Our Journey

We left the United States in December 2023 with two carry-ons. This is the road after that, stay by stay.

December 2023

Out of the United States. Two bags. The diary starts later, in Glasgow.

Glasgow, March 2024

March 2024, Glasgow. Tennent's. City Chambers. A short stay; then we were gone.

Bucharest, April 2024

Bucharest from 8 April. Cișmigiu Park. The Parliament. A walking tour of Communist Bucharest. Obor Market, more than once. A Romanian wine tasting one afternoon. Caru' cu bere, twice. Zexe.

Sinaia at the end of the month. Peleş Castle on consecutive days.

Belgrade, April–May 2024

Belgrade, 30 April to 30 May. The fortress and Kalemegdan; a walk to the Danube. Kalenić Pijaca. The National Museum of Serbia. A communist walking tour, then a brutalist architecture tour. The Military Museum. The Nikola Tesla Museum. An afternoon at the zoo that we liked.

Easter lunch at Restoran Velika Skadarlija. Moon Sushi more than once. Polet. The Black Turtle Pub.

Kotor, May–July 2024

Kotor from 31 May. The gulf. The old town, Pjaca Sv. Tripuna. A canal walk, the church, the cemetery. Mesara Tanjga. A perfect dinner on the bay. Galion. We moved to Dobrata at the end of June.

Tivat, July 2024

Tivat from 3 July. The marina. Donja Lastva. Submarines. Ponta Veranda. Nama.

Tirana, July–August 2024

Tirana from 31 July. Pazari i Ri. Bunk'Art 2. House of Leaves. A free walking tour, then a day of communism stories that stayed with us. Komiteti. Baldushk. Lissus Fish. Carl's Bistro.

Bari, August 2024

A day in Bari at the end of August. Then the crossing to Sarandë.

Sarandë, September–October 2024

Sarandë from 1 September. Mucobega Beach. Black Marlin for fish. Kasandro. A beer at the Old House Bar.

On 2 October: Gjirokastra, the Blue Eye, the Monastery of St Nicholas. Out on 7 October, on a 1980s-vintage hydrofoil.

Catania, October 2024

Catania from 11 October. We ate our way through the first days. The Museo storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia 1943. The Greek–Roman theatre. Piazza Duomo.

Malta, October–December 2024

Luqa on 18 October. Through early December. The promenade to the end of it. Fat Harry's. The Red Lion. Azzopardi Fisheries. Mdina. Valletta before we left. Out on 6 December.

Edinburgh, December 2024

Edinburgh on 7 December. A short hop; then Glasgow.

Glasgow, December 2024–January 2025

Glasgow through the new year. The Barras. Byres Road. Scotia Bar was the highlight of one day. MacSorley's. Mosob.

Wales and London, January 2025

2 January 2025: Gwelfor Park, Dyserth, Rhyl. Prestatyn. Liverpool. Back to Glasgow.

London from 8 January. The British Museum. The Wallace Collection. Borough Market. Leadenhall Market.

Kuala Lumpur, January–March 2025

Kuala Lumpur from 14 January. Suria KLCC. Aquaria KLCC. Petaling Street in the rain. A Chinatown food tour. Chow Kit Market. Taman Connaught Night Market. Saloma Bridge.

Jyu Jyu Yakiniku was a lunch we wrote down as super-fun. Ferria. Arthur's Storehouse. Takumi when we wanted a craft pint. We left for Ha Noi on 16 March.

March 2025, Ha Noi

March 2025, Ha Noi. A walking tour through the Old Quarter: St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hoa Lo Prison, the Temple of Literature in its courtyards of stelae. Hoàn Kiếm Lake on a cooler afternoon. Train Street, the tracks hard against the shopfronts. The Imperial Citadel. The B52 still in the lake at the Victory Museum. A jeep tour that actually got us into the streets, not past them. The food tour was the one that stuck. Bánh mì at Cô Ba. Eel. Cobra at Hung Snake Restaurant, which is exactly as advertised. Hanoi Homebrew when we wanted a pint that wasn't a hotel bar. Seafood one night that was the best of the stay.

Hồi An, April 2025

Hồi An in April. The first hotel was terrible, so we moved. The second stay, at An Bàng, we liked: the beach, a seafood dinner worth the walk. The Old Quarter was the point of the town; the town itself was a lot.

Da Nang, May 2025

Da Nang after that, we weren't thrilled with, as a place. Two exceptions: a seafood dinner (lobster sashimi at Nam Chau), and a tour that took in the oyster farm at An Cư Lagoon, Lăng Cô.

