Ruthie Walters

Freelance Travel Writer, Travel Lemming

Ruthie is a freelance writer from Cardiff. She is passionate about sharing travel tips for Wales and is always excited to discover new Welsh destinations. When not exploring her home nation, she can be found in far-flung corners of Europe, or farther afield. Ruthie has a background in languages, communications and campaigning. She’s now pursuing her love of writing and writes about travel and other topics on her site Thought Bubbles.

🏠 Local to: Cardiff, Wales, UK

🌟 Favorite Destinations: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany, Colombia and (obviously) Wales

🎓 Education: University of Sussex (International Development with Spanish, 2020)

✔️ Fun Facts: I can say the longest place name in Europe – Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. I’m currently learning Cuban Salsa. I collect postcards from around the world.

Meet Ruthie

Ruthie Walters smiling for a photo with the Swallow Falls on her background in Wales — Swallow Falls, Wales

Ruthie Walters admiring the view in Drina River, Bosnia & Herzegovina — Looking out over the Drina River, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Ruthie Walters cycling in Amsterdam, the Netherlands — Cycling in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Ruthie Walters smiling for a photo during a boat tour on Lake Virpazar, Montenegro — A boat trip on Lake Virpazar, Montenegro

📚 What was Your Favorite Travel Experience or Story?

I once ended up hitchhiking with a famous German band!

My friend and I took part in a sponsored charity challenge at University. We had to get as far away as possible from our campus in 48 hours, without spending our own money.

So, we hitchhiked to London and then raised money to buy a bus ticket to West Germany. We then hitchhiked across Germany and reached Szczecin in Poland.

On the way, we met some friendly guys in red and white onesies when we were waiting at a petrol station. They offered to give us a lift, and we took it. It turned out they were musicians and were on their way to a gig. We asked what music they play and they put on some of their tunes.

It was only when I did a (very poor) rendition of a song to my German friends that we discovered that the band were pretty famous and the song was a summer hit! And to think we declined free tickets to the gig…

🗺️ What’s Your #1 Expert Travel Tip?

Learn a bit of the language – a few words can go a long way! Showing interest and willingness in a language can help you make connections with people and learn more about a place. I try to learn some basic greetings, numbers and useful phrases wherever I go.

I tried to learn some Polish last year when I was in a small town in Poland. My eagerness to learn to count to 20 led me to befriend the hostel receptionist. I was very pleased the day I understood that my train was going to be ten minutes delayed. But I never got my head around the pronunciation of six (sześć)!

It won’t always go smoothly, but getting lost in translation is part of the experience! And usually, people will appreciate the effort. Even if you don’t speak to many locals, knowing some of the language can help you better understand what’s going on around you. Most importantly, it can be fun!

🚂 What’s your favourite way to travel?

I love travelling overland, particularly on trains. Europe is such an incredible continent to explore overland; there are amazing train, bus and road connections. And you can be in a totally different country in a relatively short space of time. My recent solo trip was overland from the UK to Bosnia and Herzegovina, via 5 countries.

I love the thrill of night buses and night trains, and going to sleep in one place and waking up in another. Ok, admittedly I don’t always get loads of sleep. Sometimes the bus driver decides to play Europop loudly at 3 am. Or the night train is delayed by hours because of a landslide in the Alps.

But I love that sense of adventure! I get a real sense of scale and distance when I travel overland. And I get a huge sense of satisfaction when I make it to a destination, much more than when I fly.