By Nico Kyriazis

As much as I love the idea of a big trip and leaving everything behind for a few months, something I did in 2016, many of my travels have been in short bursts and include quirky stop-offs in places most people would think were way too much effort to get to. Weekend in Dubai to break up the two flights to Australia? How about breaking the weekend in Dubai up too, with a night in Oman? Going through Switzerland on the way to Germany? How about a day trip into Liechtenstein while you're in the area?

One of the trips people always ask me about is the overland Beijing to London one I did in April/May 2016 which took in the trans-Siberian railway and a few nights in Mongolia, as well as most of Northern Europe by train. There were no flights involved and it needed a lot of planning to get used to all those train timetables! Coming straight after a month of travelling Southeast Asia, it was draining but totally worth the effort.

I've taken various other journeys, including turning a trip to Australia for a wedding into a month-long trip where I saw a bit of the middle East and sneaked in 5 days in New Zealand. I've also done some interrailing in Europe which is not as easy as I thought on a limited time budget! As well as this, I'm always planning either trips to see family in Cyprus - a place I feel really close to - or weekends away somewhere new.

I'm always taking in new information and looking to travel consistently, so I'll cover as many of my experiences on here as possible and try to provide tips where I can.

Countries visited so far:

I know... Considering some of the places I've been, there are some countries which really, really should be on this list. But I'm working on it...

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, India, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Oman, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, USA, Vietnam.

And I know a bit about the UK as well...