In December 2022, I decided to finally backpack in Cuba, flying in from Madrid on what was to be my second Christmas in a row backpacking the Caribbean. After COVID and many personal moments of clear depression and exposition of liars, it always felt like a great escape from the horrors of Europe. Plus as…
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“In my beautiful neighbourhood” – Tommy Smith. Before you even think about getting a visa for Angola, make sure you have all your documents ready, including having proof of accommodation for every night you are here and even bank statements. Budget hostels and cheap hotels are actually quite tricky to find in Luanda when you…
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“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…
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“I’ll see you in Mostar” – Ian Brown. Arrival into Herzegovina was nothing short of sensational in what was a tattered and torn year in this travel life, this travel blog, the story of which never really should have seen the light of day. The views were breathtaking as my Serbia to Bosnia to Herzegovina…
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While backpacking in Afghanistan, I was delighted to be offered the chance of a homestay with a local family in the city of Masar e Sharif. In the years I’ve been travelling, I’ve had homestays in places like Israel, Iran, Uruguay, Nagorno Karabakh, Hungary, Tunisia and Transnistria. However Afghanistan was a whole new experience. The…
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“They can come true, yeah. They can come true.” – Gabrielle Dreams can come true, apparently. Central Asia continued to inspire as I left behind the bright lights and modern parks of the Tajik capital city of Dushanbe on route to the Pamirs region, Gorno Badakhshan. This was off the wall stuff. Off the cliff I…
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So if you have followed my journeys the last few years you might be aware that I get excited about new and upcoming ideas in the travel industry with a passion. I love seeing new, clever and quirky ideas to spice up my backpacking journeys. I remember all the doors that were suddenly opened by the…
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I must be honest and say that I am just so delighted to finally get this story written up and posted. I won’t even apologise for the lateness of it – I’ve been busy backpacking my heart out for a few years and going back through my notebooks and memories, brings the best of these stories…
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You might have read my hotel and hostel reviews and wondered is that all I ever do for sleeping, apart from the odd night camping. But it’s not, I’ve had countless homestays down the years in places like Ta Van (Vietnam), Montevideo (Uruguay), Tarjrish (Iran), Stepanakert (Nagorno Karabakh) and Mizra (Israel). The sad thing is…
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