budget travel – Travelling Without Footprints

Greyhound Throws Our Climate Under the Bus

Skimming through my newsfeed this week I noticed a stream of posts involving ‘Greyhound’ and ‘Adani’. So, what’s the story behind them all? I was just about to publish my next blog: ‘A Guide to Not Flying (Australia)’, which featured a large section on sustainable bus, train and hire-care companies in Australia, with a hugeContinue reading “Greyhound Throws Our Climate Under the Bus”

Ferry or Fly? Travelling Helsinki to Stockholm by Boat

When planning my route from city to city, checking for flights is my last resort. First I check for trains, buses, share cars and ferries. I assumed that all these forms of transport would surely be better than flying. I recently discovered this may not always be the case. Recently Daisy (my sister), Corey (myContinue reading “Ferry or Fly? Travelling Helsinki to Stockholm by Boat”

Albania Part 2: hiking the Valbone Pass

There are certain moments when you truly understand the meaning of the words ‘mesmerising’, ‘breathtaking’ and ‘incredible’. For a while, as you float through, they are used fleetingly; in writing they become a cliche, almost too overused to write. But, every now and then you experience the meaning; you feel that definition somewhere within andContinue reading “Albania Part 2: hiking the Valbone Pass”

Travelling Albania Part 1: People and houses

Although Albania is a small country, I have managed to write pages and pages about it. So, I’ve had to split them into a series of short blogs. This is part 1 of 2 (so far). People Firstly I have to talk about the Albanian people. Their hospitality, kindness, friendliness and smiles are almost unparalleledContinue reading “Travelling Albania Part 1: People and houses”

A Brief History of Albania: Part 1

Albania’s history is probably the most confusing of any country I’ve ever visited, but, for this reason I find it the most fascinating. From the 6th Century until 1992 the country never really experienced true freedom. Putting this into perspective, Albania only opened up its borders to trade 27 years ago. A hostel owner inContinue reading “A Brief History of Albania: Part 1”

Roadtrip scrabbles

When someone asks me what I had for breakfast I pause for minutes, delving into the depths of my brain trying to pull out the image of my most recent meal. That picture of me spreading jam over my toast must be lost, lodged between the memory of last night’s bolognaise and last week’s cereal.Continue reading “Roadtrip scrabbles”

Sleepy Barcelona

My phone says its 35 degrees but the sweat dripping through my hair, down my forehead and accumulating beneath my 20kg backpack says otherwise. I’ve just stepped off the air-conditioned train into the haze of Barcelona. Steam rises from the rooftops of graffiti-covered buildings, from the rubbish littered footpaths and from cigarettes tucked under whiteContinue reading “Sleepy Barcelona”