DougRattray

I stayed in The Green Tortoise Hostel last time I was in Seattle seven years ago and in my opinion it’s still the best hostel I’ve stayed in. I’m not sure what it is, but something about the atmosphere in that place makes people a lot more welcoming (this may have something to do with the designated weed smoking room at the back of the common room). Within two minutes of my 11pm arrival I was playing Cards against Humanity with a random assortment of Swiss, Germans, Austrians and a guy from Cambridge. If you've never played it before, it’s a really offensive and hilarious card game in which everyone matches a different answer card to a statement card. Funniest one wins (although one or two of the answers were lost on some of the non ... read more

I'd been listening to the audiobook of The Martian for the last two days whilst wondering around and was desperate to see it. So after arriving in Chicago on a seven hour bus ride from Detroit (which included being held up a couple of times by marching bands taking part in the Columbus day parade), I dumped my stuff in the hostel and wandered up through the city in search of a movie theatre. I was expecting the uncomfortable cinema seats you get in UK cinemas but was presently surprised to see the whole place was filled with big, comfy Lazyboy style chairs. I have to admit that I nearly fell asleep, not because the movie was bad, just that I'd spent the whole day squashed on a sweaty bus. Afterwards I tried (but didn't succeed) ... read more

It took me 14 hours to get from the hostel in Reykjavik to The Planet Traveler hostel in Toronto. As I was checking in I was invited out for a drink with the guys checking in behind me. This sort of set the scene for my stay in Toronto. Firstly I can't recommend the Planet Traveler hostel enough. It's only £16/night and that includes a huge breakfast and as much popcorn, rice and hot drinks as you like. The layout of the place seems to intentionally make people sit together so you inevitably end up talking with each other. It wasn't long before I was sat on the roof terrace bar drinking cider and playing giant jenga with a German named Matthew and a Portuguese guy called Nuna. Despite the jetlag kicking in I managed to ... read more

Things didn't start well, I'd had a bad night's sleep but Lou was coming down with something and feeling really bad. Everything felt a bit surreal (especially saying goodbye to Lou), sort of like it wasn't really happening. Soon I was waiting for a bus to take me to Rugby where I could jump on a train to Birmingham International. Whilst waiting for the bus an old boy with a dog on a string and a can of special brew (it was 9am) came over for a chat which turned out to be quite fun. He told me about his travels in the Middle East and just how important it is that I get some good boots. For some reason talking to the most stereotypical drunk hobo you could imagine made it hit home. This is ... read more

After 3 days on the beach in Krabi it was time to get back to city life with two nights on the Island of Penang and another two in Kuala Lumpar (or KL as the locals like to call it). Penang is a fairly small island of the Northwest coast of Malaysia. The population of Malaysia is mainly Muslim and because of that the cost of Alcohol is roughly 3 times that of Thailand (actually about the same price as in the UK but I’ve been getting used to cheep booze over the past few months. Next door to our hotel in Penang was a mosque. Normally I’m quite happy to go along with most local customs and respect people’s religious beliefs but the 05:50 call to prayer was pushing my tolerance levels a little. We ... read more