Hey, I'm Mika.
I left a perfectly good dev job in Melbourne in 2019 for what was supposed to be a three-month trip.
It's been five years. (My mum has stopped asking.)
I move slow, stay long, and try to eat whatever the locals are eating.
"47 countries. One backpack. Extremely strong opinions about airport Wi-Fi."
Where I've Been
Five years in. Still no plans to stop.
Latest Writing
Four days in Dubai: the cynical traveller's guide to not being as cynical as you planned
I went to Dubai fully prepared to be underwhelmed. The desert, the souks, the world's tallest building at sunset, and what's actually worth your time in a city that built itself in forty years.
Bali is a cliche and I'm obsessed with it anyway: what no one tells you before you go
Three trips to Bali and counting. Canggu, Uluwatu, the rice terraces, the temple traffic, the best nasi campur I've ever eaten. Here's the honest version.
I rented a scooter in Bali and aged ten years: Indonesia beyond the Instagram version
A month split between Ubud, Canggu, Yogyakarta, and the Gili Islands. The rice terraces were real. The traffic was realer. Here's what I actually learned.
Practical stuff
Tested. Priced. Ranked.