to the town you were born in after backpacking incessantly to 188 countries around the world, you do often wonder what sparkle your original home has left for you. Straight from my adventures in the Middle East (touring Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan etc.), I headed back with my Mum for a Read more about Friday’s Featured Food: Morning Coffee and Scones in Knotts, Newtownards, Northern Ireland[…]