A cottage in one of the wildest and most beautiful areas of Europe during a long, freezing cold Winter. Life here is both a daily challenge and a great source of joy. I’m often asked why I live where I do, and in this short video I try to explain my reasoning. Traditional rural life […]

It’s again been a couple of months since I updated my blog, and quite a bit has happened. One reason I haven’t been posting often is that I’ve been focusing on making videos for my YouTube channel Carpathian Adventure. I’ve been procrastinating for a long time, and the adpocalypse (plus the major censoring) had me […]

This week Slovakia celebrated its independence from Communism. As it was a bank holiday, many traveled to the capital to protest the government’s lock down policies. Our little family instead made the 2-hour trip to Pieniny National Park, by the River Dunajec, to visit my wife’s father’s family home. We usually do this for All […]

Thanks to the bloody pandemic, our original plan to drive across Europe and follow the Templar/Cathar route across the South of France and the Pyrenees/Northern Spain was out of the question. As was our backup plan to go to Croatia due to Hungary making it impossible for me to pass through. So, right at the […]

Our lives out here are completely affected by the seasons and the various events and changes which happen within them, far more so than if we lived in an urban environment. Autumn brings with it the crazy rush to get wood in and prepared for winter, both day and night Red Deer stags cry out […]

Things had been going too smoothly this Summer but that ended on Sunday when I fell backwards on to a rock pile and broke my 6th rib. That’s the third rib I’ve broken in four years and it really sucks. I didn’t go to the hospital until Wednesday, hoping it was just a bruised lung […]

I finally realized another of my life’s ambitions whilst on one of our evening walks outside the village. My wife and I spotted a small herd of Red deer hinds and fawns on one of the hillsides and they bolted into the forest. Thinking they’d picked up our scent we carried on walking. 20 minutes […]

It wouldn’t be summer without a 13 hour drive to the Croatian coast. This year we booked an apartment directly on the sea in Šparadići near Grebaštica, Central Dalmatia. It wasn’t our usual sort of place (there were actually people nearby) but I was pleasantly surprised. Plus, after a month of building a gazebo and a woodshed […]

My daughter wanted to see Hallstatt in Austria so we booked a hotel in the Alps and, following a week’s break by the sea in Croatia, made a 12-hour drive through Slovenia and via the incredible Loblipass to Tauplitzalm above Bad Mittendorf. At 1650 metres (5413 feet) above sea level, we were woefully unacclimatized to our […]

On Saturday I managed to get a little riding in. Scarlet needed her engine turning over so I took her out, although with the heavy side-winds and a temperature just a little too cool for the gear I was wearing, the ride felt more like a chore than fun. I also haven’t changed her tyres […]