https://rhiaro.co.uk/ @rhiaro@toot.cat

If you read and enjoy my travel posts through my website or Mastodon* and you are planning to travel to somewhere I've been and you can't afford an actual travel agent and you find travel planning too stressful or time consuming to fit into your life, I would be delighted to share advice.

My specialties are land and sea (not air) transit, especially long distance European buses, and finding vegan food. I'm happy to also help with general stuff to do, and even more in-depth help with planning and realistic budgeting if you want because I actually love wasting away hours and days researching travel stuff.

#rhiarofreetravelagent

*or a feed reader you built yourself or another decentralised service

https://rhiaro.co.uk/2019/07/mastodon-travel

Week in review: 25th - 31st July. London for W3C TAG meeting. Managed not to get covid. Mushroom walk, garden catchup and rock hunting when back. #travel https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/07/week-review-25th-

Week in review: 18th - 24th July. S came to visit. Long walks, a boat trip, lots of #vegan food and a kitchen cabinet disassembly. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/07/week-review-18th-

Week in review: 11th - 17th July. Sunrises. Sociocracy. Garden and mushroom catchup. Howard Place Picnic. #fife https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/07/week-review-11th-

Week in review: 4-10 July. Walking, eating and reading in Edinburgh with Tara. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/07/week-review-4th--

Posted 37 photos (from July): Another day of walking with Tara and Max. Breakfast at Vitality & Kynd, then a lovely wander through the woods around Blackford Hill. Tara, after initial hesitation, discovered a love of fetching the ball from the stream. To the point that if we weren't throwing it for her, she'd drop it off the edge herself then run off to find a way to get it back. She went from barely wanting to dip her toes, to absolutely fearless by the end of the day. Max's example helped. They both got muddy. We found ourselves later at ConsiderIt for doughnut ice cream sandwiches. Then had wraps from the African Wrap Place - as a throwback to my PhD years - which have not declined in quality, size, or value. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/07/photos-edi-4

Bonus: pooped after a long day.

Posted 49 photos (from July): We walked all day. It was hot. But Tara and Max are powered by sunshine and the idea of the ball. We crossed Edinburgh and had brunch at Beetroot Sauvage. The continued on to climb Arthur's Seat, and wander around Holyrood Park. Made it to the Auld Hoose for giant nachos (which have not changed in size or quality since last I had them years ago, but have doubled in price). https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/07/photos-edi-3

Posted 17 photos (from July): Max came to visit Tara and I in Edinburgh. Look at them being little tourists. We hung out in Princes St Gardens, had lunch from Sen Viet Vegan on the Meadows, and a fancy dinner at Sora Lella (the staff there said, of Max and Tara: "omg this is so good for my mental health" and "made my day"). Tara's ball chasing enthusiasm has increased tenfold in Max's presence. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/07/photos-edi-2

Posted 38 photos (from July): Staying in Edinburgh under Tara's supervision. Such a fluffy little mischief. We had walkies around the Meadows and the Union Canal, and she accompanied me to Vitality & Kynd on multiple occasions. Made herself quite at home there. She's also good at yoga assistance. She likes to chase the ball by throwing herself into the air as high as possible in the vague vicinity of it, and then searching frantically after both she and it have landed.
[...] https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/07/photos-edi

Posted 14 photos: First mange tout and carrots. Picked a load of celery. Romanesco looks like it's trying, but may be suffering from caterpillars. Not sure if it's right or not. Rainbow chard still going strong. Small sweet turnips. Tons of chillis. Mutant giant capsicum. #gardening https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/photos-harvest-3

Posted 4 photos: Mushroom stroganoff from birch boletes, agricus and puffballs. Served with fancy spelt pasta. #food #foraging #vegan https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/09/photos-stroganoff

Posted 10 photos: Apple and oat muffins, spiced fruit cookies, and not-meatballs, at the Community Kitchen. #food #vegan https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/photos-baking

Posted 7 photos: This is the best one yet. Sweet and sour chicken of the woods balls. I read a bunch of recipes, then improvised. Blitzed the chicken of the woods and stirred in Chinese 5 spice and vegeta. Bound it with soy sauce, cooking sake, cornflour, plain flour and chickpea flour. Mushed into balls, and deep fried. They held together perfectly. Then stir fried them along with veg from the garden, and sweet and sour sauce (ketchup, white/coconut sugar, rice/apple cider vinegar). Reviews included: "this tastes like KFC?!".

I also made matcha chop chip cookies, cos I had a craving, and courgette and rhubarb cake, cos I had a glut. #foraging #vegan #food https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/photos-food-cotw-7

Posted 6 photos: #Chicken (of the woods) karaage. Marinaded in soy sauce, mirin and cooking sake, then coated with cornflour and plain flour before deep fried. foraging #vegan #food https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/photos-food-cotw-6

Posted 9 photos: Spicy Mexican chicken (of the woods) with black beans, in fajitas. #foraging #vegan #food https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/photos-food-cotw-5

Posted 6 photos: Thai green curry with chicken of the woods. Incredibly good. #foraging #vegan #food https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/photos-food-cotw-4

Posted 7 photos: Making pizza from scratch just for myself feels like such a treat. Not having to care about what anyone else wants on their pizza. Not having to stretch the dough or toppings as far as they'll go to make as much pizza as possible. Just one pizza, exactly how I like it, just for me.

This one has chicken of the woods, and all veg from the garden apart from the sweetcorn. #food #vegan https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/photos-pizza

I saw false chanterelles in the mushroom book last year and was like pffffttt they look nothing like chanterelles what idiot would fall for that. Yesterday I climbed up a steep bank and picked a load of... false chanterelles. Sigh. (I definitely did think they were a bit shifty at the time though.) #foraging https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/saw-false

Front seats at the Kirkcaldy marathon (which is going past my window). There are some stewards clapping everyone who passes, so I can pretend that I'm getting little rounds of applause every time I achieve something very small today. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2022/08/front-seats