An Introduction

Doing things conventionally has never been one of my strong points. That is why I’ve decided during a global pandemic with lockdown measures in place to start a travel blog. Maverick, I know. You can be my Goose if you want. Just don’t die. I should probably warn you that there will be Top Gun spoilers here. The film came out in 1986, you should really have seen it by now.

Naturally, you may well be wondering what exactly a “free range” Ben is. Like the chicken? Exactly like the chicken. I just wander around freely laying eggs wherever I please with a smile on my face. Although I guess in the current climate I am more of a battery Ben, albeit against my will (because battery hens famously choose to be kept in cages…). I wait with baited breath to find out the next steps that will be taken with regard to the Covid-19 outbreak in Britain on May 7th. I may well after that date decide to try and fly over the fence Chicken Run style to avoid being baked in a pie. I should probably warn you that there will be Chicken Run spoilers here. The film came out in 2000, you should really have seen it by now.

With 7th May in mind it has truly hit home to me just how much has changed in the space of a year. On 7th May 2019, I was embarking on the first full day of a three week interrailing trip. On May 7th 2020 I will be wondering when I can have a haircut again. While it only takes two weeks for a skin fade to fade (try saying that after a few pints), memories of travelling fortunately stick around a lot longer and it is the memories of this interrailing trip that I shall be sharing here over the next few weeks, a year on from when they happened. 

Generally interrailing trips are mapped out in two ways, precise planning and booking ahead or flying by the seat of your pants and working it out as you go along. Being the maverick that I told you I am back in paragraph one you’ll not be shocked to know that I followed the precise planning and booking ahead route. There will be more detail on the planning that went into the trip in a later post but one part of the preparation aspect that it is important to plug into this post as an amuse-bouche, dear reader, is the locations that were visited during the trip. Over the next few weeks keep your eyes peeled for posts on Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands. 

This isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to travel blogging but I hope it will be a more enjoyable ride this time. More on my previous failed attempt in a later post. Due to that however, my aim, actually make that a promise, for this blog is to make things a little different. Expect explosive revelations such as “I had a steak in Berlin. It was good.” If Shakespeare wasn’t dead already he’d be watching his throne right now believe me. Spoiler alert – I did indeed have a steak in Berlin. It was good. If my posts ever stray into content that could be found written by a middle aged disgruntled Brit on Trip Advisor then please feel free to track me down (or file your own complaint via the Contact page) and slap me around the face with a kipper. Just know that I will then review said incident online somewhere. 

If you’ve made it this far (well done) then you may as well stick around and join me as we hop on a plane to Ljubljana on 6th May for three weeks of interrailing! If you’d like to know a little more about me and why I’m here, then the About page is the place to be.