Join me as I travel the world and give regular insights into what it is really like being a solo backpacker and tips to help you plan your own adventures
Back to Mainland China! I've not been here since my incredible trip from Moscow to Beijing and the Great Wall back in...I was applying for a visa-free visit or up to 144 hours and had to show four or five people the onward flight information and then I was issued a transit visa. It went... Continue Reading →
Macau is really amazing and it's so different from Hong Kong and China. Kat and I spent three days here at the end of our travels together. Until next time Kat! The place is small and it's easy to get around by bus which cost 6 MOP/HKD (£0.60) per journey. The only thing to watch... Continue Reading →
Kat and I arrived in Hong Kong and found that the public transport is super easy. I paid 200$HK (£20) for an Octopus card, of which £15 was credit and the rest is a refundable deposit. The metro and lots of shops accept Octopus as payment so it's handy.Our bags had been delayed as we... Continue Reading →
After another delayed flight with Philippine Airlines (I think they misplaced a plane) I arrived in Legaspi and reached the transport terminal to find a UV Express van service to Donsol. We left at 4pm. It's a good day to travel because the weather is overcast and miserable. I am staying at Woodlands Resort and... Continue Reading →
My trip to Moalboal went by in a flash and I seemed to spend most of it underwater. I didn't have any reservations but I headed to MoHo - Moalboal Hostel which was very highly rated! They had a bed available in a really nice dorm for one night so I booked. The common area... Continue Reading →
I took a trike from Tagbilaran around sunset and had a great view the whole way! I arrived at Moon Fool's Hostel without a reservation but they had space. A pod in a nicely air-conditioned room cost 625 per night and it seems like a nice place. I made a beeline for Alona Divers dive... Continue Reading →
I don't really think it's fair to use a country's driving as a measure of whether you like a culture or not but sometimes I really do struggle with the way Filipinos operate. The Jeepneys are awesome. But the traffic and the decisions people make when they drive are insane. There is utterly no obligation... Continue Reading →
I took a motorbike taxi from Cebu North Bus Terminal to the port for 100 pesos, which gave me a great ab workout. At the port, a man waving some OceanJet paperwork came over to me and asked if I wanted to buy a ticket. He told me the ticket was 750 Pesos (which I... Continue Reading →
The journey here was long but it's worth it already as I arrived at 8am in paradise. I landed at Cebu Airport at 6:30pm and there were hundreds of people queuing for taxis. I was planning to take a taxi from the airport to the bus terminal but a man said that if I took... Continue Reading →
Andy and I booked a day trip island hopping around the Coron area. The trip cost 1,600 Pesos (£24), with snorkeling gear costing 150 Pesos extra. It is my first proper touristy activity in the Philippines and it's funny already. The guide is nicknamed 59 Seconds and he is a real comedian. Our first stop... Continue Reading →
Woohoo! I'm now a PADI qualified Wreck Diver after my time diving in Coron Bay with the World War Two wrecks. They can be sombre places but they are really full of life and are also historically interesting dive sites. I arrived at Reggae Dive Shop in Coron at 7:45am and it was chaos. There... Continue Reading →
Travelling between places in the Philippines is hard. It's much more time-consuming than I expected, so one month here is great, but it is nowhere near enough time to visit all the places I want to see and have any time to relax. I'll come back one day to see the places I haven't made... Continue Reading →
I loved diving at Sabang! Some of my favourite diving in the Philippines; a great mix of abundant life, colourful corals, wrecks and excellent visibility. It was also the cheapest per dive price of my trip. First though, I had to reach Sabang from Anilao. After my trike ride I got some more cash out... Continue Reading →
There's never a dull moment on my trip in the Philippines, especially when it comes to transportation. I was repeatedly told that to get from Tagaytay to Anilao I needed to get a bus to Nasugbu (Batangas) and then I could get a Jeepney to Anilao and from there a tricycle. Turns out that Nasugbu... Continue Reading →
I got to ride in a Jeepney! I wanted to get a good view of the whole crater lake and was told that the Sky Ranch is the place for it. Once you get to the roundabout at Olivarez, all of the Jeepneys are going in the right direction and it turns out that you... Continue Reading →
I have been feeling pretty achy so I decided that I needed a day to relax. I found an amazing spa that was open until 11pm last night so at 10pm I went for an hour reflexology session for an expensive (but entirely value for money) 820 Pesos at Ritz Spa. The woman gave me... Continue Reading →
My alarm went off at 5:35am but because of some inconsiderately loud alarms going off in the dorm at 5am, I was already awake! I took a Grab to the Ferry Port at 6am and saw a beautiful dawn. The ride cost 150 Pesos and was much more convenient than the public transport options. I... Continue Reading →
My flight to Manila landed nice and early but immigration involved standing in a slow queue for most of an hour. I collected my bag and got cash out from an ATM. I checked three different banks and they all add 250 Pesos (£3.70) for a foreign bank withdrawal. I took out around £100 worth... Continue Reading →
My flight landed late so I didn't get through immigration until around 10pm and then I followed signs to the MRT (metro) to take me into the city. As usual I got some cash from an ATM before leaving the terminal but this time it wasn't quite good enough because the ticket machine only takes... Continue Reading →
I wasn't planning to blog about my two weeks in Malaysia; this was a super relaxing break to recharge after a rough trip back to the UK, where my uncle Mark sadly passed away. But I absolutely had to rave about the people of Penang. The people here have been absolutely lovely since the moment... Continue Reading →
The Nomad Chapter 