My Story

My Story

When I was younger I had a lot of opportunity to see the world. Back then it wasn’t as common as it is now. There was no internet, and travel was a lot more expensive. Even so, I managed to travel around the world and see many things and go many places that I never would have dreamed of going. Back then, there was no such thing as a travel blog, and I was more interested in partying than recording my adventures, at any rate.

I circumnavigated the globe back in 1990. We traveled via the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. Most of my travel was by boat, and I rarely saw a plane until later in life. This allowed me to see things most people these days don’t see, such as flying fish, water spouts, icebergs, and what it is like to be stuck at sea between two cyclones. By the time I had been to Europe, Africa, North America and Asia, I well and truly had the travel bug.

I eventually stopped traveling to settle down and have a family. Years later, I had two adult children, and I was getting sick of the daily grind of the 9 to 5. My job was soul sucking, but it had served its purpose as my children were growing up.

It was time to move on.

So, alone again, and with the blessings of my children, I did just that. I made all the arrangements I needed to and planned to begin traveling full time. The car was sold, lease settled and I gave my houseful of furniture to my kids. I wasn’t going to need them where I was going.

I would start somewhere close. The ticket was booked, and I prepared to move to Bali.

If you are interested in working with me, then head on over to THIS page to find out how we might be able to collaborate, or work together in the future. I would love to hear from you!

Bali

Coronavirus. What else can I say?

This catastrophic event threatened to derail me before I even started. But, I battened down the hatches, dug my heels in and swore that it would not defeat me. Silently, I worked on my blog and social media as I rode out lockdown in Indonesia. People said I was crazy, and that I should head home to Australia. But I didn’t. Going back would mean two things. One, I would feel like I had failed, and I was not going to do that. Two, I would run out of funds in a few months. Money stretches a lot further in Bali.

So, I stayed.

It was the best decision of my life. Riding out the lockdown here in Indonesia has proven to be an amazing experience. If you want to know more about it, then have a read of this article I wrote about it.

Coming out of lockdown, I found an island devoid of tourists and an amazing opportunity to explore the entire place in a small amount of time. So, I set out to do just that.

I headed to Munduk, about as far away from where I lived in Nusa Dua as I could get. Every day I hiked. I visited every waterfall I could find and came back a week later feeling alive again. After that, they couldn’t stop me. Trips to East Bali, Kintamani, Ubud numerous times and back again to Munduk. I was ticking thinks off my list so fast that I actually had to scour Google Maps to find new ones! At one stage I even flew to Jakarta, just so that I could do the road trip all the way back to Bali with my girlfriend, just to see something new. And what an amazing trip it was.

Java is so much different to Bali, and something that I was only just learning was that all Indonesian islands are not the same! We stopped at Yogyakarta for a couple of nights and I loved it there. I will certainly be heading back again soon. We drove to Tumpak Sewu Waterfall and had one of the most epic experiences of my life there. I didn’t ever want to leave, but I had an appointment at Immigration back in Bali, so there was no choice.

Not too long after that, I had a long stay visa and could continue to explore Indonesia with a lot less hassle. Bali had truly become my backyard, and after covering nearly 60 waterfalls, climbing a dozen bukits (hills) and exploring as many beaches as I could find, I knew that it was coming time to move on.

Coronavirus had more plans for us though. The world stayed closed, and I decided to see some more of Indonesia. A couple more trips back to Jakarta, a trip to Mount Ijen, and a month long stay in Yogyakarta were experiences that I will never forget. The blog articles just continued to write themselves.

If you need any information about Bali or Java, and places to visit, let me know. I have covered most of it, so hopefully there is an article on it here somewhere.

It was about this time that Lonely Planet reached out to me. This was a very, very special moment for me, and I actually didn’t believe it at first. I almost ignored it! As it turned out, it was all true and legitimate, and they wanted me to write an article for them about hikes in Indonesia. This was right in my ball park, and I jumped at it. Several weeks later, I proudly debuted on the Lonely Planet website, which coincided nicely with the world beginning to open up again.

South East Asia

Finally, I got the chance to return to Australia! It had been SO long since I had been back to see my kids and visit friends, that I almost needed a guided tour. I spent 3 weeks there, and loved every minute of it. Returning home is never rated really high when you are traveling – I mean, who wants to go home and cut short their great trip? When you are a full time traveler though, it suddenly becomes a hell of a lot more important.

