When I arrived in Turkey, I had a list of three things that I simply had to do while I was there. 1. Explore Istanbul and its neighbourhoods, its food, its mosques and its awesomeness. 2. Take a hot air balloon ride over the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. 3. Visit the bizarre landscape of Pamukkale. As you know, I love visiting unique and bizarre destinations and Pamukkale would have to be my strangest one... 
After my terrifying run-in with the beast that is vertigo, I was desperate for some chill-out time to recover. Unfortunately for me, I had planned for a two week sailing trip around the coast of Turkey with Dave and some of his friends. What would be seen by most as a relaxing vacation was, to me, one of the scariest things I could ever agree to do. I suffer from severe sea sickness. And when I say severe... 
Sweat poured over my body as I gripped the edge of my bed in delirium, too afraid to open my eyes. Five seconds ago I had been sound asleep, peacefully dreaming. But now? Now, I felt like I was being spun violently in a washing machine, the bed having turned to jelly, my head pounding as if it was about to explode. Is this an earthquake? Am I drunk? … Am I dying? Is this all in my head? Driving my... 
I don’t like ruins. I mean, I really don’t like ruins. Years and years of being dragged from ruin to ruin by my parents on family holidays has generated a deep rooted desire to avoid anything mildly related to wandering in scoorching temperatures, staring at centuries-old piles of rocks. Rocks that looked a little bit like this. So when Dave and I decided to spend six weeks travelling around... 
I considered passing straight through Bulgaria and not making a single stop. Before arriving, the only thing I knew about the country was that it had appalling beaches full of resorts, with people covering every square metre of sand. That was definitely not somewhere I wanted to be. As desperate as I was to get to Istanbul and finally stop moving, I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t see any of... 
Arriving in Sighisoara is a bit like stepping back in time. This tiny medieval city of winding cobbled alleys, steep stairways and secluded squares was my last stop in Romania and ended up being the highlight. Sighisoara is like a prettier, smaller, quieter and slower version of Brasov. I got the impression that nothing here ever happens quickly and so I dutifully slowed down too. Meandering down towards... 
The first thing I saw was the sign. Huge, gleaming white letters beam down from the side of a mountain. Proudly displaying the city’s name for all to see, the Hollywood-style Brasov sign is literally unmissable. Originally named Stalin City after the Russians took over Romania in the 1940′s, Brasov’s mountain used to be home to several dozen Christmas trees arranged to spell out... 
Most people come to Transylvania for one reason. Dracula. The area’s largest city, Brasov is usually used as a base for which to explore Bran Castle. This is supposedly where Vlad the Impaler, who Dracula was based on, lived. We didn’t go. Instead, Dave and I decided to visit Rasnov Fortress, 15km outside of Brasov. This was for several reasons. The incredible views, the lack of tourists and... 
I was apprehensive about visiting Belgrade. Before arriving, I expected the city to be gritty and grey. I expected it to be covered in graffiti and filled with communist architecture. Belgrade was the place I knew least about in Eastern Europe and I wasn’t all that keen on spending much time there. It was more of a convenient stop off point between Bosnia and Romania, the two countries I was most... 
I had underestimated just how tiring my Interrail venture would be. Over the space of two weeks, I had spent time in Frankfurt, Prague, Bratislava, Eger, Budapest, Zagreb, Plitvice, Sarajevo and Mostar. Yep, nine cities in 14 days. At this mid-way point, both Dave and I were exhausted, burnt out and struggling to keep our enthusiasm levels at their usual high. Exploring a brand new city was beginning to... 
I really didn’t know what to expect from Sarajevo. I was apprehensive about visiting, knowing very little about the city aside from the siege of the 90′s that I vaguely remember from my childhood. I arrived exhausted and drained. The overnight train from Zagreb had no sleeper carriages, a broken window that blasted us with a constant stream of ice cold air and a couple of Bosnian women who... 
If you had asked me for my opinion on Budapest at any point over the previous year, you would have been met with an awkward silence and a lot of eye rolling. I visited Budapest in August last year and it was one of the most underwhelming cities I’ve been to. It was too big. It was dull. It felt like “just another European city” It was boring. I had no plans to return to Budapest but... 
When I read this post by Amanda about her time in the town of Eger in Northern Hungary, I honestly (and perhaps a little ignorantly) couldn’t believe somewhere so gorgeous existed in Hungary. I had felt extremely underwhelmed with my first visit to Budapest and Lake Balaton was like a terrible British seaside resort from the 60′s. Sadly, I couldn’t think of a single thing that I truly... 
I had high hopes for Bratislava. Due to time constraints, I hadn’t been able to visit in 2011 and so it was one of the first places I worked into my Interrail itinerary. I can’t even pinpoint why I wanted to visit. I arrived knowing very little about the city other than the fact that it’s extremely small and the beer is cheap. With visions in my head of a smaller version of my beloved... 
The pungent smell of ammonia filled my nostrils as I scanned the contents of the darkened room. Graffiti scrawled on a disused notice board, shattered wood from mutilated chairs scattered across the floor, broken vending machines casting a flickering light across the walls. What am I doing here? What is this place? I wandered towards the noticeboard pondering the faded scraps of paper left over from the... 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.
