Ben Aitken and Tom Sykes

Pack your bags.

Award-winning travel writers Ben Aitken and Tom Sykes celebrate the unexpected, the overlooked and the wonderfully imperfect side of seeing the world.

In Shitty Breaks: A Celebration of Unsung Cities, Ben heads to twelve of the least-hyped city break spots across the UK and Ireland. From kissing an alpaca in Bradford to braving jellied eels in Chelmsford and finding unexpected joy in Limerick, Ben discovers that the places we overlook can offer the richest experiences. Part travelogue, part love letter to the underdog, it's a celebration of taking the road less travelled.

Joining him is Tom Sykes. Despite two decades spent travelling the globe, Tom's adventures have often been accompanied by anxiety. Part travelogue, part wellbeing memoir, The Years of Travelling Anxiously: A Travel Writer’s Search for Peace of Mind recounts jittery visits to Nigeria to get married, stressful encounters in France, the Philippines and the USA, and what can be learned about mental health on the road from a baby with an inspiringly calm attitude to travel.

His honest and often humorous memoir explores what travel can teach us about fear, resilience and finding calm in unfamiliar places. Together they'll explore why adventure doesn't always mean having it all figured out.

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