From Australia, I headed to South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur, to be precise. My girlfriend, Jo, was working there around this time, so I saw it as a great opportunity to visit a city I had never been to. From all accounts, KL was a nice place. And was it what!

I loved KL. It is just a beautiful, organised and clean city. The parks are nicely maintained and set up to entice people to visit. There are fountains everywhere. The buildings are incredible, in particular the Petronas Twin Towers, and there is just so much to do! For a major city, I never got bored in the 5 days I was there. And I could have stayed longer.

It was time to move on though, and flights to Bangkok were cheap. So we booked and took off for another country.

This is what I enjoy doing when I travel. I like to take the opportunities when they arise, and just go with the flow. In this case, fate threw us a bone and told us that Thailand would be a great idea. So, we went.

Thailand

Bangkok was hot! But wow, did we enjoy it! The place we booked to stay for 7 nights was right on the river, on the bank opposite the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. It wasn’t anything special, but the location was amazing. We could walk out the door each morning and were suddenly right in the middle of the local markets. Every day we ate local, and not one person within shouting distance spoke a word of English.

And we loved it.

There is nothing like soaking yourself in local culture when you travel, and the best way to do that is to stay local and live local. That is exactly what we did in Bangkok.

During that week we saw all the great tourist places. The Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. We rode the ferry every day. We got lost more times than I can count. Then, we moved on.

I had always said that if I go to Thailand, I want to visit Chiang Mai. So, by hook or by crook, I was going! The flights were not too expensive, so we booked, and for the next 4 days we had an incredible Chiang Mai experience.

Well, it turned into 7 days. Because we loved the city so much, there was no way we were leaving that soon!

Chiang Mai is something else. The city is so unique, with the moat surrounding the entire old city where we were staying. Then, with over 300 temples (Wats) in the city, there is a vibe and atmosphere that you just can’t get anywhere else. Monks walked the streets in their dozens. Street food was everywhere! We were in heaven.

On one of our last days we did a day tour to Chiang Rai. This is the sister city of Chiang Mai, and is a couple hours drive away. The temples there are incredible, and totally different to Chiang Mai. It is one of the best day trips I have done, and I loved it so much I even wrote an entire review on it. Go and check it out if you are interested.

From Chiang Mai, we decided to head for Cambodia. We were in the “Temple Zone” so what better time to visit one of the most incredible and famous temples in the world, Angkor Wat?

I jumped online and organised a Visa. Jo didn’t have to as she is Indonesian, and can travel around South East Asia as much as she likes without restrictions. This is nice, but going anywhere else becomes hard, as I am sure we will find out in Europe later this year.

Cambodia

A few days later we landed in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Now, when I travel I like to give a city a good chance to win me over, before I decide I don’t like it. Phnom Penh though, didn’t manage to do that. We visited the Killing Fields, which was a humbling experience that everyone should do, but the city itself? I honestly could not find a thing that I liked about it.

So we cut our stay there short, and booked a bus ticket to Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor Wat.

Our stay there was incredible. We loved it so much, and spent 5 days touring around the amazing Angkor Archeological Park with the best Tuk Tuk Driver. I wrote an entire article about him! So if you are heading in that direction, hit me up for his details.

Angkor Wat was nothing short of amazing. The history and the immense size of the place is astounding. I know I might never get back there, but if the opportunity ever comes up, I will take it! (Hint – Cambodia Tourism).

From Siem Reap we decided it was time to head home to Bali. We didn’t want to, but circumstances back home said we needed to, if only briefly. Tickets were expensive, and the best we could get were from Bangkok. So, we hunted around to find a bus to Bangkok from Siem Reap. Being still in the Pandemic hangover, there weren’t too many options.

But we found one. The dodgiest mini bus you have ever been on! It was overloaded and overcrowded, and the driver kept falling asleep at the wheel. All the way to the Thai border I was constantly nudging him to keep him awake. I still can’t believe we made it!

The land border crossing was also dodgy. Jo was asked for a bribe at immigration, something that I have never seen before. They swiftly changed their minds when they realized she wasn’t a female traveling alone and was actually with me.

