Fewer places, longer stays.
I spend a month in each place, learn where the bread is good, and write it down. No itineraries, no top ten lists, and nothing sponsored. Just what it is actually like to be somewhere for a while.
Latest dispatch
12 September 2026
Four weeks in the Julian Alps
I went for the lake and stayed for the valley behind it. Here is what a month in Bohinj costs, which buses actually run in shoulder season, and why I would go back in October instead of July.
Recent dispatches.
Places
Where I’ve been.
- Slovenia2026
- Portugal2026
- Japan2025
- Morocco2025
- Scotland2025
- Italy2024
- Georgia2024
- Albania2024
- Mexico2023
- Norway2023
A month is the shortest useful trip.
A week tells you what a place looks like. A month tells you what it is like to live there badly, which is more interesting. You find out which shop is open on Sunday, how the buses actually behave, and what everyone complains about.
The good part is always the second week, when you stop taking photographs of everything.
Eight things, nothing else.
A 38-litre backpack
If it doesn't fit, it doesn't come. Carry-on only, every time.
One film camera
Thirty-six frames a week makes you think before you press it.
Merino everything
Three shirts, worn in rotation, washed in sinks.
A paper notebook
Phones die and notes apps are for lists, not sentences.
An e-reader
Loaded before I leave, because rural wifi is a rumour.
A plug adapter with two USB-C ports
The single most useful object I own.
Trail runners
They handle a mountain and a dinner. Boots handle one.
A packable rain shell
Bought in Scotland, for obvious reasons.
About
I’m Ines. I left a design job in Milan in 2023 and have been moving every month or two since. I pay for my own trips. If something was bad I’ll say so.