Travel, outdoors & adventure blogger who loves Iceland, camping and swimming.
Well, here we are at the very last post of the year and rather than anything new, it’s time to look back at the year. Consider this the Christmas round robin letter that your parents/grandparents send to all the friends they never actually see in person (and be glad that I’m sparing you the doggerel … More 2025 in review
Welcome to the least festive of festive blogs ever posted on Christmas Eve! This is the tale of my trip last weekend to Parc Asterix for their Noël Gaulois, Gallic Christmas, event. If you’re not familiar with Parc Asterix, it’s a theme park north of Paris dedicated to beloved long-running French comic album character Asterix … More Gallic Christmas at Parc Asterix
If you’ve been around this blog for long, you probably know I like to take film photos. I possess a wonderful 1960s SLR camera which turned up in the loft some ten years after its previous owner, my grandad, died. But it’s too heavy to carry around, so most of my photos are actually taken … More Iceland on film (winter 2024 edition)
For the last few years, I’ve often taken a film camera with me on trips. Nothing exciting, either a 90s holiday camera from eBay or a really light plasticky new camera once the 90s one started misbehaving. There are no settings except flash on/off and the 90s one doesn’t even have that. I made it … More Iceland on film (summer 2025 edition)
One of my own personal Christmas traditions is to go ice skating. Usually it’s at Bournemouth but last year I tried (and failed; the blades weren’t sharp enough) in Reykjavik and this year I finally had the opportunity to have the iconic Christmas experience of skating at Somerset House in the heart of London, or … More Ice skating at Somerset House: iconic London Christmas experiences
This is an exciting Christmas activity that I saw Sandy Breitmeier, aka sandymakessense, do a month or two ago and the moment I saw it, I knew I had to give it a go. It’s a lampworking workshop, where you use a blowtorch to melt and twist glass to make a Christmas tree ornament. I … More Lampworking: making a Christmas tree using a blowtorch
Last weekend, I was in London for a work Christmas thing and I stayed on afterwards for a couple of things of my own so I needed somewhere to stay. My usual flavour of cheap anonymous boring chain hotels being sold out by the time I went to book it the week before (yes, I … More Zedwell Capsule Hotel review: what’s it like to sleep in a coffin?
I don’t do a lot of travel within the UK. I’m not a fan of driving on motorways and while our rail network is reasonably extensive, train travel is expensive, complicated (no one will tell you when various ticket types are valid but will leap on you the second you get it wrong) and notoriously … More Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market
Back in the summer, shortly after joining a Facebook group for advice on trip to Iceland, I wrote a post called Stupid questions you were afraid to ask the first time you went to Iceland (summer edition) and now I’m back with a second part, the winter edition, featuring all the questions you were afraid … More Stupid questions you were afraid to ask the first time you went to Iceland (winter edition)
In my last post, I told you all about my time at Thermes de Spa, the original spa – well, the current spa in the town Spa that gave all spas their name. I wish I could get three or four posts out of this weekend but it’s not really worth doing an itinerary post … More Spa by train
I Am A Polar Bear 