illumina's VirtualTourist Home Page

I've longed to travel my whole life, but have only recently been able to afford to do much, after four years as an impoverished student and a further 3 years in an interesting, but abysmally low-paid, career (Archaeology).
I didn't leave the country at all till I was 20, which was only to go to Ireland for a week with University; and I didn't leave the British Isles til I was 24 when I jumped in at the deep end a bit, with a busman's holiday to go digging in Albania, stopping off on Corfu for a couple of days of relaxation at the end.

Redundancy in 2003 rather strangely became an advantage as I ended up in a slightly better paid office job for a while, reflected in my taking 5, yes 5 trips abroad in 2005! I'm now (as of Jan 2007) back in Archaeology, but the desire to travel is still strong, so I'll just have to live frugally and save up all my pennies!

I'm gradually working on creating and updating pages for all the places I've visited; it's going to take me quite a while, I've got so much I'd like to say!

I also want to create pages for all the places I know and love in the UK. I think that travelling around and getting to know your own country is just as important as going abroad, and there is so much diversity within the British Isles.

1998

Ireland - Dublin, Limerick, Bunratty, Blarney, Cashel, Holycross, Newgrange, Tara, the Boyne Valley

2002

Corfu - Kerkyra (Corfu Town)
Albania - Sarande, Ksamili, Butrint, Gjirokaster

2003

Belgium - Dessel (Graspop Metal Meeting), passing through Northern France on the way

2005

France - Paris, Saint Denis - the first birthday I spent abroad; the first of many I hope and plan.
UK - Glastonbury
Belgium - Dessel (Graspop Metal Meeting)
Germany - Wacken (Open Air festival) passing through northern France, Belgium and Holland
Finland - Helsinki
Denmark - Copenhagen
Sweden - Malmö, Lund

2006

Italy - Rome. Another birthday trip!
UK - Cornwall
UK - Stratford and Kenilworth

2007

Turkey - Istanbul and the Bosphorus (birthday trip no. 3!)
Netherlands - Amsterdam
Czech Republic - Prague, Kutna Hora and Sedlec
Slovakia - Bratislava and Devin
Austria - Vienna

The last three were visited in a single trip: 'backpacking' around Central Europe for two weeks, travelling by train between cities. Great fun, and now I've found someone who loves travel as much as I do, hopefully short city breaks are a thing of the past. Follow our trip, starting with Prague.

2008

Egypt - Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.
Trip for the big 3-0!
Spain I was very lucky and managed to get a job working in the Basque Country for two months. Spain´s a wonderful place! I was living in Vitoria, and took several trips from there.

Aug 2009

We have just got back from our mammoth trek, which lasted 7 months and took in 14 countries, including India, Pakistan, China and Mongolia! We started on a cold and frosty morning back in January, leaving on the Eurostar for Brussels - click on the link to follow our trip (work in progress!).

This trip took in the furthest points South and East for me!

We're currently planning a trip to Morocco for my birthday next year, and possibly another to Slovenia in the summer. Roll on 2010!

I have a huge wishlist of places to visit:

Croatia (Dubrovnik in particular)
Estonia (Tallinn)
Norway
Iceland
Switzerland
Greece (Athens, Rhodes, Delphi...)
Ethiopia
Tunisia
Libya (Leptis Magna, Qasr al Hajj)
Jordan (Petra)
Israel
Japan
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Kirghizstan
Iran
Afghanistan
South America (Machu Picchu, Chachapoyas etc)

oh, and lots of other places!
...

As an archaeologist with an enduring love of history, one of the main reasons I travel is to see 'old stuff'! I also have a somewhat morbid outlook, and love to wander around churches, cemeteries, crypts and catacombs. You can expect to see all of this illustrated in my tips, and as I also love to share knowledge, I try to write a bit about the background of the places I visit.

(This photo of me appeared in Current Archaeology!).

I also like to combine travel with another of my loves - music! I quite often visit places within the UK to see bands live (London and Nottingham most frequently) and have travelled to Belgium, Germany and Finland for gigs and festivals. This picture shows me with the singer of Sentenced at a signing at Wacken 2005.

Inspired by others, here are my Travel "Records":

Most countries visited in 1 year: 14
Most countries in 1 day: 6 (Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK - one looong bus ride!)
Countries I have lived in: 2 (UK and Spain)
Countries I have driven in: 3 (UK, Turkey and India)
Countries I have worked in: 3 (UK, Spain, Albania)
Passports: 2
Number of countries visited: 30
Number of countries I have walked into: 1 (Pakistan)
Highest altitude I've slept at: 3,900m (13,000ft) at Kara-kul Lake, China.
Longest train journey - Ulaanbaatar to Moscow, 5 days, 6304km.

Superlatives that I have visited:

Smallest country in the world - Vatican City
Largest country in the world - Russia
Most populous country in the world - China (1,300,000,000 people)
Most sparsely populated country in the world - Mongolia (1.78 people per sq km)
World's furthest city from sea - Urumqi, China
Highest border crossing in the world: Khunjerab Pass (4733m /15528ft)
Deepest metro station (Europe/World?): Kiev Arsenal'na (105m)
World's largest public square - Tian'anmen, China
World's longest fortification - Great Wall of China
Longest river in the world - Nile
Longest river in Asia - Yangtze

I have seen the largest volume, and also deepest, freshwater lake in the world, Lake Baikal, but only from the train!