Flora The Explorer - Page 6 of 28 -

Scotland

Exploring an Abandoned Hotel in the Scottish Highlands

Posted on June 14, 2018

Going urban exploring in Scotland was an accident. One of those worldwide pursuits which stays relatively secretive for a few reasons, urban exploring (or ‘UrbEx’) is the activity of those who venture inside abandoned sites of all kinds, usually armed with a torch and a camera, to see what they can find. From disused hospitals, schools and churches to theme parks, lighthouses, old Olympic structures and sometimes entire towns, any place which seems deserted, derelict, and generally forgotten is high…

Both My Parents Died Before I Turned 30. Here’s How I Deal With Grief.

Posted on June 7, 2018

It’s not easy losing both your parents in your twenties. And the grief? It’s a sucker punch to the gut. It’s like a sharp-toothed creature inside your chest. Like a waning chasm crawling up your throat. Like an animal barrelling through your ribcage. Grief is lethargic. It has an insatiable appetite. It fills you up with fury, sucks you into quicksand, and buries you under mounds of duvet covers. It sneaks suddenly around corners and reduces you to tears in…

Antigua & Barbuda Behind the Blog Mental Health

Behind the Blog: The Power of Passionate People

Posted on May 16, 2018

“Mi-mi mi-mi mi-mi mi-mi-miiiiii!” A group of travel bloggers stand in a small library, facing a keyboard. On the Caribbean island of Antigua, in a stunning resort studded with pineapples and palm trees, they are practicing their vocal warm ups. “Ma-ma ma-ma ma-ma ma-ma-maaaaa!” Behind the keyboard stands Mike King, a professional vocal coach and our choir master for the week. His mouth opens and shuts like a piece of elastic, his hands skipping along the plastic keys as the music…

Ecuador Food South America

What to Eat in Ecuador? The Best Traditional Ecuadorian Food

Posted on May 11, 2018

I’ve eaten a lot of traditional food in Ecuador. That’s what happens when you spend five months living in Cuenca with a host family and eating street snacks whenever you get peckish. A usual day in Ecuador is structured around food. I eat fruit salad for breakfast at my teaching placement; have a lunch of meat, potatoes and chili sauce at my host family’s kitchen table; and in the afternoons I snack on something fried from a street stall. But…

Europe Spain

From Bullfights to Orange Trees: Drama & Romance in Ronda, Spain

Posted on February 27, 2018

My first view of Ronda was a row of cliffside houses. They teetered on the very edge of a sheer drop, as if there was nothing to prevent these small white buildings from falling into the canyon 120 metres below. In the early hours of a crisp January morning, we stood at a viewpoint on the opposite side and stared across the canyon. Gusts of wind rushed up the vertical crags to whip themselves through my hair. I felt invigorated…

England Europe Grief Mental Health Personal Scotland

Three Months as an Orphan, an Ice House and a Search for ‘Home’

Posted on February 13, 2018

In January, I came home to a broken boiler. After celebrating the New Year in Cuba, I’d spent two straight days flying from Havana to Toronto to London – and I was exhausted. Moreover, I was more than a little worried about how it would feel to be at home at the beginning of this new year. The first year I’m facing without either of my parents alive. It’s been three months since my dad passed away, and in that…

England Grief Personal

Finding the Words to Say Goodbye

Posted on November 30, 2017

My dad always loved flowers. On October 20th this year he turned 79 years old, and I spent that morning trying to decide what was suitable to give him. I hadn’t had time to buy him any presents, but an assortment of birthday cards which had landed through the postbox went into my bag. The day before, he’d mentioned what kind of cake he’d like – “Something creamy, Flor; something more sweetie than cakey – and coffee icing would be…

Grief Personal

Waiting For Grief

Posted on September 7, 2017

I’m sleeping on a sofa bed. This has been my life for two months now: since June, apart from brief escapes to Scotland, Italy, and the east of London. I’ve relocated to the front room of my dad’s house. I’ve unfolded a dust-covered mattress from the confines of green sofa cushions, pulled it out, covered the thin striped material with a mattress topper bought off my ex-flatmate, and tried my best to make it feel like home. This sofa bed…

Festivals Scotland

Doune the Rabbit Hole: The Best Music Festival You’ve Never Heard Of

Posted on August 15, 2017

We’re going ‘Doune The Rabbit Hole’… Up in the Scottish Highlands, close to the city of Stirling and down the road from the Lake of Mentieth, is a place called the Cardross Estate. And every summer, it plays host to a music festival called Doune the Rabbit Hole. My music festival history (so far) I’ve been to a fair few music festivals in my time. The first was Exit festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, held inside a medieval fort;…

Challenges Inspiration Mental Health Personal

The Ten Most Adventurous Travel Challenges I’ve Ever Faced (And One I Haven’t…Yet)

Posted on August 3, 2017

A little announcement: I’m speaking at a festival! This coming weekend I’ll be heading to the heart of Oxfordshire, England, where hundreds of people will be wandering around Wilderness Festival. And at some point, some of them are hopefully going to gather round a campfire to listen to me talk about travelling. For a full forty five minutes. Giving this talk is a pretty big deal for me. Although running this site has led me to a number of unexpected…

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Instagram