With Covid still limiting overseas travel, I have travelled locally in Sweden over the past few months. Recently, I’ve been to Sundsvall, Västerås, Kristianstad and Stockholm. My favourite trip, however, was Åre, a lakeside ski-resort
Continue ReadingCategory: Travelling

Malmö: Sweden’s Gateway to Europe
As the gateway to Europe, Malmö 's youthful, cosmopolitan vibe is distinctive from other Swedish cities. During the summer, tourists flood the city beach, and residents stroll through leafy parks or run along the beachfront
Continue Reading
Eating My Way Around the US
With my visit to the US coinciding with the fourth of July, I hoped to experience at least two of the 'four Fs' that form the tip of the cultural iceberg: food and festivals. I'm
Continue Reading
Kayaking on the Danube in Bratislava
Peeping through the trees ahead of me, the iconic shape of the castle reminds me that although I am kayaking in the countryside, I’m actually still in the city. That’s the beauty of Bratislava, one
Continue Reading
Lofoten: A Winter’s Dream
Waking long before daylight, we found our car concealed beneath the icy shroud of the first winter snowfall. Once outside and puffing impatiently into my hands to enjoy a momentary sensation of warmth, I opened
Continue Reading
A Surprise Birthday Trip to Budapest
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
Continue Reading
Why You Should Visit the Bratislava Christmas Markets This Season
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
Continue Reading
Cyprus: Birthplace of a Goddess
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 -
Continue Reading
Winter 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
Continue Reading
Košice, Slovakia: Try Once, Love Forever
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
Continue Reading
Goodbye, Serendipity
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
Continue Reading
10 of the Best European Old Towns to Visit this Spring
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
Continue Reading
Help! How Should I pack for 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
Continue Reading
A Snowy Weekend in the Tatra Mountains, Slovakia
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
Continue Reading
Gazing into the Blue Eye, Albania
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
Continue Reading
Čachtice: The Castle of the Bloody Countess
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
Continue Reading
Hévíz: Bathing in Hungary’s Healing Thermal Lake
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
Continue Reading
A Year in the Life of an International Teacher
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
Continue Reading
Spring in Bratislava is a great time to visit!
Readjusting to a European winter after two years of perpetual 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
Continue Reading
Orava Castle: Inside the Lair of a Vampire
The flickering, grainy image of a hunched figure creeping up a silhouetted staircase, his claw-like hand extending towards a shadowed door, is an iconic piece of cinema history belonging to the 1922 German Expressionist movie,
Continue Reading