The new mini bus on the Thai side was like a mini limo, in total contrast to the first one. We headed to Bangkok, where I had booked two nights in a totally different area to our first visit. This time around Siam Square. The Reason? Because we wanted to visit the Jim Thompson House Museum, which we missed the first time around.

So we got to visit it this time, and really enjoyed it. The area around Siam Square is so totally different to where we stayed before as it is right in the middle of the shopping district. The malls are huge!

Back in Bali

So, it was back to Bali. The short stay ended up being an extended one as I still had my Kitas. The war in Ukraine erupted, and severely hampered my European plans, but only for a short time. As of writing this update, we are only a couple weeks off flying to Istanbul, where I will be staying in Europe for around 12 months, traveling slowly and soaking it all in. Not before I had to do one more Visa Run to Penang though.

Penang, Malaysia. Wow!

I loved that place, and was so glad that I had the opportunity to visit, and actually booked 4 days there. I was busy the entire time, checking out the secluded beaches of the National Park, eating every day in Little India, and walking miles upon miles around the city looking at Street Art and architecture. Penang really has it all.

I have been in Bali (mostly, other than a couple of side trips) for over 2 and half years now. It has been an amazing time, but I really am ready to move on. Bali will always be here, and I will be back for a month again on my return trip.

Turkey

In November 2022 Jo and I set sail from Bali, (on an Emirates flight), bound for Istanbul. We were excited, to say the least, as this trip had been a long time coming, and even longer in preparation. It was also our first major trip together – or at least it felt like it. Living in Indonesia, the rest of South East Asia just feels like an extension of your own backyard.

We stayed in Istanbul for 7 days, and we made the most of them. Staying in Kadikoy, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, we were sort of removed from the real “touristy” aspect. I had made the decision to stay there for this reason, and also because I really wanted to experience the ferry culture of Istanbul.

It didn’t take us long to fall in love with the ferries, Kadikoy, and the entire city itself. Istanbul is amazing, and truly one of the great cities of the world. We still have so much we need to cover that we vow to be back there again soon. The great thing about that wish is that with Istanbul a major hub on the way to Europe, it is easy to arrange a stopover. Especially now that there is a metro that runs directly from Sabiha Gokcen Airport right into Kadikoy!

From Istanbul we headed to Cappadocia. I mean, you can’t go to Turkey without visiting, can you?

Visiting in Winter was lucky, in my opinion. Cappadocia can get extremely hot in the Summer, and we had an awesome time without having to worry about the heat. The mornings were cold, but we still braved it to experience the incredible sight of the balloons floating over Goreme. The hotel we stayed in was the most perfect place to view them from. We didn’t even have to find a view point.

If you visit Cappadocia, make certain to put aside some time for hiking, as well as to do the Green Tour. This takes you to the amazing Underground Cities that have to be seen to be believed!

From Cappadocia we caught the bus to Antalya, spent a few nights, moved onto Fethiye for a few more nights, and then to Izmir. The entire “Turkish Rivera” coastline is incredible, and we found that every single town and city was unique in its own way. It is another area of Turkey that just begs to be explored more, and we intend to do so once again down the track.

After Izmir, we headed back to Istanbul and eked out a couple of more days there. Still not enough to cover much, but just time to spend alone together in a city we love. Jo was heading home from Turkey as she couldn’t get a visa for Europe, and I was heading off to Bulgaria.

At the airport we said our farewells, and parted ways, if only temporarily.

Bulgaria

Heading into Bulgaria by bus was an experience. It was my first time in Eastern Europe, and I was looking forward to the experience. Land border crossings are something that I still can never get used to, and the Bulgarian border was no exception. Our bus waited a couple of hours in line, and then I had issues actually LEAVING Turkey as the customs officer had never seen an Australian passport before, and was uncertain of my visa requirements. It was only due to the bus driver putting the hard word on him to let me through to the Bulgarian side that got us moving. Once I got there, they let me through as I was clear for a Visa.

I had decided to spend the majority of my time in Bulgaria in the city of Plovdiv, bypassing the Capital of Sofia. There was a lot of blogging to catch up on, and I needed to hunker down over Christmas and New Year somewhere to get it done. Plovdiv seemed like a good option.

