katy cook quote

Sunday’s Inspiration: You Get Out of Life What You Put In

“You get out of life what you put in” – Katy Cook (Hull, England). Today’s Sunday’s Inspiration owes itself to one of my ex managers. Name checked: Katy Cook. From Hull in England. We worked together from 2006-2007 in London. I was a PR assistant for a global PR Agency called Bite Communications based at Read more about Sunday’s Inspiration: You Get Out of Life What You Put In[…]

coffee and cannabis cake amsterdam

Friday’s Featured Food: “Space Cake” and Coffee in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Twenty three years after my first trip to the Netherlands I was back. By this time, January 2014  serving “Cannabis Coffee” was now illegal in Amsterdam, allegedly. That’s right – something illegal in Amsterdam. You thought this was the city where anything goes. Not quite, but in fact even cannabis is illegal in Amsterdam. But Read more about Friday’s Featured Food: “Space Cake” and Coffee in Amsterdam, Netherlands[…]

jonny blair 100 countries

Working Wednesdays: Feature in the Ards Chronicle, Newtownards, Northern Ireland

This week has been a really, really busy one in my travel lifestyle. Last week I got a tweet out of the blue from a journalist from my birthtown of Newtownards. She writes for the Newtownards Chronicle, a weekly paper which oddly I once worked with the sister company/newspaper while doing my media course in Read more about Working Wednesdays: Feature in the Ards Chronicle, Newtownards, Northern Ireland[…]

leicestershire 2005

A Backpacker’s Guide To Buying a Home in Leicester, England

Exactly nine years ago this week, life took me to Leicester! It was a crazy journey from Warsaw to Loughborough and really early backpacking days for me. I was there attending a function as a University Student. Not just any function though – it was the National Student TV Awards and I collected 2 trophies Read more about A Backpacker’s Guide To Buying a Home in Leicester, England[…]

My Top 5 Backpacking Spots Not to Miss in England

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 Read more about My Top 5 Backpacking Spots Not to Miss in England[…]

Sunday’s Inspiration: 10 Ways to get Noticed (and the Day I…Scored a Hat-Trick)

“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 Read more about Sunday’s Inspiration: 10 Ways to get Noticed (and the Day I…Scored a Hat-Trick)[…]

Watching Football in Manchester, England Without a Season Ticket

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 Read more about Watching Football in Manchester, England Without a Season Ticket[…]

northern ireland newtownards

Friday’s Featured Food: Morning Coffee and Scones in Knotts, Newtownards, Northern Ireland

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 Read more about Friday’s Featured Food: Morning Coffee and Scones in Knotts, Newtownards, Northern Ireland[…]

The Foods To Try On A Trip To Croatia🇭🇷

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 Read more about The Foods To Try On A Trip To Croatia🇭🇷[…]

Happiness Begins at Home, Is Travel All It Cracked Up To Be?

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 Read more about Happiness Begins at Home, Is Travel All It Cracked Up To Be?[…]