By the time we arrived in Tokyo, I was exhausted. My trip to Japan had a jam-packed itinerary, but with only stolen naps on bullet trains to make up for the onslaught of temple-seeking early mornings and sparkling sake-drinking evenings,…
There are people I know who love airports, claiming them to be like giant service stations full of food and entertainment. I couldn’t agree less. I power my way through them, earphones in (even if I’m travelling with somebody else), despairing…
Do you remember that sketch from Goodness Gracious Me about ‘going out for an English’? It played on the stereotypes we all play into when we ‘go’ for any regional cuisine in a restaurant but that nobody ever sits in…
Stepping out of my hotel on my first morning in Ostend, Belgium’s largest coastal town, my eyes eagerly scanned every wall, window and plant pot, knowing I was in the epicentre of one of Europe’s biggest street art festivals. Far…
After swearing off white wine for life, thanks to indulging heavily in cheap, vinegar-y plonk as a student, it took me a few years to take some tentative sips of the stuff again. Even now, I’m still wary, but I…
I remember sitting in a hostel bar in New Zealand near the end of my three-month solo trip and talking to a fellow backpacker, when they asked me a question that made me jolt: ‘So, what are you running away…
Looking for the best bargain meal in London? The Indian YMCA in Fitzrovia is open to the public and serves up home cooked food for a fraction of the price of its neighbours. I’m very much a bring-in-your-lunch sort when…
I’ve inadvertently ended up in a couple of geothermal areas of the world in the last six months, from the sulphur pools of Rotorua in New Zealand to the outdoor hot pools of Iceland, so a trip to…
It was the food that drew me to Japan in the first place. Ramen, sushi, katsu, yakisoba, teriyaki, tempura; a plethora of dishes I was desperate to try in their place of origin, but when I tried to plan where…