I spent four weeks in a nice Air BNB studio apartment in Plovdiv, and really fell in love with the city. It is only small, at about 300k residents, and the major part of the town is very easy to cover in under a day. I still spent nearly every day wandering the streets for a couple of hours though, just soaking it all in and enjoying the atmosphere.

I got a lot of blogging done in Plovdiv, including knocking over half a dozen articles about the city itself. There were still a few things I wanted to do, but they were further afield and not exactly Winter activities. So returning to Plovdiv went onto the “places to return to one day” list along with Istanbul.

I left Plovdiv with no idea where I was really going. For now it would be Sofia for a couple of nights, and then I would make the decision. For its part, Sofia was really nice. If I am honest, it was quite dynamic, but after the wonderful time in Plovdiv, it sort of paled in comparison to me.

By this stage I had penciled in plans to go to Kosovo and Serbia, but with rumors of tensions on the rise in that region, I instead jumped on a plane to Zagreb, still with no idea where to go from after that. For now though, I was going to tick Croatia off my list of countries visited.

Croatia

Zagreb was a great city, which feels strange to actually say, as it is never really mentioned as a place to visit in Croatia. Other, more popular destinations such as Dubrovnik and Split see so much more of the tourist dollar. It’s unfair though, as Zagreb is really, very beautiful.

I was only there for a couple of days, but did the free walking tour which I highly recommend. The weather was a mixture of snow and rain, but even so I really enjoyed my Zagreb experience.

Whilst in Zagreb, I made a decision that would change my plans and cause total upheaval to my journey around Europe. Taking into account the need to save money and budget, I bit the bullet and signed up to Trusted Housesitters.

This is a great website that allows you to get free accommodation around the world, simply by looking after the houses and pets of owners that are going away on vacation. It’s open to anyone that wants to sign up and pay the yearly fee, but you MUST be responsible, and definitely need to be a pet lover!

Fortunately I tick both boxes (I think) so I decided to give it a whirl, not really knowing what to expect. I certainly didn’t expect the positive reaction that I got!

After putting together a kick ass profile, I applied for a few jobs, then forgot about it as I began to look at where my next stop would be. I decided on Hungary, so booked a bus ticket to Budapest.

Hungary

Another interesting land border crossing. Croatia entered Schengen 3 weeks before I crossed the border into Hungary, and all the border crossing gates and booths were still in place. Obviously, it was a ghost town as no one was manning them anymore. It was really eerie!

I arrived in Budapest to mild to heavy snowfall. It didn’t last long, but was a change from the cold and boring weather I had over the past couple of weeks. There was also a bit of fun to be had at the bus terminal and Metro station as I tried to decipher Hungarian signs and maps to figure out how to get to my Air BNB. Fortunately, I find this part of the journey fun, and Budapest was throwing that fun at me by the bucket load.

Budapest is an incredible city, with so many epic places to see and things to do. But it was COLD. So cold during the wintry week I was there!

This didn’t stop me from chalking up some personal best step counts as I covered about 20 km per day on foot. After an entire week in Budapest, and only one rest day in the middle of it all, I covered a lot of ground. Budapest really turns it on though, and none of that time was wasted.

On a side note, I had found the cutest little Air BNB right in the heart of the city run by a Chinese family. They were cheap (for Budapest prices) and offered a home cooked breakfast every day. Winning!

From Hungary, I planned to head north to Bratislava and into Czech Republic. When my Air BNB fell through, I headed the other way instead, and booked a place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I have always wanted to visit Lake Bled, so this is my chance!

Whilst in Budapest I also got a lot of responses to my Trusted Housesitters Profile. I had a few Zoom calls, and by the time I left I had 4 Sits booked in Manchester, France and Switzerland. My schedule over the next 6 weeks or so was beginning to fill up!

Slovenia

As the bus traveled into Slovenia, I quickly came to realize how beautiful the country was. I had never seen mountains and countryside like it anywhere else in the world. It was so lush and green, and in parts completely covered by snow, which created an amazing contrast.

Ljubljana was just as I expected it to be (beautiful), but I was still pleasantly surprised. For a Capital city it was rather small, but then the entire country is very small, so that makes sense.

