Travel writers love to promote exotic places. The more glamour the better.
So, Ben Atiken’s Sh*tty Breaks is a refreshing change from the norm. It’s not stunning places like Rome or Athens he promotes.
No, it’s the delights of spots like Sunderland, Dunfermline and Chelmsford which have Ben itching to tell the reader about.
Ben is a master of wit and clever phrase, and his latest book is hilarious. It’s packed with lots of stories which convince that visiting such places is in fact better than going to the traditional in places.
He adopts the simple method of visiting places which are renowned for being undesirable and instead of picking out their faults, he takes delight in discovering their attractions.
Ben is fabulously curious and open-minded, and he turns potential travel disasters into positively fabulous places which open up with delightful and hilarious consequences.
Humour is at the forefront, with adventures spinning from skiing in Sunderland to falling in love with Dunfermline.
Ben stayed in a treehouse in Newry, went skydiving in Milton Keynes and suffered jellied eels in Chelmsford. He went curling in Preston, to the football in Wrexham and had far too much craic in Limerick. The result is a celebration of the underdog, a hymn to the wrong direction and evidence that there’s no such thing as a rotten break.
And it works. Ben’s no nonsense and uncynical look at the destinations is refreshing and instead of taking pleasure ripping the places apart, he instead uncovers their hidden gems.
His attitude is that with the right mindset a traveller can take joy in a place and it’s a fabulous read packed full of energy and panache.
And it opens a traveller’s eyes to what is really out there and what there is to see and embrace. Ben really is a master at fluffing up the underdog with a smile and it’s a refreshing book from a writer who is not only hilarious but clever and sincere too.
Published: 8th May 2025
ISBN: 978-183773-046-9
UK Price: £18.99
Format: 22.5 x 2.5 x 14.4 cm, Hardback
Pages: 288 pages
Sh*tty Breaks – A Celebration of Unsung Cities
By Ben Aitken
Published by Icon Books
Sh*tty Breaks – A Celebration of Unsung Cities from Icon Books, is available to buy from Waterstones and Amazon.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.
Book cover and image courtesy of Icon Books
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