There’s nothing like an English breakfast. Admittedly, the Americans do their best, bless them, but they get the bacon all wrong, and have a strange obsession with syrup. Also, from what I can tell, a phobia of baked beans in the morning, a staple of the classic English breakfast. The Europeans (I am aware the UK is in Europe, but we often gloss over this with us vs them … [Read more...]
Staying in Paris with Homestay
I’m thrilled to say that we’ve recently signed on to become Homestay ambassadors. What does this mean? Well, we’re going to be using the Homestay service in various destinations around the world, and then sharing our stories, adventures, and thoughts with you guys. In case you’re not familiar with Homestay, here’s a quick brief. Homestay is a service that lets you find … [Read more...]
Experiencing Arabian Hospitality with Rotana in Dubai
When I had a real job that involved me wearing a suit and tie every day, I spent two and a half years living in a major brand chain hotel as a result of a project I was on. When it got to the point where I was invited to the staff Christmas party, I realised that perhaps it was time to move on with my life. Although I did have some pretty excellent holidays thanks to all the … [Read more...]
How to stay in a Villa for less than the price of a Hostel
When I lived in the UK, friends and I would often band together and go on holidays to giant houses in remote parts of the country, including the Scottish Highlands or the Lake District. We usually hired extravagantly huge houses for these adventures. I remember one on a 10,000 acre estate which came complete with its own Scottish Loch (prehistoric monster as an optional … [Read more...]
Relaxing in Vougliameni, Athens
I recently had the pleasure of popping down to Athens for a few days, ostensibly to take part in the Travel Trade Athens show, but also to have a bit of fun exploring this city. Since it’s the place where Western civilisation started and one which somehow I have never visited, I leapt at the chance to explore, and even tacked on a few days to my itinerary to take in a few … [Read more...]
No Hablo Espagnol: A Homestay.com Experience
When we went to a travel blogging conference in Dublin last year, we met some folks of an interesting new company, who built a website that lets you find and book homestays all over the world via the internet. But they are not just a search engine – their unique approach is that all the hosts they work with have been certified through them, either by a local … [Read more...]
A warm welcome in Copenhagen at the Absalon Hotel
I like warm weather. This fact should be apparent by the destinations I’ve covered in the blog, and the way that they rarely seem to include snow, or ice. Other than that trip around New Zealand, where poor timing meant we occasionally saw some actual snow. So when I booked my trip around a number of Scandinavian countries in March, it was with high hopes of a beautiful … [Read more...]
Tips for sleeping on a plane
A lot of people tell me that they have difficulty sleeping on planes. Well, I’m here to tell you today that sleeping on a plane is easy. You just need to find the right plane. Here’s a quick rundown of four tips to know you’ve found a plane that is going to offer a good nights sleep: Find a plane with no engines. This is likely to be much quieter than a normal plane, as … [Read more...]
Lub d Siam Square: Hostel review
You know what’s nice? Sandwiches. Sandwiches are nice. Well, apart from the ones that are sold at or near train stations in the UK, which are enough to make the Earl who invented this remarkable treat terribly sad. Were he still around to be terribly sad that is, which he isn’t. The thing about sandwiches is that wherever you are in the world, they follow a nice … [Read more...]
Laytrang Resort – a Thai diet on the Andaman Coast
There’s one serious problem in Thailand: the food is just too good. Okay, so maybe that’s not a problem for people who don’t enjoy eating very much (where are you folks? Haven’t met any of you yet!), but Loz and I certainly don’t belong to that group. And Thailand is mean, my friends: tasty stuff everywhere. There’s hardly a street without a multitude of tiny carts, loaded … [Read more...]
A review of Nern Chalet – a bit of luxury in Hua Hin
Accommodation is part of travelling. You go abroad to explore foreign countries, their food, their culture – or you might just want to relax. This is much easier on a nice beach and with a change of scenery than at home, next to the dirty laundry that needs doing. Accommodation has to be sorted out, but isn’t really part of the reason why you go on a holiday. Nevertheless, … [Read more...]
Viva Chiang Mai: a homestay review
Heat. Waves of the stuff. It was a prevailing theme on our bus trip up to Chiang Mai. Sure, the bus had air conditioning, but this particular bus had more pressing concerns to worry about than keeping its passengers cool. For example: getting its passengers to their destination. The bus we had chosen for the trip was perhaps not the most robust of creatures. An hour into the … [Read more...]
Hanging out with Lub d in Bangkok: a review
Industrial. It’s not necessarily a word I’d normally use to describe a place to sleep. Instead, I might associate it with somewhere like a steel mill. And experience has taught me that generally a place for making steel doesn’t normally make a relaxing place to sleep. Ok, I haven’t actually racked up that particular experience, but I’m fairly certain of the theory. In the … [Read more...]
Taking some time to relax with @Naturaki in Costa Brava
I may have mentioned in the odd post recently that Vera and I have been down in Spain, attending a travel blogger conference and then being whisked around the incredible Catalan region with the folks from Visit Costa Brava. The travel blogging conference itself was pretty epic, with two long days of workshops and networking events, as well as three evening parties. Fun, and … [Read more...]