Probably Oaxaca. If you head down to the bus station area of town it’s not so nice but the centre is lovely, and it’s surrounded by nature.

Haruki Murakami. I read The Wild Sheep Chase and didn’t really enjoy it that much but I wanted to try another book and see if I liked that more. So I read Norwegian Wood and loved it. I’ve also read South Of The Border, West Of The Sun now and loved that as well. I’m considering getting 1Q84 next.

I think there’s living and there’s living. I’m from London originally but live in France now. I had a hankering for living in a big city again last summer but I knew that London is very, very expensive these days. I’d love to try New York as that seems like an incredible city but again I know it’s too expensive. I went to Mexico City and it was amazing. And cheap.

Thanks, I had considered that but hadn’t been sure if it was worth trying. I might give it a go. It was very much a canned reply, saying that their reviews allow both parties to express their experience.

Yeah I really want a good alternative. My last airbnb was an absolute nightmare. I complained to airbnb and they refunded me the princely sum of 3.34. I didn’t want to have to fork out for another place so I just had to stick it out for 3 and a half weeks as they wouldn’t give me any more money back. The host just denied all of my complaints. Then when I left he wrote a review calling me a “dirty liar who asked for dirty liar money” and accused me of breaking a shower rail (it was held together with tape when I arrived) and breaking a lamp (there was no lamp in the room). I complained to airbnb about the review and they refused to do anything about that either so I don’t know how that’s going to affect me if I have to book through them again. Nothing but good reviews for years but that’s the one a host is going to pay attention to if they see it I guess.

I had this when I got my visa for Bali. I was recommended a visa agency on Instagram who I messaged. They then gave me a whatsapp number and the whole thing was done on whatsapp and a bank transfer. Seemed a bit dodgy at the time but worked perfectly.

I never felt unsafe there. I’d feel safer walking round Mexico City at night instead of West Croydon.

I find gotogate is pretty good.

I went to McDonalds in Bali. They were advertising a beef rendang burger that had a pink bun so I figured I had to give it a try.

I live in France and they used to do special French burgers as a limited time thing - there was a raclette one with hash brown in it, loads of cheese and bits of bacon in the bun and a fondue one that had loads and loads of cheese.

Absolutely the cost for me. I grew up in London but live in the French Alps most of the year now. I had a hankering for living in a big city again for a bit and, just out of curiosity and knowing it was very, very silly, I looked up prices in New York. I always wanted to visit and it seems like the kind of city I’d really like. As soon as I saw the prices I confirmed to myself it was a complete non starter. I ended up in Mexico instead and it was fantastic - and cheap.