Kiwi92

Romania. Land of the old Romany gypsy woman, and home to count Dracula. Not a holiday or travel destination. At least this is what a close minded nitwit would say. If you’ve read any of my other blogs you’ll know that I’m a sucker for cheap deals. If Ryanair fly there, you can almost guarantee that I’ve been. The best way to see the world is to go to the most obscure places, get out of your comfort zone and discover the unexpected and downright bizarre. Romania, Transylvania to be precise. Land of mountainous ranges, caves and rivers. Also home to a number of ridiculously funky bars. Which is where we spent most of our time. My friend Chloe and I flew into Bucharest, on the airline I hate to love. When we arrived, I did ... read more

There’s only one thing slightly more invigorating than travelling itself. And that’s influencing others to travel, and then see them enjoy it just as much as you do. When my friend Chloe and I decided to go on quick weekend break to Copenhagen, I must admit I was a bit dubious. I’m all about exploring new places and roughing it a bit. Chloe is more a 4-5 star kind of girl, staying on the beaten track. I wish I could have captured the look on her face when I said that I’d booked us into a youth hostel. But I’ve learnt to not judge books by their covers, and as it turns out Chloe was a bit of a dark horse. Our weekend began in the wee hours of the morning, as the best adventures always ... read more

We drove through Serbia and on to Kosovo from Bulgaria, through massive, hulking mountains, surrounding the clearest of lakes. We ducked in and out of cave like tunnels, holding our breath as we went through each one, like I used to do as a child. It was disarming; the beauty actually took me a back a bit because I wasn’t expecting it. It was times like this that I truly understood why I avoid the tourist places and try and find my own, hidden bits of paradise. My male asked me if I was wondering how many other people had seen this. I was thinking about that too, and I could count on one hand how many people I knew that had ever travelled to this part of the world. I felt a surge of excitement, ... read more

Being a travel agent in London, I get so sick of sending my clients to Tenerife or Malaga. So when I organise my own trips I am immediately drawn to the lesser known, more adventurous places. So for a couples weekend, rather than go to Paris or Rome I decided that we’d go to the Balkans – starting and ending in Macedonia. Macedonia is one of these places that is misconceived as being a terrible holiday choice. For that reason I obviously wanted to go, as I knew I would be able to avoid the average British tourist. We flew into Skopje, the capital of what is technically called the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. I know this because every time I called the country simply ‘Macedonia’ my Greek friend would kick me and then correct ... read more

When my GBF (Gay Best Friend) Emanuel said flippantly that we should go to his homeland of Israel, I don’t think he quite thought that I was being serious when I excitedly said yes. Nevertheless, he had made the offer, albeit an offhand one and I had accepted. I would never turn down a guided tour of a country that I had previously put on the ‘too dangerous’ list. We booked the flights before he could back out. For an added bonus after we booked the flights we realised that the Gay Pride week was on for the last weekend that we were there. I’m going to mix it up a bit and start this story from the end. My last weekend in Israel was fabulous. Actually no it was Fabulous. It deserves a capital letter. ... read more