Author: Amy

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

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

    Updated May 2024 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…

  • 11 Great Japanese Novels in English to Read on Your Trip

    11 Great Japanese Novels in English to Read on Your Trip

    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…

  • 5 Cool Used Bookstores in Los Angeles You Need to Visit

    5 Cool Used Bookstores in Los Angeles You Need to Visit

    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…

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

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

    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…

  • The Best Birmingham Bookshops for New and Secondhand Books

    The Best Birmingham Bookshops for New and Secondhand Books

    Updated May 2024 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…

  • Lake Bacalar | Things to do at Bacalar Lagoon, Mexico

    Lake Bacalar | Things to do at Bacalar Lagoon, Mexico

    Updated May 2024 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…

  • HK Writers | The 5 Best Books About Hong Kong

    HK Writers | The 5 Best Books About Hong Kong

    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…

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

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

    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…

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

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

    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…

  • 16+ Unique Literary Gifts for Book Lovers Who Travel

    16+ Unique Literary Gifts for Book Lovers Who Travel

    Updated May 2024 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 there, here are the best literary gifts for book…