The place that I stayed was a new Hostel that had Capsules. It was the first “capsule” place I had stayed in and I was really impressed. I had a double bed capsule which was obviously a bit bigger than normal, so that suited me! Once again I got a little bit of work done, as well as racking up those K’s when hitting the pavement.

Besides spending two days exploring Ljubljana, I hopped on the local bus out to Lake Bled. This was a really easy way to get to Bled, and extremely cheap as well. I wrote an entire guide on how to do it, as it literally saved me around 60 or 70 Euro over doing a daytrip tour!

Lake Bled itself was like a fairy tale in the winter. The island was surreal, as was the entire experience of being in a place that I had only previously seen on Instagram. As I am wanton to do though, I walked around the entire lake in order to appreciate it from every possible angle, before climbing up to the castle high on the cliff to check out that view as well. By the end of the day I was knackered, but it was entirely worth it!

Italy

Northern Italy is what dreams are made of. I have been to many countries around the world, and to me it is still the most beautiful place I have every visited. My first trip to Italy was over 30 years ago, and it still doesn’t disappoint.

I caught the bus from Ljubljana to Padua, or Padova, just near Venice. I had accommodation booked there for 5 nights, and planned to not only explore the city, but get in a day trip to Venice as well. As it turned out, there was a festival in Venice, and I actually visited the canal city twice!

The reason for this was mainly because of how easy it is from Padua. I had picked the perfect place to base myself, as the trains run regularly all day long, and the journey itself is only about 40 minutes long. The train drops you right in the heart of the city, and you literally walk out of the train station onto the Grand Canal.

Venice was wonderful, and I spent my time there getting lost in the back streets, exploring and finding so many incredible places away from the crowds of tourists. When I was tired of walking, there were plenty of bars and coffee shops, and a few Spritzes were a great way to escape and relax, away from the surrealistic sensation of being in yet another place that you always wish you could visit, but never really expect to.

Back in Padua, I found another wonderful little city that was just a real pleasure to experience. Padua is a university town at heart, and the vibe is very young. There are about 5 main Piazza’s, and every one of them has its own personality, which makes certain that a day spent in Padua is one that never gets boring.

All good things come to an end though, and after 5 days I was on the train again, heading to my next stop in Desenzano Del Garda, and nearby Sirmione, on the shores of Lake Garda.

Essentially, I came to stay in Desenzano Del Garda because the Air BNB was cheap, and I needed somewhere to spend a few nights on the way to my first House Sitting job in Manchester. I was flying from Milan Airport, and this was right on the train line to the airport. I wasn’t ready for how beautiful Lake Garda is, or how absolutely incredible Sirmione is.

Picture a skinny peninsular of land pointing out into the crystal blue waters of a picture postcard perfect lake surrounded by alps. Now place a castle onto that piece of land, and a small idyllic little town behind it, and you have Sirmione. It is so unique that the English language probably lacks adjectives to properly describe it!

To reach the town of Sirmione, you actually have to pass across the drawbridge through the outer wall of the castle. THAT’S how unique this town is. It’s simply amazing. Then, the shoreline around the town has the most incredible views, and are lined with whitewashed stones and rocks that are so Instagram worthy that you will find yourself fumbling for your camera at every turn.

I ended up coming back to Sirmione twice, when it is actually so small that you can see it in only a couple of hours. Such is the magnetism of this wonderful little Italian Gem.

From Desenzano Del Garda, which is in itself a beautiful little lakeside “resort” town, I was on the early train, heading to the airport, and by extension, to the sunny shores of England. Well, maybe not so sunny, but I was trying to be positive.

House sitting in England, France and Switzerland

I arrived in Manchester for my first house sitting gig, which was actually to take place in a sleepy little village called Holmfirth. I had never heard of it before, but soon found out that it is very famous in England as the setting of one of their favorite and longest running TV Sitcoms. This meant nothing to me, other than being a funny side show as I watched visitors taking photos of the most innocuous things, having no idea personally why they were doing it.

