“Alderney on loneliness; motorcycle emptiness” – Manic Street Preachers (altered lyric). On arrival into Alderney in July 2022, I picked up my usual maps and guides to this small island country. It was my first time to visit magical Alderney having previously been in only Guernsey 🇬🇬, Lihou, Jersey🇯🇪, Sark and Herm. Their fellow Channel…
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First things first – Alderney is a pure fire gem. That much I know. Some 200-ish countries into my zany escapade around the world and it takes a lot to impress me now. But Alderney 🇬🇬 had it. It is an unbelievably satisfying place. From riding the country’s epic railway line, to nights on the…
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“We sat and watched the sun go down” – Robbie Williams. “Music is my aeroplane” – Red Hot Chili Peppers. I saw photos of Sint Maarten beach years ago with aeroplanes flying right over tourist’s heads. I always thought that either – 1.These were photoshopped. 2.The photographer was lucky to catch a freak of an…
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For about 4 years of this blog, my Thirsty Thursday series was regular, at one point I was doing a new one every week! Since depression kicked in during 2016, the posts may have been less often but I still have easily 500 Thirsty Thursday posts unwritten. They will never be written unless you find…
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“It’s a hot beer and it’s really tasty” – my sexy travel friend. When I first heard about “hot beer”, I was somewhat surprised. The reason being that I have always been a guy who likes a good old cold beer. On my travels around the world, I drank cold beer in as many countries…
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“YAMD” – Northern Ireland football supporters, circa Denmark away 2006. When I first backpacked in Ukraine in 2015, I raved about how incredible the bars in Lviv were. It came as no surprise to me of course, as countries such as Poland, Belarus, Ukrainę and Russia generally have the best bars in the world, in…
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Looking back to my early backpacking days and indeed the birth of this site, one of the first places I ever wrote about was Los Angeles! Yes, I was there back in 2007 when David Beckham signed for LA Galaxy and I toured Venice Beach, Hollywood Hills and of course the famous Hermosa Beach, where…
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A party city, Ulaan Baatar? Yes, for sure! Or should I spell it Ulan Bator? A confusing city with a lot of charm. And one that offers a huge range of bars – from the dingy sheds to the flambuoyant rock clubs, there was a lot to cram in. But my liver subsides as I…
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As I just begin to plan a major pub crawl on a big reunion day with the lads in London during the World Cup, it’s a good moment to recollect the top 10 pub crawls from my travels, some I’ve told before on Don’t Stop Living, some I haven’t yet shared. These have been absolutely…
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At the ripe old age of 36, having just celebrated my birthday in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, I finally landed in Munich, the heart of Bavaria. Yes, city 801 on my hitlist fell to Munich, Bavaria, Germany. What’s so special about Munich? Well apart from nudist parks in the city centre and the spooky beginnings of Hitler…
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