a journey of new beginnings
Driving deeper into the Icelandic wilderness the excitement on the bus was tangible: the atmosphere quickening with anticipation at every twist of the winding road. People clutched their cameras and stared at the opaque blackness beyond the windows; waiting for …
Steam rising from the milky blue water of the Blue Lagoon is probably the most iconic image of Iceland for many people. Indeed, it was one of the things that I knew I simply must do while in the country.…
There are two reasons why I wanted to visit Iceland: spectacular scenery and the Aurora Borealis, so when I found cheap flights to Reykjavik I didn’t hesitate to book them.
Initially, I wanted to hire a car and drive around …
Warning: This post will make you hungry!
I had not been travelling for long before I realised that my trip would become a culinary tour of Europe, devoted mainly to trying different, and amazing, new foods—even more so than experiencing …
In British English the word loo is a colloquial term for the toilet, so when my sister and her husband announced that they were moving to Looe—pronounced in the same way—they received a few sniggers and giggles.
My initial impression …
In May I wrote a post outlining my intended travel plans for the summer. Stunning Lake Bled in Slovenia was to be the glittering pinnacle of my trip. It was the place that I was most looking forward to; …
I haven’t written any posts about my trip to New York in January 2012. I don’t really know why not. I think maybe it’s because New York is just so familiar to everybody that it’s hard to find anything new …
After our brief and not particularly enjoyable stay in Dubrovnik, we travelled to Split. Currently there is no train that connects Dubrovnik with Split, so less than 24 hours after arriving we found ourselves back in Dubrovnik bus station …
Holding a crumpled map in one hand, and a bottle of luke-warm water from which I was stopping to take a mouthful every few minutes in the other, we staggered up the steep road—my backpack now seeming to weigh twice …
Pension Isa, our guesthouse in Mostar, is located in a narrow alleyway just off the main street, which is not very big itself. It is a tiny, unassuming alleyway, very easy to miss unless you are looking for it. The …
In the summer of 1992 I was a happy and carefree 13 year old. I spent long and sunny days playing with my friends. I cheered loudly when Andre Agassi beat a little-known Croatian player, to claim the Wimbledon title.…
After spending a few relaxing days in Timisoara, we booked a train to Belgrade – a city that we initially visited due to its convenient location en-route to Sarajevo.
It was a lazy Sunday and we arrived around noon.
The …
Timisoara was a detour on our trip. We were travelling from Budapest to Belgrade—a direct route, but I simply couldn’t be that close to Romania—my favourite European country—without stopping by for a few days.
Is it just me; or do all the cool things to do in Budapest begin with B?
Budapest is one of the most easy-going cities in Europe, everything seems designed to encourage relaxing and chilling out. And that is exactly …
It all started with a status that I put up on the Runaway Brit Facebook page.
“Couchsurfing: Yes or No?”
Before long I had received 31 comments, by far the most comments I have ever received on one status. I …
The ruins of Ephesus lie merely 20 kilometres from Kusadasi, the seaside city on Turkey’s sun-drenched south coast where I was relaxing for a few days after a busy week in Istanbul. It is a popular destination, particularly amongst …
One of my dreams is to own a guesthouse or a hostel, because the more I travel the more I see hostels that don’t seem to know what travellers actually want. So when I visited Vienna last week, I was …
As much as I enjoyed my day visiting the sights of Istanbul; it was not the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofya, or even the Basilica Cistern that was my favourite part of Istanbul.
No, by far the thing I …
After a few days in Istanbul that were spent largely lying around a swimming pool and eating lots of kebap, I finally managed to get myself out of Ortoköy—the busy neighbourhood that my friend Alex lives in—to do some exploring.…
The title of the post got your attention, huh?
Yes, I have a friend with benefits in Istanbul, but not the kind of benefits you might be thinking. You see, my friend Alex works in Istanbul, and as Istanbul is …