In Holmfirth, I house sat for a week with two beautiful black cats called Sooty and Sweep. It was a really easy job, and a perfect introduction to house sitting. Whilst there, I got quite a bit of work done by catching up on a backlog of articles, as well as taking time out to do some local hikes and explore the town itself. Holmfirth is a nice little English town, and the hikes had some beautiful views. The wintry days were cold though, and at the end of it I looked forward to moving on.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t moving far, as my next house sitting gig was also in Manchester. The good thing was that it was nice and close to the airport, which would facilitate my escape from the dreary weather in good measure. The house sit was another easy one, with just 3 days looking after the most beautiful “cockadoodle” dog by the name of Benji. He was a pleasure to sit, and the house and neighborhood also really upmarket and scenic.

My next house sit was in France, but I had a few days to kill, so found an Air BNB nearby to Benji’s place. I spent a couple of days exploring Manchester, and as a big PL Football fan, I visited Old Trafford and also did a tour of Etihad Stadium. The latter was an exhilarating experience that I would recommend to any football fan!

I arrived in France through Lyon, which wasn’t far from my house sit. Customs went smoothly, and I found out later was a little TOO smooth. It turns out that they stamped my passport as EXITING Schengen at Lyon, and not entering. This caused questions for me a few weeks later when I actually did have to exit. Not sure what the officer on duty was concentrating on that day, but it wasn’t his job. Plus, mine was just one of about 300 passengers that he processed. So everyone would have had the same issues down the line.

This was another easy Sit, being just a Siamese cat that I babysat for a week. He was so easy and lovable, and I got to spend the time with him in a little French Village. Does it get any better? Whilst there I was also able to go into Lyon and explore for a day as well, so it was time well spent.

After that sit, my next one was in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Zurich in a town called Altendorf. Things were going to be more interesting there, but first I had to get there.

I explored several ways to travel including train and bus. Both were expensive, and then I discovered the car pooling app “bla bla car”. I signed up and found a ride with a local heading to the beautiful lakeside town of Annecy that only cost me 8 Euro! I jumped onto it right away.

I had heard of Annecy, and had been told how beautiful it was. In real life though, it was gorgeous, with some of the most stunning views I have ever seen. I spent 4 days in Annecy, and loved every single minute of them. As a simple stop over on the way to Zurich, it actually became the highlight of my entire European trip.

From there, I took the bus to Zurich, and the train then down to Altendorf.

Here, I looked after a gorgeous 2 year old black Lab by the name of Ares. He had such a beautiful and gentle personality, but also needed to be walked up to 7 times a day! I got my exercise when I was in Altendorf, I can tell you! Plus, it’s Switzerland, so a lot of that exercise was up and down hills. I did love my time there though, and it was hard to say goodbye to him.

Also worth mentioning is that Ares came with some other pets that I had to look after. Rats! Well, they aren’t technically rats, but are definitely of the rodent variety, and maybe more like Guinea Pigs. They were in glass “cages” – I forget what they were called – and were very fun to watch and feed each day. They pretty much looked after themselves, and I guess were as easy to sit for as a fish tank would have been.

Back to Bali

Right now, I am back in Bali. From Switzerland, I began to really miss Jo and wanted to get back home as soon as I could. Flights from Zurich were a good price, so I hopped the first flight and headed home for a spell.

I hadn’t been home long when I had a very unexpected call from Lonely Planet. They were enquiring into whether I would be interested in working with them as an Author on the latest edition of their Guide to Romania and Bulgaria. They liked my work on Plovdiv, and asked me to cover the Plovdiv and Southern Mountains in the upcoming Guide.

Of course I jumped at the opportunity! They plan to totally revamp their Guides, taking out a lot of the stuff you can find on Google so easily these days, and instead concentrate on experiences and deep diving into culture instead.

As of today I have signed the contract, and will be heading back to Bulgaria in a few weeks to “deep dive” myself into some places that I would have loved to visit the first time. Now I have a reason!

This will also mean a lot more Bulgarian content coming your way via THIS blog!

Bulgaria (again)

My trip back to Bulgaria was yet another incredible experience. Flights don’t exactly go directly from Bali to Sofia (the Bulgarian Capital) so I chose to fly via Paris. This was for several reasons.

Even though I had to fly right OVER Bulgaria to get to Paris, I had never actually been to the French Capital, and this gave me a chance to visit for the first time. Also, the flights with EVA Air were cheap!

