Runaway Brit - Teacher. Expat. Traveller.

A Surprise Birthday Trip to Budapest

February 10, 2020February 11, 2020 City Break, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Life, Tourist Attraction, Travelling budapest, city break, For Sale Pub, hungary, New York Palace

I left work on Friday with my bag packed for a surprise birthday trip. All I had been told was that the bus departed at 4pm and I would need my passport. Of course, I

Why You Should Visit the Bratislava Christmas Markets This Season

December 15, 2019December 15, 2019 Bratislava, City Break, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Bratislava, christmas market, market, Slovakia

Once again, Christmas—the most wonderful time of the year—is upon us; and Bratislava just burst into life with festive crooners singing jovially of snow, sleigh-bells and chestnuts roasting on open fires. Ridiculously cute wooden cabins

Cyprus: Birthplace of a Goddess

October 22, 2019October 25, 2019 Europe, Featured, Nature, Tourist Attraction, Travelling cyprus, Greece

Most people visit Cyprus during the summer, but you shouldn't avoid this charming Mediterranean island during low season. Known for being the birthplace of Aphrodite: the Goddess of Beauty, Cyprus has much to love -

Why I Love Working in Europe (And Never Want to Leave)

October 14, 2019October 15, 2019 Advice, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Life, Teaching, Working Overseas europe, expat, international teaching, living overseas, teaching overseas

Recently, I've been reflecting on why I love living in Europe out of all the places I could go. And, yes: publishing this post as Britain perches precariously on the brink of Brexit is ironic.

Winter Break: Malta

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019 City Break, Europe, Expat, Featured, Travelling city break, Malta

Here in Central Europe, summer hangs on a thread. The long, light evenings are closing in, the sun's warmth is fading fast, and I'm already thinking back to my first holiday of the year in

Shifting My Paradigm

September 27, 2019September 30, 2019 Featured, Friends and Family, Life, Relationships changes, life, Life Lessons

When I've reached a grand old age and, like any self-respecting old lady, I am surrounded by an army of cats, I will look back over my life, and remember the following things: living in

Košice, Slovakia: Try Once, Love Forever

October 13, 2018October 13, 2018 City Break, Europe, Featured, Health & Fitness, History, Tourist Attraction, Travelling biela noc, Kosice, marathon, peace marathon, Slovakia, white night

Home of Europe's Oldest Annual Marathon Slovakia is an underrated travel destination; most people I meet have never heard of it, and could not point it out on a map, so it was surprising to learn

Goodbye, Serendipity

August 18, 2018August 18, 2018 Asia, Beaches, Featured, Heartbreak, Life, Relationships, Travelling cambodia, heartbreak, love, occheuteal, relationships, serendipity, sihanoukville

In March 2008 I visited a place that changed my life. Of course, back then bracing myself for every bump in the dusty road I had no idea where the rusted bus careening wildly along

Europe Travel: Eight Lakes in Six Days

July 24, 2018August 13, 2018 Europe, Featured, Nature, Tourist Attraction austria, balaton, bled, bohinj, europe, Hallstatt, heviz, hungary, lake, lake bled, mondsee, Slovakia, slovenia, wolfgangsee, zlaty piesky

"What do you want to see on our trip around Europe?" I asked my friend. "Mountains, lakes, or beaches" came the reply. Lakes, it is then. Because Europe is so compact, one of the best

Reinvention, Promotion, and a Whole Load of Summer Travel

June 30, 2018June 30, 2018 Featured, Life, Relationships heartbreak, life, travel

If you have read my blog for some time, you may have noticed that I have been absent for a while. On the other hand, maybe, you have not. Either way, it has been five

Heartbreak and Healing in the Holy Land

March 4, 2018October 4, 2019 Featured, Relationships broken heart, heartbreak, Israel, Jordan, life, relationships

"May I have your passport, please?" asked the man at the hotel's dingy reception desk. "Certainly." Smiling brightly, I handed it over. "And the other one?", he asked. "Um, there is no other one. It's just

10 of the Best European Old Towns to Visit this Spring

February 10, 2018February 10, 2018 City Break, Europe, Featured, History, Top Ten, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Bratislava, Budva, corfu, dubrovnik, gamla stan, Hallstatt, mostar, Old Towns, prague, Slovakia, stockholm, tallinn, Trencin

Who doesn't love visiting a Historic Old Town? My teaching career has shuttled between Europe and Asia on more than a few occasions: I moved from the UK to Vietnam in 2007, Vietnam to Sweden

Help! How Should I pack for Tanzania?

January 27, 2018January 27, 2018 Featured, Travelling Tanzania

This time next week I will be in Tanzania. Other than a package holiday in Tunisia many years ago, Africa is a completely new continent to me. I am simultaneously jumping for joy about the

A Snowy Weekend in the Tatra Mountains, Slovakia

January 15, 2018January 15, 2018 Bratislava, City Break, Europe, Expat Life, Featured, Nature, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Bratislava, Slovakia, Tatra mountains, Tatras, Tatrasky

A few weeks ago, I was tired of the rainy, grey, city sky. I desperately wanted blue sky, crisp air, and plenty of snow. I longed to see mountains; and for that, I would have

Gazing into the Blue Eye, Albania

January 1, 2018January 1, 2018 Europe, Featured, Nature, Top Ten, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Albania, Blue Eye, pool, Syri i Kalter, water

The unbelievably clear water of Syri i Kalter (‘Blue Eye’) in the South of Albania is beautiful, but it is not easy to reach. You have two options: 1) a laborious 5-hour journey along dilapidated

Čachtice: The Castle of the Bloody Countess

November 17, 2017November 19, 2017 Bratislava, Europe, Featured, History, Tourist Attraction, Travelling ?achtice, Elizabeth Bathory, Slovakia

It’s on a frigid Sunday in late October that I find myself climbing towards the ruins of a 13th Century limestone castle in Čachtice, Slovakia. Battling a bitter wind I draw my coat closer around

Hévíz: Bathing in Hungary’s Healing Thermal Lake

November 4, 2017November 4, 2017 City Break, Europe, Featured, Health & Fitness, Nature, Tourist Attraction, Travelling heviz, hungary, spa, thermal lake, wellness

If you’ve been to Budapest then maybe you visited Széchenyi thermal baths; but did you know that with over 1,000 hot springs, Hungary boasts more medicinal spas than any other European country? What’s more, it

A Year in the Life of an International Teacher

July 15, 2017July 15, 2017 Bratislava, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Travelling, Working Overseas austria, bojnice, Bratislava, castle, cornwall, expat, heviz, hungary, iceland, international teaching, lake, looe, mountain, salzburg, Slovakia

I often get people asking me about life as an international teacher, so to honour 10 years of living overseas I have put this post together to show you what a year in my life

Spring in Bratislava is a great time to visit!

April 3, 2017April 3, 2017 Bratislava, City Break, Europe, Expat Life, Featured, Health & Fitness, Travelling Bratislava, expat, expat life, Slovakia, spring

Readjusting to a European winter after two years of perpetual spring/summer in India has been harder than I thought. I’m not sure why, because I like winter. For the last few months in Mumbai I’d

Boulanger & Patissiere: Bratislava’s Macaron Masterclass

March 19, 2017March 19, 2017 Bratislava, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Food and Drink Boulanger & Patissiere, Bratislava, cooking class, macaron, Slovakia

I’ve always liked the look of a dainty, brightly coloured, meringue macaron. You know, the ones that you see piled delicately on silver platters in fancy cake shops? They look exquisite, but as I'm more