Ultimate Trip Planner | How to Get the Most Out of Your Backpacking Budget

April 14, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 2 Comments

I’m a firm believer that travel does not have to be expensive. In fact, there’s something freeing about stuffing a handful of ragged clothes into a backpack, sleeping in hammocks and eating street food. Therefore, I want to share my backpacking trip planner and show how I make the most of my backpacking budget, so that all you like-minded budget backpackers out there can save on travel costs and take your adventures even further. Read more

11 Great Japanese Novels in English to Read on Your Trip

April 10, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 6 Comments

When I read Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood during a trip to Japan, both the trip and the book sparked a fascination with Japanese novels that has stayed with me ever since. This list was meant to be a top five, but I simply couldn’t choose! So instead, here are 11 great Japanese writers and the their books, available in English, that make great travel buddies for a trip to Japan. Read more

5 Cool Used Bookstores in Los Angeles You Need to Visit

April 6, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 4 Comments

Shopping for books may not be the first thing that pops into your head when you think about visiting Los Angeles, but you may be surprised. Local Angeleno Maggie Torsney-Weir shares her guide to the best quirky bookshops and used bookstores in Los Angeles, from children’s books to travel tomes, to independent bookstores that have become LA literary institutions, such as the iconic The Last Bookstore: Read more

The 7 Best Cenotes in Mexico: Cancun, Tulum, Playa & More

April 3, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 3 Comments

One essential thing to do when visiting Cancun, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Chichen Itza, or pretty much anywhere in the Yucatan region of Mexico, is to go cenote diving. Therefore, I’ve asked the travel bloggersphere for their recommendations on the best cenotes in Mexico, from the Gran Cenote in Tulum to the Ruta de los Cenotes along the Riviera Maya.

And they didn’t disappoint! Here are the 7 best cenotes in Mexico: Read more

The Best Birmingham Bookshops for New and Secondhand Books

March 17, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 5 Comments

My passport may be bursting at the seams, but I’m definitely guilty of ignoring what’s in my own back yard. So, since I’ve been back in Birmingham (UK, not US), I’m making it my mission to explore my home city a little more, starting with my favourite places to visit – bookstores! Here’s my list of the best Birmingham bookshops for new and secondhand books, from comic book stores to independent bookshops selling used books; where you can find your next Brummy read: Read more

Lake Bacalar | Things to do at Bacalar Lagoon, Mexico

February 18, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 5 Comments

travel Lake Bacalar, also known as the Lake of Seven Colours, is one of the most beautiful places I visited during my three months in Mexico (and maybe ever). From swimming with fishes in the Cenote Azul and taking part in watersports and activities, to lakeside hotels where you can relax and soak up the weather – this is a guide to the best things to do in Bacalar Lagoon, Quintana Roo:

HK Writers | The 5 Best Books About Hong Kong

February 15, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 3 Comments

Living in Hong Kong for five years, I explored the city, the islands and the mountainous New Territories. I also explored the SAR’s history through popular books set in Hong Kong, from romantic novels to informative works of non-fiction. So, I’ve decided to compile a list of the best books about Hong Kong and my favourite HK writers, which I highly recommend you read if you are visiting. Read more

Netherlands New Year’s Eve: Dodging Fireworks in Den Haag

January 7, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 2 Comments

This year I literally saw in the New Year with a bang, as I celebrated New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands visiting a friend in Den Haag. She had warned me about a few odd Dutch traditions for New Year, but I was unprepared for the level of crazy my New Year celebrations in the Netherlands would bring!

Here are just a few (insane) ways the Dutch like to celebrate New Year and my exhausting experience celebrating New Year’s Eve in The Hague: Read more

Scheveningen Beach | A New Year’s Dive in the Netherlands

January 4, 2018April 9, 2024 - Amy 1 Comment

After booking a last-minute flight to the Netherlands to spend New Year with a friend living in The Hague, I found myself being roped into the Nieuwjaarsduik Scheveningen. So, while you were nursing your New Year’s Eve hangover, I was taking a plunge into the North Sea as part of Den Haag’s New Year’s Day swim!

This is the story of how I was peer-pressured into running down Scheveningen Beach in nothing but my swimming cossie and an orange hat on the 1^st January, wondering how I’d wound up in Holland, throwing myself into the icy waves on Nieuwjaarsdag (New Year’s Day). Read more

21+ Unique Literary Gifts for Book Lovers Who Travel

November 29, 2017July 5, 2020 - Amy 36 Comments

I love receiving candles as gifts. But, as a candle-loving, book-consuming backpacker, books and candles are sadly not the most practical of gifts for readers who explore both real and fictional worlds. So, to represent the page travellers out there, here are the best literary gifts for book lovers who travel, which are practical, cute and – most importantly – kind to your baggage allowance.

(So, basically, this is all one big hint to friends, family and boyfriend about what they can get me for Christmas and birthdays. Hint. Hint hint! HINT HINT HINT!) Read more