3 Years ago today the British Foreign Office urged travellers to get home as air routes and borders started to shut down, worldwide travel restrictions were imposed and people were forced into lockdowns. All without any rational justification and against all established clinical and pandemic response best practice at the time. This must never be allowed to happen again. At the beginning of March 2020 none of us knew our worlds were about to change. As news about the scariest super plague to ever hit mankind spread, country after country began to close its borders, air routes were slowly shut ..read more

Elephant trekking, elephant riding and other forms of exploitative elephant tourism is now rightly considered unethical and irresponsible. But what effect have a decade of boycotts and change had on the travel industry and what comes next for elephant tourism? Almost a decade ago now I wrote about how travellers should stop riding elephants in a post that went – for me at the time – pretty viral. And it had an effect. A big one. At the time elephant riding or elephant trekking was seen as a normal thing to do. It was still touted as a huge bucket list item for travellers and sold as packages ..read more

South east Asian street food can legitimately claim to be some of the best cuisine in the world. It is literally famous for being a foodie paradise! But with so much to choose from how do you know what dish to go for? Don’t worry, here are the absolute best street food dishes in south east Asia to help you choose! From Pad Thai to Nasi Lemak, backpackers have raved about street food in south east Asia for decades, so it is hardly surprising that the region has become well known for it! I remember my very first night on my very first gap year, arriving in Khao San Road starving after a long fl ..read more

This is a paid article written in partnership with AloSIM, with products or services supplied by them. Full editorial integrity is maintained at all times. The views and opinions expressed are entirely the authors own based on personal experiences when travelling and are honest and factual without any bias. Staying online while travelling the world is more important than ever before, and eSims are a perfect way to stay connected to local networks without hassle, fuss or expensive roaming charges! Here is your ultimate guide to eSims and using them while travelling. Long gone are the halcyon ..read more

I have been travelling the world now for 25 years and so much has changed in that time. Travel is easier, it is more open and more people are doing it, and that is all amazing, but so much has been lost along the way. Maybe it is time we all looked back to the heyday of backpacking in the nineties and noughties and returned to a more simple way of travelling the world. At the start of the movie ‘The Beach’, that quintessential backpacker call to arms that played on every bar’s dodgy DVD big screen in Koh San Road in the early 2000s, the main character laments the drunken tourists hopping from ..read more

The last few years have been hell for travellers, with a mass campaign of fearmongering over the pandemic and an unforgiveable curtailment of a lot of human and civil rights, as well as personal freedoms. But travellers have weathered the storm and the world is for the most part fully open again. Here’s hoping 2023 is the year travel really returns to normal for everyone. Things aren’t getting off to the best of starts. The United States still thinks it has the moral authority to override personal consent and demand proof of vaccination to enter, with the TSA continually extending their manda ..read more

Liverpool is one of the best city break destinations in the world, and has a fantastic array of hotels as well as boutique and budget accommodation options on offer no matter what your needs or budget. Here are just some of the best places to stay in Liverpool for your next trip. Travellers are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing somewhere to stay in Liverpool. No matter if you are on a tight hostel level budget, indulging in a little bit of flashpacker hotel luxury or are looking for something unique or boutique in the mid range budget, there are so many options to choose from it can ..read more

The Holiday Inn City Centre Liverpool is a budget chain hotel that stands out from the crowd. Delivering reliable comfort and value right in the heart of the city with a unique Liverpudlian personality and services above and beyond what you would expect from a brand chain, it easily competes with lifestyle and boutique hotels far outside its price range. This is a paid article written in partnership with the Holiday Inn Liverpool City Centre with products or services supplied by them. Full editorial integrity is maintained at all times. The views and opinions expressed are entirely ..read more

Visiting a Welsh seaside town outside of the glorious sunshine of the summer months may seem like madness, but don’t miss out on visiting Llandudno in Autumn! Sea views, spectacular culture and traditional seaside fun, Llandudno really is an amazing destination any time of the year and there is still so much to see and do in the Autumn off season, but without the crowds and the costs! Llandudno is one of North Wales – and the UK’s – most popular seaside destinations, full of old fashioned charm and nostalgia, with beautiful Art Deco architecture, fish and chips on the pier and some spectacula ..read more

Halloween is a great time to visit the UK, from modern horror frightfests and the ghostly goings on at heritage attractions to the celebration of ancient Pagan and Celtic traditions, there are some amazing places to scare yourself silly. here are just 10 of the best spine tingling destinations in the UK to celebrate Halloween. Happy Halloween! As the pumpkins start to get carved and the horror movies get replayed over and over, a distinctly spooky atmosphere descends over the country as people look for spooky and frightful experiences to give them a good old fashioned scare. From haunted inns ..read more