Welcome to Episode 072 of my “Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure” podcast.
I am The Barefoot Backpacker. My tendency is to go backpacking around lesser-visited spots around the world, independently, and usually solo, staying in hostels, airBnBs, and Premier Inns. I tend to move around from place to place a lot rather than spending too long in the same destination, and I generally book my onward journeys on-the-fly rather than having things booked in advance. The idea of being in a place for several days and not ‘need’ to worry about things like food or travel is not one I’m used to. I seek out craft beer bars and street food, and generally steer clear of other Brits travelling abroad for sun, sea, sand, sangria, and sex. And of course my only reference point for all-inclusive holidays has tended to be what I’ve seen on TV and in the media.
In short, I’m the least likely person to end up in an all-inclusive resort on the beaches of Cyprus for four nights.
However, life is often about getting out of your comfort zone, And, in a sense, given that this sort of trip isn’t really what you’d expect from someone like me, doing it was exactly the point.
[Full disclosure – it was a blogger press trip gifted by Jet2Holidays. Which, given the above, and given how well y’all know me, probably in truth raises more questions than it gives answers.]
Topics discussed in this episode are:
- Walking in the Glasgow hinterlands
- Being tipsy in Manchester
- How I ended up going to an all-inclusive resort
- The ease of getting to and from the resort
- What the different tariffs offer
- Food and drink, buffets and specialist restaurants
- Our room
- All-Inclusive resorts and the local area
- An afternoon in the spa, including being steamed to perfection
- Having my back waxed
- Visiting an all-inclusive resort as an aroace non-binary person
- Not being part of a long-term couple at an adults-only resort
- Would I go again?
You can listen via the feed above, or via Spotify, or on your podcast app of choice. Let me know if it isn’t, by the way, and I’ll see what I can do. In addition, a PDF transcript of this episode is available (except for a seven-minute conversation with Laura towards the end).
As always, if you have anything to say about the topic, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I now have a newsletter you can subscribe to, containing extra content, and it’s where I’ll be mentioning future podcast episodes if you want to make your own contribution.
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Contributions for this pod came from:
- Amanda Kendle, of the Not a Ballerina website,
- Ruth Millington, whose website is here,
- Kylie, of the Between England And Everywhere website, and
- Laura, who can be found at her Medium site