Travel Diary

Here you'll find the latest and greatest stories from my travels; I've selected a few notable adventures to get you started. If want to dive right in for somewhere specific, check the full archive.

Featured from the blog: a few of my favourites.

Day 393 Zadar - Exploring Gun Emplacements And Pillboxes

On the road to Zadar I saw approximately twenty Italian World War II bunkers outside of the city and made a note of them on my map for a special adventure.

Day 384 Banja Luka - Gradiška (Introducing the Super Serb)

Boris took me for breakfast and insisted that I try Cockta, the Yugoslavian Cola. Before long we were at a Café enjoying a short black opposite the Mosque. Camellia stopped by with a second Boris. The new Boris told me about the book he had written documenting his travels through Scandinavia.

Day 380 Sarajevo - Mostar, Herzegovina - The Sniper Tower

There was one thing in particular that I wanted to explore and was the reason to come to Mostar; it is not the famous Stari Most bridge but rather the ruins of the Ljubljanska Banka which was used as a sniper tower in the mid 90s.

Day 377 Belgrade - NATO's Bombing of Serbia

Jelena explained to me her experience of growing up in Belgrade during the 90s. With Yugoslav troops in Kosovo, NATO responded by bombing Serbia and their capital, Belgrade. They bombed military buildings, a television broadcasting station and police buildings.

Day 374 Niš - The Tower of Skulls

"...As soon as I sat down, I looked up towards the monument and saw that its walls, which has seemed to be as if made of marble or of a white stone, were made of human skulls..."

Day 356 Berat - Sarande - Balkan Feast in Albania

Adi and I approached his home from the rear passing through his vegetable garden to the front veranda where they were drying tomatoes. Adi is in his 40s and lives with his parents, brother, sister-in-law and two nephews. They once owned a farm with land they could cultivate but it was taken from them and redistributed many years ago.

Day 348 Ulcinj - The abandoned salt factory

Brandon and I walked the 4km to Solana "Bajo Sekulic", the abandoned Salt flats and factory. Now a bird sanctuary, this was more of a bonus to the playground that was the factory. To stop poachers you have to sign in but then it's free reign.

Day 327 The Pyrenees

There's a trail out of the city and into the mountains; within a short space of time you can be in the wilderness. I planned a route using...

Day 325 Montserrat

My old housemate, Sam, said to me that if I visit Barcelona I must go to Montserrat, it's only an hour outside of the city and is really quite spectacular. I packed up my things, strapped my tent to my bag and caught a bus heading north-west.

Click for the full diary archive or check the most recent here:

Featured

Day 521-527 London

Sam and I took a stroll along Regent’s Canal starting from Camden heading towards King’s Cross Station. It’s quite lovely and escapes the hustle and bustle of the streets. Passing Gasholder Park provides a perfect stop outside what were formerly gasometers built in the...

Day 514-520 London

I had a fantastic reunion with Rory. Rory and I went to school together many years ago and we had plenty to catch up on. His voice sounded almost unchanged but was now richer and deeper in tone. His face had taken on new characteristics and...

Day 507-513 London

There was much excitement - I bought a new toy. Straight out of the box this is the first picture I took. I have hours, days and years of learning, practise and enjoyment ahead. The feeling of creativity and potential artistry was rising, something that hadn’t really been present before...

Day 500-506 London

A trip to the Royal Society: “The world's oldest independent scientific academy, dedicated to promoting excellence in science”

Day 493-499 London

It had been almost a year since I had seen Ian and Debbie in Donostia. Ian frequently DJs and this round was at the legendary 100 Club on Oxford Street; I couldn’t wait to go.

Day 486-492 London

One evening Steve said to me, “why don’t you explore London in the same way you approach other cities you travel in?” Growing up in the suburbs I rarely spent much time in the centre; now I can rediscover my own capital and find the hidden gems...

Day 479-485 London

Steve came back to the flat and exclaimed ”there’s a burnt-out BMW in the road opposite”. I had no idea that during the night there was, as the police reported, a suspected arson attack.

Day 472-478 London

Brighton c'est fini and it was back to London for me. Steve lent me his Nikon DSLR to practise with so I could get used to manual settings as my old point-and-shoot lacked the capacity. I was keen to try out a few long exposure shots at night where road traffic produces ribbons of light. I was starting to peer into a whole new world, right behind the lens.

Day 465-471 Brighton

Becky and Alex are among the finest people I know; I was super excited to see the lovable duo when they invited me for dinner. Thinking back to when I stayed with Becky one summer at University, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m a bit of a stray...