Thom Brown

Award-Winning Travel Writer, Editor and SEO Marketer

Intrepid Times •

ChatGPT Planned Me a Terrible Tallinn Day Trip, But Is Lonely Planet Any Better? - Intrepid Times

As part of our new “Travel Writers Test AI Travel Advice” series, we set our correspondent loose on the streets of Tallinn, Estonia. First, Thom Brown rigorously follows an itinerary generated, on demand, by ChatGPT. Then, Lonely Planet’s “Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania” takes over. 


Specs of dust twirl in the funnel drawn by a solitary streetlamp. The glass door rattles but doesn’t budge. Inside, chairs perch upside down on circular tables and a blind screens the counter. I’m here for my schedu...
Intrepid Times •

The Silicon Steppe - Intrepid Times

Thom Brown sets out to meet the nomadic herders of Mongolia and finds a country straining to redefine itself and embrace a tech-driven future. In a thorough investigation, he speaks with locals, researches the statistics, and reports back from a land where progress and tradition are learning to co-exist.


Most come to find peace. There’s nothing quite as serene, nor as solitary, as the endless expanse of the Mongolian steppe. It’s a place to find space, peace, and quiet – something the moder...
Intrepid Times •

Forged in the Choir - Intrepid Times

At the Viljandi folk festival, an English traveler is granted rare insight into the forging of Estonia’s national identity.


As the train traipsed its way out of Tallinn, Estonian summer hit us like, well, a train. We were quickly wrapped in the luscious green of the pine and birch trees, heading deeper into what I like to call “authentic Estonia.” The plan was to meet some locals in the town of Viljandi, home of an annual folk festival.


Having attended folk festivals in England, I was read...
Intrepid Times •

Superyachts and Sailors: The Shifting Seafaring Culture of Kotor, Montenegro - Intrepid Times

Our “On the Edges of Europe” columnist gawks at the superyachts in the ports of Montenegro, but while on a boat tour in Kotor, he realizes the historical reality of life at sea is a far cry from the life of luxury on display.


On the upper deck of a yacht, a mid-twenties man lay on his side in nothing but a pair of tight red shorts and jet-black sunglasses, abs glistening in the sunlight that bounced from the walls of his pristine white boat. He had wild locks of brown hair that rustled in the...
Intrepid Times •

A Walk Through Deponija - Belgrade's Largest Slum

While taking a stroll to Belgrade Fortress, our “On the Edges of Europe” columnist suddenly finds himself in the midst of Deponija, an infamous slum in the Serbian capital.


The midday sun bounced off the well-swept sidewalk and through the large glass windows, illuminating an array of discount items within. It was nothing special–a Decathlon, a Lidl, that sort of thing; it was like any other mall in Europe. Fellow shoppers were quiet, polite, and well-dressed. It felt safe and ordinary.


Af...
Intrepid Times •

Bears and Strays in Brașov, Romania - Intrepid Times

In the latest entry of the On the Edges of Europe column, travel journalist Thom Brown travels to Brasov, Romania, and finds that the local bears are not the only four-legged creatures he needs to be wary of…


Brașov is one of those wonderfully walkable cities. Within seconds of getting the nod and the stamp from the border guard, I was breathing fresh mountain air and was free to wander toward the city. The walk from the airport to the Old Town was just over two hours, but it was sunny with a...
Intrepid Times •

Street Art in Sofia: The Bulgarian Capital Brought to Life - Intrepid Times

Our “On the Edges of Europe” columnist explores Bulgarian culture as he follows a trail of street art in Sofia. It adds a splash of color to a crowded concrete city, but does the art reflect society or merely mask reality?


On a rooftop in central Sofia, Bulgaria, a grotesque, gangly figure holds a charred, long-deceased rose. All that’s visible of his face is a smooth, blueish bald head and a pointy, beak-like nose. I stood on the street below between the whoosh of trams and the patter of ped...
Intrepid Times •

Why AI is No Threat to (Real) Travel Writing - Intrepid Times

Travel is a uniquely human experience. It satisfies the urge to discover the unknown; to experience something. Across all industries, artificial intelligence (AI) offers exciting opportunities to boost worker productivity. However, there’s an increasing wariness in the world; a fear that humans could be replaced. While machines already do the work of some factory workers and manual laborers, they now seem to be coming for artists and creatives. After all, what’s to say this paragraph wasn’t writ...
Intrepid Times •

A Wooden Eiffel Tower and Self-Built Amusement Park: Entering a Strange New World in Hiiumaa, Estonia - Intrepid Times

While celebrating an ancient Estonian holiday in Hiiumaa, our “On the Edges of Europe” columnist fights boredom by seeking out a nearby amusement park that holds more than a few surprises.


