Steppe in Style: adventures in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

My Eastern Europe and Central Asia bucket list

I came across a bucket list published by Bucket List Travels, and while it has some wonderful places on it — some of which I’ve seen and many I’d love to see — I was a little disappointed to see there wasn’t one single destination in the huge Eastern Europe and Central Asia region So…
How to do Samarkand in 15 minutes

I love slow travel and I wouldn’t recommend trying to see any city in 15 minutes, let alone one like Samarkand, that not only is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, it’s famous the world over for its Silk Road history. But sometimes life doesn’t work out the way you want it to,…
Why I love beach resorts out of season

There’s a peculiar romance about beachside resorts out of season. Of course, lying on a beach soaking up the sun before plunging into the warm waves, then having a delicious al fresco meal at a beachside cafe is awesome. But the part of me that likes taking long bus journeys to industrial cities also loves the…
How I went from terrible packer to travel capsule wardrobe expert

I used to be a really bad packer. I had a tendency to shove in anything I think might be useful and almost always arrived having forgotten something vital (no of course I didn’t make a list…!) But things have changed. These days I manage to put together a tiny travel capsule wardrobe for every…
18 historical sites in and around Saranda

I put together this handy guide to historical sites in and around Saranda. For a city with a long history — settlement in the Saranda area dates back centuries — Saranda is by and large a modern city, where concrete hotels, villas and apartment blocks have mushroomed densely around the bay. There are a few…
My 12 item capsule wardrobe for Corfu and Saranda

I packed a tiny travel capsule wardrobe for our trip to Corfu and Saranda, Albania. Although the trip was longer, I packed just enough for four days, meaning I had time to wash everything out between wears. This tiny wardrobe had options for sightseeing, days at the beach, travelling and dining out. What I packed…
8 fun city beaches along the Adriatic and Ionian coasts

In my travels on the eastern Adriatic and northern Ionian coasts, I’ve ended up visiting lots of city beaches, so for the first time I’ve pulled together a list of my favourites. I’ve noticed that city beaches don’t always get the best write-ups, and a lot of travel writers instead extol the wonders of off…
Corfu and Saranda: close but long divided

Just 35 years ago, the journey we are about to take would have been impossible. We’re sitting in a ferry at Corfu Port, waiting for it to take us the hour-long ride — only 30 minutes by hydrofoil — across the Straits of Corfu to Saranda, Albania. Well beyond the scheduled departure time, the cream…
How to make friends when you’re living abroad

It can be difficult to make friends when you’re living abroad, but for me the friends I made were one of the best things about expat life. I would never have survived 11 years as an expat in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Romania without my friends. Together we have had some amazing experiences. We’ve been there…
101 places to get coffee in Central Asia

When I first went to Central Asia, moving to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in summer 2003, it was almost impossible to get a good coffee in the entire city. Five years later, when I moved to Almaty, Kazakhstan, coffee lovers used to congregate at CoffeeDelia for the best cappuccinos in town and fast wifi. There weren’t a…

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