Writing
Essays on place, culture and the spaces in between.
We Are Guests
We are sat on a busy bus in Naxos, heading into the island’s mountainous interior for a day exploring its villages.
Just outside Naxos Town, two local women climb aboard, each carrying a shopping bag from the morning market. The bus is already full, mostly with tourists like me. There isn’t a spare seat between us.
It’s Class, That!
Travelling has a funny way of sharpening your view of home. After months spent moving between countries, I found myself noticing how strangely we talk about class in Britain, often reducing something deeply nuanced into a handful of lazy stereotypes.
Sheffield: The Sound Of The Crowd
There was space. Space to rehearse. Space to experiment. Space to fail.
Sheffield’s cultural legacy was not built because somebody designed it. It emerged because enough people had the freedom, time and opportunity to create things on their own terms. Much like its industrial past.
The Accidental Travel Influencer
I had a random thought the other day. Ironically, it involved Karl Pilkington.
In a world of endless “Top 10 things to do in…” lists and “Come with me for a day in…” videos, Karl Pilkington may have accidentally become one of the most useful travel influencers of the modern era. Which is unfortunate, because he’d probably hate being described that way.
The Moon Under Water - A Perfect Pub
Cold, smooth, creamy liquid pours down my throat rapidly before coming to an abrupt ending with a bitter finish on my tongue. It’s my first pint of Guinness in over four months. I’ve been away travelling, and one of my first ports of call upon returning is the pub.
Never Trust A Hotel Review
As most people probably do, we always ensure we check reviews before we book to stay somewhere. A bit of due diligence before parting with hundreds of pounds is surely a reasonable thing to do?
The Third Space
Having a third space is having a place outside of your home or workplace to convene or to relax. It might be purposeful, like a pub or a café. Or it could be something less obvious, like a park or a beach.
A Perfect Entrance
Of late this blog has gotten a little travel heavy and that’s because of course, I am travelling. However, I’m acutely conscious that this is not a travel blog. There’s no intent to unseat Lonely Planet in telling you where to go, what to do, or what to think.
Nostalgia Without Memory
I’ve recently been watching Jimmy McGovern’s Accused on Netflix. This drama from the early 2010s sees each episode focus on a trial, at court. The crimes committed in each episode vary, but the consistent theme of each challenges the viewer’s perception of morality, versus the law.
The Pink of Passeggiare
If you’ve been wondering about the splash of pink across Passeggiare, here’s the story.
The inspiration comes straight from Italy’s most iconic newspaper: La Gazzetta dello Sport. I didn’t want this to look like just another blog - the choice of pink was deliberate, a nod to something uniquely, unmistakably Italian.
Point & Shoot
As a child, family holidays were punctuated with a questioning of why my mum was taking a long time trying to take a photograph of a Greek Orthodox priest walking down some stairs, or waiting for the right moment, with no people in frame, to photograph a sweeping white sandy beach.
A Welcome
“Passeggiare”. A perfect analogy, for why I’ve decided to do this blog…