Italy's largest lake, Lake Garda, is well known for its gorgeous scenery, pretty lakeside towns, and a refreshing, relaxing pace of life. If you've visited the lake before, you'll have seen plenty of tourists from other parts of Italy, Austria or Germany - usually with a car that's bursting with...

Verona is easily one of my favourite cities in Italy. It's sometimes overlooked by its more famous neighbour of Venice, but it still pulls in about 3 million visitors every year. If you only have one day in Verona, the goal is to navigate the crowds, skip the tourist traps,...

In my earlier post, a guide to the JR Pass, I was pretty upfront with my opinion on "is the JR pass worth it?". But now I want to put my money where my mouth is and show you what the maths looked like for both of my trips to...

In early October this year, I found myself sitting on a bike on top of a 4km long suspension bridge, nothing but water below me. I was soaking wet, my waterproof jacket having long given up on doing its job. My legs ached, one of my backpack straps was digging...

You've booked your bike, you've stuffed your packing cube, you've planned your stopover and now you're asking: How do I get to the Shimanami Kaido? Japan's famous cycle route runs between Onomichi and Imabari, and most cyclists start at either end. I've put together this Shimanami Kaido access guide to...

Introduction: Why Take the Sleeper Train? Taking the sleeper train in Thailand is a bit of a rite of passage for travellers in the country. Every year, millions of people use Thailand’s rail network, not just to get from A to B, but as part of the journey itself. When...

Arrival At 8:30am, I stepped into the hot, humid air of Bangkok to find my Grab driver in the Suvarnabhumi Airport carpark. After an overnight flight from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, I was exhausted. I fell asleep in the back of the car as we crawled through the morning traffic, waking as...

It's no secret that the Central Asian cuisine is very meat-heavy. I knew before travelling to Uzbekistan that it’d be hard to find vegan food in Tashkent or elsewhere. I assumed I'd likely be eating a lot of salad-and-fries combos, and had a pocket in my backpack stuffed with nuts...

Since 1992, Strasbourg has been officially dubbed the Capital of Christmas. Every year, the city's squares play host to 15 official Christmas markets, with over 300 market chalets. Strasbourg’s Christmas markets typically run from late November to late December. Strasbourg looks like a scene from a fairytale all year round,...

Note: This post was originally written on my previous blog and reflects the process as of July 2024. I've updated it slightly in April 2025 where needed, but always double-check official sources when booking! I have just spent the last 45 minutes trying to book a Bangkok to Chiang Mai...