“One more step along the world I go” Jeddah is a huge beast of a city and we have managed to visit a few interesting parts of the city during our time here away from the Hotel Show Saudi Arabia 2018, where we were working. While I am here on a business trip with Young Read more about Backpacking in Saudi Arabia: Top 7 Sights in Jeddah’s UNESCO Listed Old Town[…]
“I’m in Jeddah baby, I’m in Jeddah, woah!” Inspired by a 1980s documentary called 80 Days Around the World, whereby Michael Palin circumnavigated the globe without flying, I remember his visit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In those days, backed by a huge BBC budget and a less strict government, Palin’s visa was a piece of Read more about Backpacking in Saudi Arabia: Arrival in Jeddah, My 900th City[…]
“That’s me in the corner. That’s me in the spotlight. Losing my religion” – Rapid Eye Movement. When I was backpacking Bahrain in 2015, I made a trip to the Saudi Arabia border and it was something I always meant to include in my World Borders series, yet always forgot about it. The reason I Read more about World Borders: How to Visit the Border Entrance Between Bahrain🇧🇭And Saudi Arabia🇸🇦At King Fahd Causeway[…]
I recently made a long awaited return to Belarus. It was originally one of the first 25 countries I ever visited, back in 2007 when I was attending the Belarus v. Northern Ireland women’s match. At the time I got my Belarus visa from the Embassy in London. On that trip I also backpacked through Read more about How to Get a Belarus🇧🇾Visa in Warsaw, Poland🇵🇱[…]
2018 meant a welcome return to Belarus after a gap of 11 years. While my 2007 adventure took me to Babruysk and Minsk, here in 2018 I backpacked Grodno after another gruelling visa struggle at the Belarus Embassy (in Warsaw this time). Grodno is a cool city in western Belarus. Its only about 20 minutes Read more about Backpacking in Belarus🇧🇾: Staying at the Kip Town Hostel in Grodno[…]
The Middle East holds so many tourist memories for me. While I personally love the region, I still don’t like (or understand) the term “middle east”, which should really include Mongolia right? It’s pretty middle! And pretty east!! Yet Mongolia escapes this moniker or bracket. But let’s call everything in the Middle, and East of Read more about Backpacking in the Middle East: Top 5 Memories[…]
There are always a few tough beasts to crack in the visa world as we backpack it hardcore. Russia is a tough enough one to get, and with the 2018 World Cup looming, many more people will be heading there come June. I have been to Russia years ago (2007) as well as two transits Read more about How to Get A 72 Hour Kaliningrad🇷🇺Visa While Based in Gdańsk, Poland🇵🇱[…]
Istanbul is a city I wrote about a few times before and on my travels, it’s the only city outside the U.K. that I have visited in each of 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. That;s five years in a row – ridiculous. Bizarre when the previous 33 years, I neglected it completely as I Read more about My Stay At The Green Park Merter Five Star Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey[…]