Hi — I'm glad you're here.

If you've landed on this page, there's a decent chance you're in the early, slightly chaotic stage of dreaming up a trip. Fifteen browser tabs open. A "Travel Ideas" note on your phone that's mostly just screenshots. Maybe a spreadsheet you started with real intentions and abandoned by row twelve. I know that stage well — I've lived in it professionally for years, and honestly, I still love it.

My name is Iain, and I started Jaunt Around Travel because I wanted a place to talk about travel the way I actually think about it: not as a bucket list to check off, but as something worth doing well. I spent years working for Fodor's Travel, which meant my job was essentially to obsess over the details other people don't have time to — which neighborhood actually has the better view, which "hidden gem" restaurant is hidden for a reason, which hotel's photos are flattering it a little too generously. That kind of scrutiny doesn't turn off just because I clocked out. It's just how I travel now.

What You'll Find Here

This blog isn't going to be a highlight reel. You won't find "10 Dreamy Destinations You NEED to Visit" posts with a stock photo of an infinity pool and nothing underneath it. Instead, I want this to be genuinely useful — the kind of thing you bookmark because it saved you from a bad hotel choice or a wasted afternoon.

Expect a mix of:

• Destination guides built from places I've actually been — the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, the East Coast and New England, California, Australia, Shanghai, and the Caribbean — written with enough specificity that you could hand them to a friend and they'd know exactly what to do with their time.
• Planning-focused pieces on the unglamorous-but-essential stuff: how to actually build an itinerary, how to pack without overthinking it, and the mistakes that quietly derail good trips.
• Practical, opinionated recommendations — not because I think my taste is universal, but because vague advice ("visit some local restaurants!") has never helped anyone book anything.

A Little About the Approach

Travel writing has a trust problem. A lot of it is thinly veiled advertising or written by someone who spent 36 hours somewhere and is now an authority on it. I'd rather be slower and more honest. If a place is overrated, I'll say so. If something is worth the splurge, I'll tell you why — and if it isn't, I'll tell you that too.

I also believe good travel planning is a skill, not a personality trait. Some people love building 40-tab spreadsheets and cross-referencing flight prices at 1 a.m. Most people don't, and that's completely fine — that instinct just tends to live somewhere else for them. Either way, my goal with this blog is to hand you real information so that whatever kind of planner you are, you're working from something solid.

Where to Start

If you're planning something specific, browse the destination guides — they're written to be genuinely usable, not just inspirational. If you're earlier in the process, or you're the type who'd rather have someone else handle the logistics entirely, the planning articles are a good place to begin.

Either way — welcome. Let's get you somewhere good.

— Iain