It’s no coincidence that my last post here was in August. My freelance writing workload ramped up, which was exciting and satisfying, and blogging fell down my to-do list until it completely slipped my mind. Life happens that way. In August and September I got into a pleasant routine where I would have a leisurely …
The extended time I’ve spent in Barbados is now longer that the original three-month stint I had planned. It’s a striking thought, especially because the days are sliding by at a seemingly accelerated pace. It’s certainly not what I expected when I left London in January with plans to be in my fifth country of …
The government of Barbados has come up with a unique response to the way coronavirus has upended the lives of so many people. With companies in various countries keeping their employees working remotely for the foreseeable future, so many people forced into self employment by redundancy, and the growing population of digital nomads who had …
I love a good app. My phone is crammed with apps for everything — if a site offers an app I’m more likely to use that than fire up my laptop… providing it’s well-designed of course. When you’re travelling all the time, it’s so convenient to open a few apps on your phone and get …
April went quite fast and at the same time lasted about seven weeks. We went from overnight curfew into full lockdown in Barbados, only permitted to leave the house to visit the doctor/pharmacy or petrol station. After a couple of weeks the supermarkets reopened. Two days a week have been allocated for going to the …
I was supposed to fly from London to Bangkok this week to spent the next two months bumming around parts of the backpacker trail in southeast Asia. I planned to start in Bangkok and head north, crossing from Thailand into Laos and travelling down into Cambodia. Obviously with global travel at a standstill because of …
High currency exchange fees and transaction charges have long been a source of angst while travelling, and once I’d decided to embark on long-term travel I opened an account with Revolut to use for my day-to-day spending abroad. Revolut is one of the new generation of Internet banks, offering online-only services based on apps. It …
What happens when you embark on long-term travel just before a global pandemic outbreak. This month’s update is not at all what I was expecting a few weeks ago. The plan was all laid out. It was put into motion months ago when I resigned from my job in London. After three months in Barbados …
Things have changed quite a lot in past few weeks. My original plan — when I left London to embark on full-time travel unknowingly at the start of a global pandemic — was to spend three months here in Barbados. I would then pop back to London for two weeks, before strapping on my backpack …
I’m thinking that I’ll write a monthly update… It’s already a week into March… Let’s see how long I keep it up! January was a transitional month, with no responsibilities beyond deciding which beach to hang out at. It was the break I needed to ease into my new life as a freelance writer and …