Hi, I'm Stuart. Welcome to my travel, food and music blog. I've been living and working abroad as a travel, music and food journalist, writer, teacher and editor for nearly twenty years. I am based in Krakow, Poland.​ The aim of this website is to help visitors plan and get inspiration for their own trips through my articles and photographs. I try as much as possible to search out interesting and off-beat destinations which aren't widely written about elsewhere. That may include cycling trips, hikes in the mountains, city breaks or beach holidays, but they'll always include tips for how to manage your holiday cost-effectively and with sustainable, independent travel in mind. I'll go to the places you won't read about in Lonely Planet.

 

I came up with the idea of this site whilst working for various publications and websites which are perfectly good in their own right, but which didn't allow me the scope to search out and write about places that I believe many people really cherish finding out about: those hidden gems in undiscovered parts of the world that aren't necessarily easy to access, or even read about.

 

The art of travelling is in experiencing local life and culture, and I believe to experience that you have to to live, eat, drink and get around like a local. Although budget travel doesn't have to mean backpacking, hitch-hiking and camping, it should mean trying to avoid mainstream travel companies, mass tourism and major hotel chains. Sustainable, local, environmentally-conscious travel is not only kinder on your pocket, it's also kinder on the planet, and it puts money into the pockets of those who truly need it. Travelling is an art and an act of imagination. I hope by reading you will be inspired to pack your bags and get on the road less travelled too.

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Recently, we have had a new edition to our travel logistics - our baby Hania. This brings new challenges and for a while our backpacking trips are on hold! But we will still be trying to bring you the best in budget travel destinations and ideas for travel, albeit from a different perspective.

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If you'd like to write to me with any thoughts, comments, ideas or questions, please write to me here.

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