The city of Paris didn’t exactly resonate too much with me though. I visited all the main attractions, but in general I found it overcrowded and over touristy. Compared to my final destination on this trip, being Bulgaria, I found myself counting the time until I was to leave again. Ce la Vie. Maybe I will enjoy it more next time.

I flew from Beauvais Airport to Sofia via Buzz Air. Getting to Beauvais was a mission as its a LONG way out of Paris. I ended up using Bla Bla Car to get there, and wrote an entire article on the experience!

Being back in Sofia was surrealistic. When I had left only 4 months earlier, I never thought I would return, let alone so soon! I was able to make my way around easily as I already knew the way, which is one thing I do love about returning to places a second time.

I took the train to Plovdiv and spent another entire week there. This time, working for Lonely Planet, I looked at things with a slightly different perspective. Learning what I need to know to blog and write my own articles is different to what I look for with a view to writing Lonely Planet Guides.

I also did a couple of tours to places that I couldn’t reach before. The Wonderful Bridges were, well, wonderful, and one of the most incredible places I have ever been. As was Bachkovo Monastery and the Ancient city of Perperikon.

After a week I took the local bus up into the mountains and began the next part of my trip. I stayed in a small mountain town called Smolyan, and did some amazing hiking. The waterfalls in this part of Bulgaria have to be seen to be believed.

From there it was bus back down to Plovdiv, then bus up to Velingrad. This is one of the biggest and most famous spa towns in Bulgaria, but I really wasn’t impressed. I only stayed a night and headed onto Bansko, a place I was looking forward to seeing.

From Velingrad I caught the scenic narrow gauge train up to Bansko. It was a great experience and climbs to the highest station in the Balkans. The views going up are really nice too. I arrived in Bansko mid season, so didn’t really know quite what to expect, but was hoping to do some hiking.

As it was, nothing much was open in between seasons. I did a lot of research and took a good look around, before heading off to Sofia once more. Another little town had appeared on my radar, so I had to try and fit in a visit.

I took a day trip from Sofia with a guide to Melnik, the smallest town in Bulgaria. It was a really wonderful day, tasting wines and seeing some of the most incredible geography in the country. But, time was up for me and it was now back onto a plane home to Bali.

Back in Bali

I’ve been back in Bali for a few months now. Well, I haven’t been here the entire time, because along the way I’ve done a couple of visa runs.

Those have been to Malaysia. I have a real thing about Malaysia – that is to say – I love it. Malaysia to me is South East Asia but with a touch of Western Society. A bit like Singapore I guess.

One visa run was to Malacca, where Jo joined up with me. We spent a few days enjoying Malacca, and discovered some incredible history and saw some wonderful things. The night markets are amazing on the weekends, and if you like food you should really go and see them.

The other trip was only recently to Langkawi, the tropical island group off North West Malaysia. I spent a week there and loved every minute of it. The main island is covered in jungle, and the best way to get around is by scooter. I hired one and was out exploring whenever the tropical weather permitted. Otherwise, time was spent kicking back on the beach and chilling during Happy Hour.

Lonely Planet

So, after Bulgaria I spent a long time writing about it. Learning the ropes for how to write for Lonely Planet was different, but not difficult. I really got into it and by the end of it was enjoying it a lot. The chapter I wrote was relatively short in reality, and I was hoping that this experience would push my chances at getting more work with them.

It didn’t take long, as it turned out.

As of writing this, I have just been offered a contract writing the new Lonely Planet Guide for Indonesia. Time will be tight, with a deadline that is coming fast! But I will be covering Jakarta, Central Java and East Java. These are all areas I already know well, but there are still places I need to get to in order to fill in the blanks in my knowledge.

So next week, I’m off to Mount Ijen again (just because I can!) and then to do a bit of exploring in south eastern Java. Looking forward to catching up with a mate that lives there, and getting back into the Lonely Planet work again!

Once again, this will also give me a lot more content for this blog!

You can check out the guidebooks I’ve co-authored for Lonely Planet HERE.

East Java

My first stop on my Lonely Planet researching trip was East Java. Well, EAST East Java anyway. From Bali I was able to ride my scooter to Gilimanuk and catch the ferry across to Banyuwangi. It’s so easy and something I’m surprised many others don’t try doing.

