Despite the fact I’ve only visited England twice in the last 5 years or so, I always have a fondness for it. I have lived, worked, studied, travelled and backpacked in England in a few different spots and I actually lived in 10 different flats there. I was living mainly in Bournemouth in Dorset but…
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“Don’t be someone who they forget” – Melanie Chisholm. The Spice Girls were pretty big weren’t they? They were huge in fact. They were noticed. They won’t be forgotten. Neither should you strive to be the forgotten one. I hate anonymity. It grills me. It’s almost fake. Standing back and hiding yourself. Do you dress…
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Time for another wee football post on Don’t Stop Living, and it comes from a city drenched in the sport…Manchester, England. I wrote about my trip to Old Trafford in 2005 before – on that occasion I watched Northern Ireland play England. Manchester is the home of two of England’s “best” (debatable at the time…
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When life takes you back to the town you were born in after backpacking incessantly to 188 countries around the world, you do often wonder what sparkle your original home has left for you. Straight from my adventures in the Middle East (touring Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan etc.), I headed back with my Mum for a…
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Croatia’s complex and chequered past have greatly impacted on its food, fortunately in a good way. The country offers a diverse range of foods, influenced by its invaders and neighbours – the Greeks, Venetians, Turks and Romans are only a few of a long list. One of the most interesting things about the country’s food…
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It’s often said we can spend our whole life in one place, but how well do we actually know it? We often take for granted our own tourist spots because they are just that, they are seen as tourist hotspots. We become that familiar with the idea of them that we dream more of further…
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Life may take you on many roads and to many towns and cities around the world but one fact is true: you can only have one birth town. You are born in one place and we must try and be proud of our roots. I certainly am, and I owe a lot more to my…
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Summer’s coming and the fields and streets of the UK and Europe will be full of the sounds of music. From pop and folk to classical, punk and rock, the warm weather months will see an astonishing array of musical celebrations in venues from sophisticated cities to lively beaches. Whether you plan a trip around…
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It was an odd but yet refreshing feeling when I headed back to Amsterdam in the Netherlands earlier this year. It completed a total full circle for me in life and in truth freaked me out a bit. The story dated back 23 years… I first visited Amsterdam back in 1991 – in fact it…
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I admit my working Wednesdays series is months behind – I was writing so much stuff recently about travel that I neglected my usual regular features and lifestyle posts. My return to the town of Bournemouth after a 5 year absence recently made me think of my time there working as a barman in Bournemouth…
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