Hi, I'm Matilda, people call me Mattie. Welcome to my travel and food diary!
I grew up constantly travelling, moving from country to country, continent to continent, adventuring the world with my family. Therefore, exploring near and far is somewhat of a natural lifestyle for me now. The older I get the more I love to travel by myself as well.
Going back to the beginning, my birthplace is London (the best city in the world if I may say so myself). My parents then lived in Spain off and on for a few years (Galicia and Ronda). When I was six years old we moved to Costa Rica. By then I had picked up some Spanish and Gallego, I was a confused kid linguistically!
Costa Rica became my real home, a country where I stayed for 12 years. I managed to pick up Spanish pretty well (especially the slang and the worst possible swear words - yes I say that with pride!) thanks to really pushing myself. One thing I hated was being seen as foreign, as an outsider. And I think I have kept that in me still, wherever I go I don't like to be seen as a tourist. I try to make an effort to blend in, go where the locals go, go as the locals do, eat how and where the locals eat, you get my point.
Anyways, I became bilingual in Spanish and by 18 decided it was time I returned to my motherland, London, for university studies. My dream was to study Fine Art but I ended up graduating from International Relations and Politics (long story).
After uni, I moved to Barcelona, Spain, where I stayed for nearly 6 years - that was totally unplanned whoops! I was actually meant to just go for a month to do an English teaching course but feel head over heels in love, or perhaps it was desire, for the city of temptations.
However, I managed to escape Barcelona, fairly alive. And recently spent nearly a year in Manchester, which entailed a lot of personal growth. Currently I live in Folkestone, UK on the coast in the South West side of England. But where's next? Perhaps the Netherlands, perhaps Mexico or brazil... time will tell. All I know is that I will be endlessly curious, creative and hungry to see new places, try new food, and keep learning.
For me, travelling is not big resorts and tourist traps, forget about that, it's boring! My parents taught me the old school way, which is all about exploring authentic and fun spots, learning about art, culture, tradition, history... all that good stuff. And of course food and drink needs to be in the picture too.
I hope you enjoy my stories, trips and recommendations!
Bury Market, one of my favourite places in the world
Escape Barcelona & Explore Catalonia - Top 10 Beaches