I stayed in Banyuwangi for a couple of nights to hike Mount Ijen. Unlike the first time that I did the hike, the weather this time was perfect. I set out early as one of the very first through the gates at 2am. It only took me 45 minutes to summit, and I got to witness the unique blue fire phenomenon, and then watch the sunrise. Climbing Mount Ijen still goes down as one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had.

From Banyuwangi I moved onto Pulau Merah, also known as Red Island. A good friend of mine lives here, and I had earmarked it as an area I wanted to highlight in the Lonely Planet guide. I’m so glad I did, as it turned out to be a real hidden gem! Hardly anyone visits Pulau Merah, and it remains a sleepy little village boasting one of the best beaches in Indonesia! This place will not stay quiet for long, and I really enjoyed the four days I stayed there.

Lonely Planet research

After East Java, I headed back home to Bali, and hopped a flight to Jakarta. Part of my job for Lonely Planet was to also write about Jakarta, as well as Central Java, and finish off East Java.

So Jo and I hit the road for a couple of weeks of research.

This took us to some of our favorite places like Yogyakarta and Malang. Over the next few weeks we climbed Mount Bromo, abseiled into the incredible Jomblang Cave, and visited the roof of Java at Dieng Plateau. Some of the places we discovered were incredible, and I couldn’t wait to write about them in the new Guides over the next couple of months.

And it actually took a couple of months!

In all, I wrote well over 100 pages of the new Lonely Planet Guide. It was a lot of work, and something that I reveled in. I love their new format, and being part of the team that it takes to produced something so amazing.

Vietnam

Once I was done with the Guide, Jo and I decided to do something for ourselves, just to let our hair down and get back to our own blogging and vlogging. So, we headed to Vietnam!

First stop was Hanoi, which we immediately fell in love with. It was winter while we were there, so the long, warm clothes were out. Things turned even colder though when we headed up into the mountains to visit Sapa, which is known as the only place that sees snow in Vietnam!

There was no snow when we were there, but we did visit some wonderful waterfalls, and checked out the incredible local views and panoramas. Our visit was only for a few days though, as we had a day trip to Halong Bay planned for our return to Hanoi.

So it was back to Hanoi again, which we didn’t mind because there was so much we still wanted to check out. One of those things was Halong Bay.

This, although incredible, was a little bit of a let down because of how crowded the day trips can become. I would never tell anyone to miss out on Halong Bay, but for sure you should check out the multi day trips, and avoid the places that everyone else visits.

The extra few days in Hanoi were magical, especially over the weekend when they shut down the roads around the lake and have a completely traffic free zone.

From Hanoi we caught the train to Da Nang and Hoi An. We really fell in love with Hoi An, as it’s so quaint and picturesque, with some unique things to see and do such as the Coconut Boats and the lanterns on the river at night.

Da Nang, despite having beautiful beaches, was a real disappointment for us. Mostly this was due to the Chinese New Year and the fact a lot was closed when we were there. This also stopped us from being able to continue on to Ho Chi Minh City, and meant we had to go back to Hanoi.

Instead of going direct, we caught the train to Ninh Binh. This little town had been on my list earlier, and I’d been disappointed to miss out on it. Having the opportunity to now visit was a blessing in disguise, and it now ranks as my favorite place in all of Vietnam. (That I’ve seen so far!) Ninh Binh is beautiful, with it’s sculped rock formations earning it the nickname of “Halong Bay on land”. It’s definitely a place I plan to return to soon.

From Ninh Binh we returned to Hanoi for a few days before flying back to Bali. While our trip didn’t go exactly to plan, it gives us a good reason to return to Vietnam again when the chance presents itself.

Bali

Now, we’re back in Bali and spending a lot of time catching up on blogs and vlogs. I also need a new passport as mine is nearly full, so I’m currently doing that through the consulate. Once I get it back, we have a visa run/next trip booked to head to beautiful Penang in Malaysia.

This is a good plan for me as I can update and expand on my Penang articles, which are very popular amongst my readers.

I’ve also found that flight to Ho Chi Minh from Penang are direct, and come at only about $50 AUD, so I’m hoping to take advantage of that deal!

Till then…

Cheers.

Jason