That’ll be an amazing gig! Enjoy!

Here’s Why You Should Visit Minneapolis Right Now Fodor's provides expert travel content worth exploring so you can dream up your next trip. The world is a weird and wonderful place—we want to show you around.

Great article by Kristin Hansen for Fodors, on why you should visit Minneapolis now to support its immigrant-owned restaurants, shops and hotels:

www.fodors.com/world/north-...

Strong example of using tourism for good.

They’re pretty, but £50 is insane! I think I’d be more frustrated than flattered if someone bought me £50 flowers - that money could go towards experiences together, loads of quality time with coffee and cake (or, I guess in London prices, two coffees and cakes!), etc.

You will be visited by three spirits

Merry Christmas cardigan on sale in Asda store with bad kerning on the lettering seen on the back view. Due to spacing and design issues, it reads more as M ER RY CHRIST MAS.

Can’t unsee the kerning here, so I guess Asda wants us all to have a M ER RY CHRIST MAS, whatever that is.

Screenshot from trending topics on BlueSky: ranked 4 is The Archers, a British soap opera, with 393 posts. Ranked 5 is DOGE Shutdown, with 2,900 posts. It has therefore deliberately ranked the soap opera higher.

Bluesky has figured that my Britishness might mean I consider The Archers more of a trending topic than DOGE being disbanded (btw, I don’t listen to The Archers, and I think US politics hugely affects the rest of the world, but the fact it applied this bias did tickle me).

If there’s one thing you read over the weekend, it should be this devastating and profound essay - just don’t expect to finish it with dry eyes, or without shaking your fist at RFK Jr.

#Longreads #RecommendedReading

Catch up with @davidolusoga.bsky.social’s Empire series on BBC iPlayer if you can. He sums up the British Empire’s far-reaching exploitative consequences and complexity; thorough, harrowing, and honest. Loved the interviews with everyday people whose identities have been shaped by Empire, too.

Commiserations with Maris on having to deal with the anti-vaxxers, but this is a great read:

Glad to see this called out! Great example of pointless AI use - there are so many high quality stock photos (even from free sites with CC0 permissions) they could have chosen that would have worked just fine here.

TV news reporter, a white man holding a microphone, at The Vatican. He is smiling at the camera.

Out of focus shot of Pope Francis and other high-ranking Vatican members on the balcony of the Vatican during his first address, 2013. A large red curtain is behind them. The Pope wears white and the others wear red with red caps.

Crowded streets after Pope Francis’ first address at The Vatican. People walking include nuns.

Out of focus hand and camera in foreground with Vatican balcony in background.

Flashback to when I crashed the Pope’s first papal balcony address in Rome (2013), and took terrible photos. I’m agnostic, but it was amazing to be in the crowd.

I was also impressed with the speed of the local traders in getting Papa Francisco-branded merchandise out.

#PopeFrancis

Yes! This annoyed me so much.

Fingers crossed for a Bristol tour date!

I loved Sainte-Eulalie de Cernon, in Aveyron. Fascinating history linked to the Knights Templar. Also in Aveyron, Conques is beautiful.

It must be really difficult without social media, but also frustrating for authors who would rather stay off social and have been pressured into setting up/maintaining a presence on there. Also the algorithms make it so hard to get your voice heard.

The cover is beautiful, too!

This quote was one of the stand-outs of the documentary, for sure.

Book cover: Mere, by Danielle Giles. Bright orange/red cover with woodcut-style illustration of a green tree with two nuns gossiping beneath it.

Endpapers (inner book cover) of Mere, by Danielle Giles, with woodcut-style image of boat in marshy wet landscape with full moon and trees above.

Lush book talk last night from Danielle Giles, discussing her debut novel, at @smallcitybookshop.bsky.social.
Mere has a beautiful cover and endpapers. The book is set in 990AD and it looks to be a great historical read. Straight to the top of my TBR pile!
@panmacmillan.bsky.social
#Books

What They Found is a must-see documentary from Sam Mendes, using footage and testimonies from two soldiers who filmed the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.

Sobering and terrifying, but important to watch if you can - catch up on BBC iPlayer.

#WhatTheyFound

Also worth noting that, though this is a Mon-Fri job, they also ask you to be available on weekends (not unusual in journalism, I know) so you get a terrible work-life balance to go with that terrible salary.

a woman in a pink dress is sitting on a couch holding a necklace and a ring . Alt: a Real Housewife, Nene Leakes, in a pink dress is sitting on a couch looking frustrated. She is focused on her nails as she is fed up

Can we just have normal Connections back with words, please? The world’s already bleak enough as it is, without having symbols thrown at us to decode.

They sound like a great employer! Glad they look out for you.

I reckon big networking/mingling events like this should have a designated ‘quiet room’ where you can have 10 minutes’ peace to decompress and close your eyes before more enforced small talk. It would help so many of us!

This is the kind of petty behaviour I can get behind.

Daisy is an integral part of Flicks, and has captured the magic of this gem in the city.

Inside the world’s most iconic clubs, cafes and bars for rock and metal music Get ready to turn it up to 11 at some of the world's greatest rock and roll watering holes...

From Dylan’s Cafe Wha? to Sabbath’s Crown pub and Keith Richards’ Cafe Baba, here’s my pick of the cafes, bars, pubs and clubs tied to rock and metal music:

www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/inside...

Written for @rollingstoneuk.bsky.social

#Music #TravelWriting

Flying the flag for Leicester’s Estonian community For some in Leicester, yesterday wasn’t just a normal day in February: it was a celebration of their heritage. 24 February is Independence Day in Estonia, and Estonians are a big part of Leicester’s v...

I wrote about Leicester’s Estonian diaspora and its vibrant British-Estonian community, for @leicester.news.web.brid.gy, featuring insight from @saagifletch.bsky.social and @emmaturner75.bsky.social:

www.leicester.news/flying-the-f...

#Eesti #Estonia #Leicester

Seven Crofts gin bottle with ribbed glass. Seen in shop window.

Mountains overlooking Ullapool in Scotland, with a box of daffodils in the foreground and blue sky in background

Reservoir architecture in Scottish loch seen from car window with grey cloudy sky above

Lochside walkway and promenade at Ullapool with mountains and hills behind

Last weekend I popped up to Ullapool, in Scotland, to see one of my oldest friends get married. Here’s a glimpse of the landscapes (and the local spirits) up there.

#Scotland

#IMM2025 in numbers:

18 appointments with travel PRs.
4 cups of coffee (and counting).
2 amazing pairs of leopard print loafers spotted.
Countless potential story ideas sourced.

@travmedia.bsky.social