“Have I gone up in the world or has the world gone down on me?” – Robbie Williams. As a hardcore long-term backpacker, who is currently single and loveless after too many ruined romances and disaster relationships, I only ever wanted to visit The Maldives with a lovely lady. That was the dream. That was…
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“Sleeper” – Louise Wener. The Maldives will never rank high on my travel odyssey. A country that caused me stress, heartache, fake news, bribery, corruption and theft of money. I won’t be back till ye. Close yer door on the way out, “The” Maldives, or send me £2,000 which won’t even cover your fakery. I…
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As part of my Rainy Summertime tour in 2025, I made The Maldives my first proper port of call. In advance of your visit to The Maldives, you need to get a The Maldives Traveller Declaration form, on that link I have already explained how to get that. This means that tourists visiting The Maldives…
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I fell in love with the mix of Indian Paneer (mostly the spicy ones) and Indian Lassi (either mango or natural) when backpacking India away in 2016. I had never really eaten paneer nor drank Lassi before then (that I knew of). Since then, I often delved into Lassi and Paneer at any Indian restaurants.…
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“Don’t believe the hype” – Everyone Sensible Who Ever Backpacked Maafushi. To be honest, I didn’t have any real plans, dreams, hopes or inspirations before I finally landed in The Maldives in July 2025, for the first time ever. And probably the last time, as I’m just not into repeats any more, unless they are…
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When backpacking 🎒 in The Maldives, swankaday resorts often serve up textbook global buffets and the streets of Male have a wide range of Indian, Chinese and Italian restaurants. But I just needed to try something local and preferably an interesting fish or seafood dish. I mean The Maldives is world famous for ice…
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In The Maldives, I ended up backpacking 4 islands. I could have done more in 4 days, which almost ran into Day 5, but this was enough for me, and enough of The Maldives, for this lifetime. The fourth and final island in my The Maldives tour was Maafushi. It promised so much yet…
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“You might prove them wrong” – Del Amitri. Forget all the preconceptions that Male and The Maldives is a haven for rich suitcasers, business capitalists and shrewd money bankers. I blew that into oblivion by spending less than £15 Northern Irish pounds (“UK” pounds) in my first 24 hours here!! (£10 hostel, £0.70 coffee, £0.80…
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“Need permission to land” – Robbie Williams. Tourists visiting The Maldives DO NEED a visa, however the process does not involve countless embassy visits, stress, nor even excruciatingly annoying online form filling. All nationalities, yes ALL (with a recent exception denying Israel), are allowed a visa on arrival as long as you satisfy the requirements…
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“Rainy Summertime” – Noel Gallagher. Even before my trip to The Maldives in 2025, I had self monikered it the “Rainy Summertime Tour“, inspired by a lost Oasis track. One that Noel Gallagher wrote but never released. I had heard The Maldives were some kind of a “paradise”, this turned out to be excrement as…
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