It was 2am on my first night in Hualien when I was awoken by a loud thud followed by muttered cursing and then relative silence again. Wondering if I was about to be killed I stared into the darkness, straining my ears, listening for more noises. Within minutes I could hear a faint whimpering and what sounded like a person dragging themselves along the floor. I gasped in horror as the quivering silhouette... 
Looking more like a lake than a pond, Lotus Pond is Kaohsiung’s relaxing getaway inside the city. It is an entirely man-made body of water with over twenty bizarre looking temples surrounding the waters edge. It gets its name from the fact that it is almost always coated with a layer of lotus blossom. I’d read online that it was possible to walk to the park but upon arriving at the closest... 
I hadn’t heard of Sun Moon Lake before arriving in Taiwan and I stumbled upon it by complete accident when I was researching where to go after Taipei. It looked beautiful and I instantly put it right at the top of my list of places to visit. However, I soon found out that it is not a destination for the budget traveler as I was unable to find anywhere to stay for under £100 a night! The only way to... 
From the moment I landed in Taiwan I heard nothing but amazing things from everyone I met about how amazing the Taiwanese are. I was a bit skeptical at first and the intimidating language barrier prevented me from making much of an effort with the locals. However, I soon experienced it for myself when I arrived in Taichung. Due to a mix up caused by me buying the wrong train ticket and ending up arriving... 
Some of my best travel experiences have been completely unexpected experiences where I’ve ended up in an amazing place by complete chance, mostly due to my terrible sense of direction. After spending over a week in Taipei, I’d seen everything I wanted to and so decided to go to the nearest subway station and pick a random stop to get off at to see what I could find. Having not yet visited a... 
Taipei is the land of themed restaurants. After visiting the Hello Kitty restaurant on my first day in Taiwan, I quickly developed an obsession with these restaurants and made it my mission to visit as many as possible during my time here. A quick search online showed me that there were hundreds of them to choose from, and I got to compiling my list of must-visit places. Next stop: the hospital themed... 
Peace Park in Taipei is one of most relaxing places I’ve ever visited. After surviving my first week in the unfamiliar chaos of Taipei I was desperately craving somewhere to escape and chill out for a few hours before I went crazy. I accidentally stumbled across Peace Park – the oldest park in Taipei. The purpose of Peace Park is to remember the massacre that took place in Taiwan in 1947,... 
First of all let me state that I despise Hello Kitty. I am not 5 years old. I don’t understand why people my own age have such an obsession with it… So how on earth did I find myself in the Hello Kitty restaurant of Taipei excitedly ordering a cartoon cat shaped cake? Good question. Taipei is known for having a huge amount of themed restaurants in the city, and I had made it my aim to visit as... 
It was the one thing that made me seriously reconsider my decision to leave England behind to travel the world. The thing that I was most worried about facing and the only thing that had frequently reduced me to tears in the run-up to my departure. My nemesis. I spent 6 weeks in Eastern Europe avoiding the inevitable and living in denial. My subconscious mind would not let me forget about it; I found... Posted by .
In July 2011 I left England for what was supposed to be a one year trip around the world. Within a few months of leaving I knew that a year would never be enough. I now work online and travel permanently, seeking misadventures in unique, beautiful and fascinating places. Read more.
I'm here to show you how not to travel. Since I've been on the road I've been "poked" during a massage in Bangkok, punched a scammer in Shanghai, been attacked by monkeys in Bali, sat next to a dead woman on a boat in Laos and so much more. I call these The Incidents and you can see a full list of them here.
