INTERVIEW
About UTB
A brainchild of Duncan Rhodes, the
Urban Travel Blog is an independent
guide on City Breaks compiled by
expert travel writers, covering trends,
culture, experiences, eco-tourism as
well as nocturnal adventures in cities
around Europe and the world.
UTB’s team of bloggers is a mix
of published authors, successful
journalists, professional shutterbugs,
up-and-coming talents and several
office-job dreamers (who like to
swap story-telling for spreadsheets
whenever they can).
Boasting about 30,000 visitors
a month and a bigsocial media
presence, UTB is always on the
lookout for new writers with fresh
ideas.
To contribute, visit: www.
urbantravelblog.com
“At a poetry brothel,
you order a drink
and then select a
girl or boy except
for instead of having
sex with you, the
“puta” reads you an
erotic poem.”
eight or 10 different bars and clubs and a
great place to just hang out during a warm
summer night. It’s the type of place where
weird stuff goes down…
YOUR quirkiest urban experience?
I would say also in Ljubljana, and it
would be stand-up paddling. It’s a
relatively new water sport and I’ve seen it
on lakes and on the sea, but it was quite
bizarre to be doing it right in the middle
of a city.
One place that turned out to be
completely different from what you
imagined—in a good or not-so-good way
I think it was probably China, more
specifically the Chinese cities, that turned
out to be different than I expected when
I spent nearly three months there during
our world tour. I was quite young and
unworldly at the time so I was expecting
lots of red oriental roofs, traditional
clothing and sombre behaviour, but
the cities were in fact very modern and
happening, with plenty of nightlife.
In a way it was great, but on the other
hand, I do worry that all cities, thanks
to globalisation, are becoming more and
more similar to one another, as you see the
same shops, brands and trends appearing
and an increasingly international
population in each place. This, I fear
could make travelling a lot more boring in
the next 20 or 30 years.
Connect with Duncan Rhodes:
Blog: www.urbantravelblog.com
Facebook: UrbanTravelBlog
Twitter : @UrbanTravelBlog
Duncan Rhodes spoke to TS writer Siddharth Birla
September-October 2015 Travel Secrets 41