About me
About Have a Lovely Time
This site was founded in 2007 and continued until 2012, bagging various accolades for family travel content. More than 40,000 monthly readers used our insider travel tips, news and reviews to give them inspiration and advice, so they could have a lovely time whether visiting Blackpool or the Bahamas.
I hope my reinvented site gives you itchy feet, whether taking your first steps towards distant shores or heading back to a wonderful Welsh beach you love.
I particularly hope that if you’re a solo traveller, maybe an empty-nester, an anxious traveller, or perhaps a traveller with a chronic illness, you will find something here to help you explore.
Thank you for joining me on the journey.
About me
Far too long ago, I messed up in a bid to work for Travel Trade Gazette.
Ever since I’ve still pined to write about travel.
I don’t count the countries I’ve been to as I love to go back to favourite places or discover new ones nearby.
In Russia, (we’re talking 30 years ago) where I was a newspaper editor, I syndicated travel content. My favourite was the story of Nikolai Vasin, a Beatles fan who turned his home into a shrine to John Lennon. I also covered how Queen Elizabeth II evoked echoes of a bygone era, as she brought royal grandeur back to Russia’s imperial capital during her historic visit, more recently depicted in The Crown. Somehow, I got a job for Aeroflot, sub-editing English-language in-flight brochures.
My first press trip was courtesy of British Airways on its maiden voyage from Birmingham to New York.
I’ve continued to contribute to various publications – from my experience on a raucous friends’ holiday in Corfu for Chat and memories of Butlins in Prima, to regular travel news reporting and a developing cruise specialism.
I’m also a travel book contributor, including supplying a section of a St Petersburg Lonely Planet Guide.