Some say he’s a genius. Others? A madman. All I know is he built a 31-meter wooden replica of the Eiffel Tower in his backyard.


We were celebrating midsummer in the unspoiled surroundings of Hiiumaa, Estonia’s second-largest island. While the hour-long ferry was pretty packed, tourists efficiently dispe...
Intrepid Times •

Investigating the Bosnian Pyramids

Stricken by food poisoning while in Bosnia, Thom Brown decides to test the legendary healing powers of the “pyramids” that some claim lie beneath the hills surrounding Visoko.


I paused on Varoški Bridge at the edge of Visoko, the churning muddy river beneath mimicking the knots in my stomach. Before me stood an enormous pyramid, densely padded with dark green foliage. The sky above was on the turn from pale white to mottled gray, while flocks of birds sporadically dipped and soared, dipped an...
Intrepid Times •

Exploring Rummu: Abandoned Prison Near Tallinn, Estonia - Intrepid Times

In the first entry of the On the Edges of Europe column, travel journalist Thom Brown ventures to Estonia to explore an abandoned prison turned lakeside resort. 


Gazing into the abyss, my feet felt frozen to the crumbling concrete floor. The corridor stretched into the darkness, swallowing the summer sunlight until it faded to black. Smothered by that uniquely musty smell of trapped, stale dust, I began to question the safety of this venture.


Of course it’s safe, I reassured myself.


Clu...
Arcido •

Digital Nomads: All Hype or Something More Profound?

An attractive millennial with a Macbook, lies in a hammock on a beautiful beach, next to a clear blue ocean, basked in sunlight, beside a refreshing cocktail. #Livingmybestlife. #Digitalnomad.This might be the Instagram perfect image of laptop lifestyle, but it isn’t even close to the reality of being a successful digital nomad. A hammock provides no back support, the sand will clog the keys, the ocean’s water is perilous to tech, the sun makes the screen impossible to see, and drinking at work...
Arcido •

No Pain, No Plane: The Masochism of Budget Airlines

The airplane industry is at the forefront of making world travel possible for the average person. It is incredible that you can jump on a flying vehicle and be transported to another country, sometimes for just a few dollars. A Ryanair flight in Europe will regularly set you back no more than $25, taking you as far as London to Warsaw and back again. In the United States, there is speculation that new JetBlue routes from New York to London are pulling down the fares of other airlines by up to 12...
Arcido •

Travel Can Make You Happy: Scientists and Travelers Explain How

There are thousands of studies trying to determine whether booking a trip will lead you to happiness. However, maybe this is too simplistic. The secret of happiness lies not in the act of international travel, but in how you approach a journey abroad.A few things are clear from happiness research. Vacations and traveling have the potential to add excitement to your life, combined with an opportunity to grow. Sometimes it can be tough, but that is an important part of building character and emoti...
Arcido •

The Notre Dame Fire: A Lesson in Impermanence

On the evening of April 15th, 2019 the world looked on helplessly as one of the planet’s most historically significant buildings went up in flames. There was an audible gasp from the crowd as the spire of Notre Dame collapsed into the street below.

Like every other day of the year, 30,000 people had come to see this globally recognized symbol of France and Christianity, but no one knew the fate that was about to occur.

Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously injured. Much of the building s...
Arcido •

A Guide to Souvenirs For The Minimalist Traveler

Are they just pointless knick-knacks, a waste of space in the backpack? Are they designed solely to overcharge tourists or are they a meaningful way to preserve the memory of some of life’s greatest experiences? Whatever your thoughts on souvenirs, they pose a problem for minimalists. On the face of it, it seems that a true minimalist will only pack the bare essentials, but this isn’t necessarily true. Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who wrote the book on minimalism, define a minimali...
Literary Traveler | Explore Your Literary Imaginat •

Prešeren’s Path: Lost Journal, Found Journey | Literary Traveler

Sitting and sweating by an anonymous statue, I was alone yet liberated in the enchanting Slovenian capital. Ljubljana promised to be a land of unexpected joy. I’d emerged from the sleeper train, keen, excited, haggard, and disheveled, although yet to find a place in the city to stay.
Still, the day was young.
The Notebook
Beside me, a journal lay, without it owner. An unopened book with no title; the potential secrets inside were endless. Trying to ignore it, I waited for the owner to pick it up...
Estonian World •

Thom Brown: Lessons from the Viljandi Folk Festival

I’d been to Viljandi before, during the heavy snowfall of 2020. The hills offered sledging opportunities beyond anything I’d experienced in the all-too-flat Tallinn. More spectacularly, though, wandering through the ruins of Viljandi Castle was like existing in a C. S. Lewis (a British writer, the author of “The Chronicles of Narnia” – editor) novel.


It was during this time the idea of attending the Viljandi Folk Music Festival was raised. It was hard to believe that this small town of scarce...
Research Outreach •

The archaeology of political corruption in Nigeria

Although well researched, a gap remains in our understanding of political corruption. This is because corruption in general and political corruption in particular lacks theoretical foundation. Dr Arno Boenner takes a closer examination of the history of corrupt countries, focusing on the colonial past of politically corrupt nations. Rather than examining nations in isolation, he believes that historical context should be examined, focusing on imperialism, including analysis of the colonising cou...
Research Outreach •

The Algorithm that Ate the Street: A Recursive Urbanism

Paul Guzzardo’s work examines the intersection of artificially intelligent machines and the City Street. The impact of each on the other is explored through probes, or what he calls The Storyboards. Guzzardo’s storyboards simultaneously examine and sketch the digitisation of the human experience. As artists, architects, and writers explore the world of “machines and us,” Guzzardo is keen to find a workable response to this dizzying dynamic. He calls it Recursive Urbanism (RU). The Algorithm that...
Research Outreach •

Beyond Alchemy: Robert Boyle’s Mechanical Philosophy

Dr Marina Paola Banchetti-Robino is a researcher at Florida Atlantic University. In her book, The Chemical Philosophy of Robert Boyle: Mechanism, Chymical Atoms, and Emergence, she offers a detailed account of the mechanistic theory of matter advanced by Robert Boyle. She explains the ways in which Boyle departed from his predecessors to create a more complex and complete chemical philosophy that went beyond the chemistry of his predecessors. The modern study of chemistry has its foundations in...
Research Outreach •

The Neuropsychology of How Ritual Creates Religion

Much of Dr James Jones’ work – he is a licensed clinical psychologist as well as an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Religion at Rutgers University in New Jersey, U.S. – has focused on finding scientific explanations for religion. In his recent paper “How Ritual Might Create Religion”, he argues that ritual creates religious experience, and goes on to discuss the implications this has for religion. Dr Jones takes the reader through a number of fascinating neuropsychology experiments that go a...
Research Outreach •

Envisioning Utopia: Being-in-the-zone and the game of our life

Dr Vossen’s research is an interpretation of and response to the work of Suits, who is himself responding to Wittgenstein’s famous assertion that games are indefinable. Yet, beyond his effort to define games, Suits seeks also to account for their significance – via the mandibles of Aesop’s Grasshopper and two former ants – as a central part of the ideal of human existence. Unfortunately, Suits leaves the reader with a paradox that he himself neglects to resolve. Inasmuch as he offers readers a c...
Careers Blog | Internship News | Inspiring Interns •

Natalie Bennett to Young People: ‘I Apologise on Behalf of my Generation’ - Careers Blog | Internship News | Inspiring Interns

Following Theresa May’s announcement of a snap election to take place on 8th June, the Green Party have launched a campaign aimed at young voters.
I interviewed former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, who is standing for Parliament in Sheffield Central, where the Greens came second in 2015.
 
‘I’ve chosen to make my life in Sheffield because it is a place that, having visited often, I wanted to live in.
I was attracted by the great independent business and social enterprise sector, the univer...
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