Travelling is about getting far away from home, spending a long time in an exotic location, living on a budget, avoiding tourists, getting to know different people and having “an experience.” Or is it?
I had always assumed that Romania was the cheapest place in Europe, which is a damn good reason for living there (other reasons are that they’re friendly, honest, loyal, multilingual, flexible, fun-loving and great to work with). Continue reading
I’ve only just worked out something that everyone else knew ages ago – this year is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One. Continue reading
What’s the best approach to take when visiting a country like Scotland which is in the grip of a huge debate about independence? I’ve asked a few non-Scottish people what they think about the upcoming independence referendum and their replies were non-committal; saying “it’s up to you”. Continue reading
Some years ago I set up a blog for my extended family: www.wolfemurray.com I thought it was a really good idea as my family is full of people who can write really well. Continue reading
The problem with blogs is they often lack a purpose. Setting up a blog is easy and doesn’t cost a penny if you use the excellent Tumblr or WordPress platforms (this blog runs on a WordPress engine and you can see my photo blog here, which is hosted by Tumblr). Continue reading
I groaned when Mike Ormsby sent me a copy of his first novel — Child Witch Kinshasa — as I felt obliged to read it and do a review. What a chore. I’m not a reviewer, I know nothing about Congo and I’ve got piles of other books to read.
I opened Mike’s book with the intention of reading a few pages, getting bored, and then giving it up with a clean conscience. Problem was I couldn’t put the damn thing down and, with a growing sense of wonder, I realised I had stumbled across a gem. Continue reading
I published an article on Huffington Post on January 1st 2014 called Thank You Romania and it went viral. Over 11,000 people liked it on Facebook and everyone I met in Romania seemed to have seen it. Apparently it was just what was needed in Romania – a positive article to balance all the scaremongering by the British tabloids about the „Romanian immigrant invasion’. By now, almost two months later, everyone knows that story is a joke but for Romanians a bitter taste remains; it’s hard for them to accept that they’re disliked – even hated – in the UK.
When Formula AS, a leading Romanian weekly newspaper, asked me to do an interview based on my brief analysis of the British tabloids in my Thank You Romania, I jumped at the chance. Continue reading