Kuala Lumpur, late May 2025

Kuala Lumpur again at the end of May. Arthur's Storehouse. Sutraa. The familiar loop, not a new city.

Kuala Lumpur, early June 2025

Then a tour day: the Batu Caves, the elephant sanctuary at Kuala Gandah, durian on the Karak Expressway, lotus on the way back. Brickfields after that: Thean Hou Temple, a banyan-tree temple, Chinatown. Jalan Alor. Then Vietnam, a second time.

June 2025, a second time through

June was a second time through. Hồi An and Da Nang first, then Ha Noi and the bay. A lantern boat after dark on the Hồi An river. Mỹ Sơn in the jungle. Marble Mountain. Thanh Hà terracotta. A coconut boat in the water coconut forest at Cẩm Thanh. Bai Từ Long Bay: limestone, the cruise, kayaks, a pearl farm.

Kuala Lumpur, late June 2025

Back through Kuala Lumpur for a few days. Sutraa. Cathy's Place. Then Thailand.

Kamala Beach, June–July 2025

Kamala Beach from 29 June. A new room we liked. Nanork Seafood. Coconut Garden. The Boat Restaurant. Little Lillo's. Timebomb. Out on 12 July.

Koh Lanta, July 2025

Koh Lanta from 13 July. Turtle Beach, more than once, including a sunset. Lanta Old Town. The Irish Embassy Pub. Joker Bar. Quiet dinners on the sand.

Ao Năng, August 2025

Ao Năng from 3 August. The Last Fisherman Bar: raw crab, little fishes. Beach seafood at Noppharat Thara. A longtail out to Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. Ao Nang Crab House. Walking Street. Last day in Thailand on the 25th.

Kuala Lumpur, August–September 2025

Kuala Lumpur from 26 August. Arthur's Storehouse. Cathy's Place one last time. Suria KLCC. The Beer Bank. Sutraa. Out of Asia on 8 September.

Rome, September 2025

Rome on 9 September. A rainy drive through the city. The Colosseum on the 11th. Lunch at La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali.

Malta, from September 2025

Malta from 12 September 2025, and home. Valletta. A picnic at Ta'Betta. The Mdina Grand Prix. The Open Fire Chefs Festival at Maria Rosa Wine Estate.

Glasgow, December 2025

Glasgow in mid-December. The Lismore. The Buttery. Cooper's. Stravaigin. Then home to Malta for the winter.

Malta, winter into spring 2026

St. John's Co-Cathedral. Marsaxlokk, a weekend that felt like the point of the island. The Three Cities. A later tour of Mdina. Fort Campbell. Mellieha.

Isle of Man, May 2026

Isle of Man from 24 May. The TT: the main grandstand and paddock, Braddan Bridge, Milntowne Estate. Then the ferry, and Manchester.

England and Wales, May–June 2026

Coventry Transport Museum. The British Motor Museum. The Morgan factory. Brooklands. Beaulieu and the National Motor Museum. Haynes. The Tank Museum. Chastleton House. Sammy Miller's motorcycle museum.

Wales after that: the Bear Hotel in Crickhowell, then the Black Boy Inn. Caernarfon Castle. Llandudno Pier. Dyserth again.

Glasgow, June–July 2026

Glasgow from 13 June. Tennent's, more than once. A tour of the Ubiquitous Chip. We stayed into July.

Helsinki, July 2026

Helsinki from 18 July. Amazing beers at One Pint Pub, which we kept going back to. A walking tour of the city. The House of Salmon. Helsinki Bryggeri. Lappi Ravintola. A pub crawl: Barley & Bait, Amsterdam, One Pint again.

Jyväskylä, July–August 2026

Jyväskylä at the end of the month. A VIP day at the Parkola stage. Then back through Helsinki Airport.

Oslo, August 2026

Oslo from 3 August. The Opera House roof. An Oslo Fjord cruise. Our Savior's Cemetery. The Munch Museum. Crow Bar. ROOR, more than once, and we liked it. Out on the 18th.

Tallinn, August 2026

Tallinn from 19 August. Fat Margaret's. A walking tour. The Maritime Museum. Hotel Viru and the KGB Museum. A communism tour. Balti Jaam Market. Pohjala Brewery. Uba Ja Humal. Koht. Ramen at Kanuti. Texas Cantina was terrible. Still here at the end of the month.