Things We Learnt In:

Clinging to the cliff top on the confluence of the Danube river and the Morava river, Devin Castle is one hugely impressive historical marker of the country lines between Slovakia and Austria. Devin Castle has seen a huge swathe of human history, holding its commanding position as a settlement since Neolithic times, fortified throughout the ages and eventually ruined on the orders of Napolean 1809. The monumental ruins now make for a superb day out for all, as long as you don't mind hills! Getting to Devin Castle It is easy to use public transport to reach Devin Castle, given it is situated only 12km outside of Bratislava. The most direct route is Bus 29, running twice an hour, which can be boarded underneath the "UFO Bridge". The journey takes around 25 minutes and tickets can be purchased from the machines for the bargain price of 90cents per adult. The bus then takes you out of Bratislava through the surprisingly green and vibrant suburbs until you reach...

Edinburgh is one of Scotlands most haunted locations. From the grey and gothic medieval Old Town to the Georgian New Town, Edinburgh is crammed to the rafters with stories and legends of all things ghoulish. Edinburgh has a long and often grisly history. Edinburgh Castle has balanced precariously on the edge of a cliff for over 2,000 years. It has been the site of many battles, sieges and murders. It is unsurprising that there have been reports of a ghostly piper moving around the Castle and the Royal Mile, appearing to be lost. In 1645 Edinburgh's population was dealt a horrific blow by the Great Plague of Edinburgh. Conditions were cramped and unsanitary allowing the bubonic plague (later known as the Black Death) to run rife, killing approximately half of the population of Edinburgh. Some of the unorthodox ways of dealing with the Great Plague of Edinburgh were particularly gruesome- it is believed that over 300 residents were sealed into their homes in Mary Kings Close ...

When I first met my travelling buddy just over 10 years ago we were both students with no money. Our first attempt at foreign travel together was a trip to Florence after almost a year of dating. We learnt a few things that holiday, but the most important was that neither of us can bear dragging a wheely case more than 100m without the urge to drop kick it off a bridge. Over the past 10 years we've been fortunate enough to build up our travels together. In 2016 we hit up 6 new countries together and we started to joke about whether we could manage 12 destinations in 12 months. We decided to use the rest of our annual leave to visit Australia which put paid to anymore destinations that year. Now, the travelling buddy will turn 30 years old next August. It’s prime time to see if we can finally hit 12 countries in 12 months. Credit for the idea goes to a colleague who attempted the same thing for her honeymoon, and I have ruthlessly stolen her brilliant plan. The rule...