If you are researching flights to Stockholm, you may well come across an airport called ‘Stockholm Västerås’, particularly if you are flying with love-it-or-hate-it airline, Ryanair. But, what you should know in this scenario is that Västerås is, …
Aurora Borealis: 7 Things To Know Before You Go
Experiencing the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is on many people’s bucket list and, when seen, they offer a tantalising display of nature at her most beautiful. But, seeking the notoriously elusive aurora can be a frustrating experience, which for many …
Copenhagen: Is it Europe’s Coolest City?
Few could disagree that Copenhagen is one of Europe’s coolest cities, if not the coolest. Somehow it manages to balance an old-world charm stemming back to childhood readings of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales, with Scandinavian designer chic.
Copenhagen—perched on …
5 Reasons to Ride a Segway around Prague
Hands up if you think that Segway tours are a bit lame.
I’ll admit that I have always been judgemental of people who take Segway tours, so when my friend suggested that we take one around Prague I was apprehensive …
Summer’s Coming, and I’m Going to Europe!
In June, heavy monsoon rains will saturate the streets of Mumbai, so I am doing what most other foreign teachers here do—leaving India for the summer. And what better place to go than Europe? In contrast to India, Europe is …
Around the World in 26 Letters: My Travel Alphabet
I’ve been travelling the world, on-and-off, for almost 16 years—ever since an adventurous 4 week train journey took me through Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic into Romania back in the days when they each had separate currencies. …
Why You Should Visit Stockholm in Winter
Visiting Stockholm between October and May is a thought that sends shivers down the spines of many, but in my opinion it is the nicest time to visit. Although the city comes alive in the summer (read my post about …
My Top 5 Wow-Factor Destinations
According to the dictionary, spectacular is an adjective that means ‘beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way’; synonyms of which are striking, picturesque, breathtaking, arresting, glorious, and my two favourites, sublime, and awesome. Awesome as in the Romantic poets’ …
So Long, Sweden! I’m Going To Miss You.
Four years ago I moved to Sweden; a country often associated with long, cold, snowy winters. But, little did I know that after the harsh winter Swedes are rewarded with beautiful summers where the sun shines all day long. In …
The Eden Project: A Rainforest Without Bugs!
If you want to experience the rainforest’s exotic flora and fauna, but are terrified of bugs, then the Eden Project is for you!
There are many cool things to do and see in Cornwall, but the Eden Project is highly …
7 Great Ways To Spend Summer in Stockholm
Stockholm is a summer city; its leafy parks, rocky beaches, and swathes of Baltic water that swirl around the city’s 14 islands all seem to have been designed for long summer days where the sky barely darkens.
Emerging from a …
Finding History and Nature in Gorgeous Gotland
In my last post I write about Visby, a perfectly preserved medieval town and UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Swedish island of Gotland; but the colourful labyrinthine alleys of this Baltic-blasted, cobbled town are not the only thing worth …
Visby: Sweden’s Perfectly Preserved Medieval Town
Swedes are travellers: roaming foreign lands is in their blood.
It is Viking blood, after all.
You’ll be hard pushed to travel far without running into a Swede or two. This is especially true of South East Asia, which …
Surprising Skopje, Macedonia
One thing travelling teaches you is the element of surprise.
Cities long-hailed as great places to visit can disappoint (Vienna, I’m looking at you), and places often ignored, turn out to be some of the most beautiful and inspiring (hello, …
What to do in Skopje When It Rains
You’ve just flown 3 hours south after a long, dark and exceptionally rainy Scandinavian winter, in the hopes of finding some spring sunshine only to step off the plane into colder, greyer, and wetter weather than you left behind.
That’s …
Life Advice From ‘The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty’
**Warning** This post contains spoilers, so if you haven’t seen The Secret Life of Walter Mitty turn off the computer right now, go and see it, and come back later.
From the first moment I saw a trailer for the …
My Upcoming Summer Plans
Now that the light is finally shining at the end of Sweden’s long, wintry tunnel, I am feeling the urge to climb out from under the thick duvet I have hidden under for the last 6 months and plan …
10 Awesome Movie Locations Around The World
When I travel I don’t deliberately seek out places that have been used as film locations, but every now and then I happen to stumble into one. Here is a round-up of the 10 best movie locations that I have …
Stockholm Winter Blues. Or, What Happens When the Snow Doesn’t Come.
Stockholm is a truly stunning city; that much has been established by pretty much any traveller to set foot on the cobbled stones of the Old Town. In the short summer months, boats chug across sparkling inlets that separate each …
The Highs and Lows of Searching for the Northern Lights
[mks_boxquote align=”right” width=”150″ arrow=”0″]”An obsession consumed me, and the more I saw, the more I wanted”[/mks_boxquote]Relentless blasts of icy wind grasped at the exposed skin of my cheeks, the only flesh not covered in layers of wool and …