“It ain’t all bad as far as I can tell” – Noel Gallagher. Namibia is huge. Gaze at a map and you will see the sheer vastness of this African beast! It spans an area of 825,419 kilometres squared, yet houses just 2.5 million people – the same population as tiny Lesotho. Over the course of Read more about My Charming Stay in Namibian Countryside: Relaxation at Vineyard Country Lodge[…]
“Maradona good. Pele better. George Best” – A Northern Ireland flag’s message at George Best’s funeral. Local heroes are real. George Best is a superhero to me. To many of my friends. To many Northern Irish people. To many AFC Bournemouth fans. Even Manchester United fans like him. Hold on – even Leeds United fans Read more about Backpacking in Northern Ireland: Guided Tour of George Best’s Childhood Home in Burren Way, The Cregagh, Belfast[…]
“Escape from our history, history” – Manic Street Preachers. I headed back to Austria recently with two main places to be visited – the Republic of Kugel Mugel (a micronation in a sphere in Prater Park, Vienna) and the town of Braunau Am Inn. Braunau Am Inn is not exactly a backpacker’s paradise and is Read more about Das Alte Gefängnis, Braunau Am Inn, Austria: Spending A Night in a Converted Prison in Hitler’s Town[…]
“Two Eagle Dark please” – Random American Tourist in Uganda. It might seem ridiculous to some that we spent three nights in the city of Entebbe and cumulatively five days, but, look, life throws us up curveballs and with overland buses so slow, it was time to chill out on our last two days in Read more about Backpacking in Uganda: Two Eagle Dark and Our Stay At Sunbird Backpackers in Entebbe[…]
Burundi’s former capital city, Bujumbura threw up yet another oddball on our 2019 East African adventure. This country was less than obvious addition to the schedule. A tough visa process, a country bereft of tourists and indeed a country which prompted a good friend of mine to comment “I’ve never even heard of that country”. Read more about Backpacking in Burundi: Our Wonderful Stay at Urban Lodge in Bujumbura[…]
New Year’s Eve has seen me bed hop, city hop and country hop a lot in recent years. 2018 ended in a similar fashion, as I began 2019 in Beirut, capital city of Lebanon. I came across a cosy little hostel online, with its own flashy website and a cool location in the Lebanese capital Read more about Backpacking in Lebanon: A Super Time at Mady’s Hostel in Beirut[…]
“On that damp and lonely Thursday years ago” – Jarvis Cocker. When I look back on my early travel adventures, I forget how many obscure and ridiculous cities I was crackpacking through. Quite simply, I never wrote about lots of them on here. I have all my notes and folders still and will get them Read more about Backpacking in San Marino: My Stay at the Affitta Camere Franciosi Hostel, San Marino City[…]
Arrival back into Italy in June 2016 meant I would be based in and around Milan for my first few days. I flew into Bergamo airport, which is 45 kilometres from Milan city centre. Rather than be based in Bergamo or the city centre of Milan to start with I decided to stay in Novate Milanese, Read more about My Charming Stay at Antica Corte Milanese B and B in Novate Milanese, Italy[…]