I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates at Heathrow Airport to get back in to the UK, my passport is rejected and I'm told to seek assistance from Border Force. Today, I think I discovered why! The border guards are usually polite and tell me there's nothing wrong with my passport (not that they …
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I like to visit new countries. I also need to eat in order to survive. As a vegetarian, some countries make that easier than others. I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was go Interrailing around Europe while maintaining a Vegan / Vegetarian diet. My next adventure was Japan. People told me that it was impossible to be veggie in Japan. That was nonsense. I wouldn't say it was easy, but…
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We recently spent 30 days criss-crossing Europe. One of my concerns was how to feed myself. I know Amsterdam is full of weirdo hippies like me who avoid meat and dairy - but what about Frankfurt? What about Prague? What about Ljubljana? What about the trains themselves? Nightmare, right? I packed a bunch of snack bars, stocked up Google translate with suitable phrases, and resigned myself to…
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Interrail were having a sale on their month-long first class tickets. So Liz and I decided to do a "Grand Tour" - running around and seeing a dozen European cities. There are lots of companies which will sell you a pre-designed package Interrailing tour - but we decided to tread our own path. We spent a few weeks poring over maps and rail planners, scouring booking.com for hotels, and working…
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Moribund train company Great Western Rail currently have a two month backlog of complaints. I think that this breaches their agreement with the Office of Rail and Road. In an ideal world GWR would be forced to improve, or be stripped of their franchise. I've spent an utterly miserable month commuting between Oxford and London on GWR's over-crowded and decrepit trains. I was delayed around 21…
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There are two things you should know about me. The first is that I like to complain about poor service, and the second is that I'm a hoarder. These character flaws have finally proved useful! Let me explain how you can claim hundreds or even thousands of Euros in compensation for delayed flights. A couple of years ago, we took a holiday to Turkey flying with Thomas Cook. The flight out was…
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Well, it's official. In a month I'll be flying down to Cape Town, South Africa. Then on to Johannesburg. Then up to Nairobi. Then west to Lagos. Four cities, three countries, two weeks, one massive continent. Africa. I'm flying down with InMobi, my employers (this blog post is personal and doesn't reflect company policy etc). We'll be visiting all the local mobile developers and researchers…
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The life of a vegetarian isn't always an easy one. I'm aware that I'm lucky enough to live in a society which is broadly accepting of my dietary preferences - which is what makes it all the more annoying when a company which should know better cocks up. Twice. This has been sent to Virgin Atlantic's complaints team. Dear Sir, I realise that it's a standing joke to complain about the quality…
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