“The tunnel of love might amuse you, Noah’s Ark might confuse you” – Richard Thompson. The idea of this trip overland/oversea/undersea was an amalgamation of factors. Firstly because recently I got so fed up with airlines. Every single trip I have done since 2021 has had at least one flight delay, cancellation or change. In…
Read More“We’re from Bournemouth, sunny sunny Bournemouth” – Cherriesðfans. I have backpacked Bournemouth (Dorset, England) almost as many times as I have backpacked Belfast and Bangor! I spent 6 glorious years living in this marvellous seaside town before deciding to emigrate in 2009. I haven’t lived in either England or Northern Ireland since taking that plunge…
Read MoreThe Day I Did A COVID PCR Test At Windsor Park, The National Football Stadium In Dominica “Cold cold heart – hard done by you. Some things look better, baby, just passing through” – Elton John. Northern Ireland play their home matches at Windsor Park in Belfast. I’ve been watching them there for 5 decades…
Read MoreZanzibar is one of those countries that has introduced a mandatory travel insurance. This means to backpack it, you MUST have their travel insurance, not yours, not Jimmy’s and not Sally’s! As a backpacker who hates travel insurance and refuses to pay it, after companies stiched me up so many times two decades ago, it…
Read More“We are not born for departure, but we do learn to take it” – R.E.M. In the last 20 years of backpacking the world, only TWO countries charged me for departure tax to be paid in cash at the airport when leaving…and the shitlist reads… 1.New Zealandð³ð¿. 2.Sierra Leoneð¸ð±. Of course they are not my…
Read More“Go West, life is peaceful there” – Pet Shop Boys. In December 2024, Marek Bladowski and I had a wild dream to backpack to the western most point of Saharan Africa. What even is that? Is there even a point where such a place exists and publicises itself? We dream up the wild things. Life…
Read More“After all, you’re my Wonderwall” – Noel Gallagher. In 2022, I finally stopped and visited Hadrian’s Wall (Haidy’s W). I had of course passed it manys a time but this was my first time to stop, walk it, stand on it, understand it and backpack it! This is NOT the border between England and Scotland…
Read More“Illusion never changed into something real” – NI *. There are obviously loads of roads and border crossings between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and I’ve crossed that border about 100 times I’d say, given my list of visits to each country. I’ve crossed by bus, train, foot and car. This includes the…
Read MoreWorld Borders: How To Get From Italy ð®ð¹ To Seborga ðð©µð¤ð𸠖 Local Minibus From Bordighera “I know the roads on which your life will drive” – Noel Gallagher. I thought it would be a wild one. I knew it would be a wild one. Yet despite all that, and my years of backpacking ð…
Read More“Why do anything, when you can’t forget everything?” – Manic Street Preachers. There are obviously loads of roads and border crossings between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and I’ve crossed that border about 100 times I’d say, given my list of visits to each country. It was commonplace as a kid on holidays…
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