Panic on the streets of London…(but luckily not Brighton!)

Good morning world!

As you all no doubt know by now- London (as well as other parts of England) have been on ‘lock down’ since destructive rioting engulfed the city earlier this week.

Firstly, we’d like to let everyone know that all Journeys Hostels (as well as their guests and staff) have stayed safe from the rioting due to top class reactions being prompted by all the hostel managers. Well done guys.

It’s also important to note that Brighton has stayed safe during the week. Local police have stressed that there has been “no confirmed reports of any disturbances in the area” so far; and thanks to a stepped up police force there in the last couple of days, things should be returning to normal around all over the country extremely soon. 

All we can say to our guests in the meantime, is that on behalf of Great Britain- we’re deeply ashamed of some of its resident’s destructive and dishearteningly ‘opportunistic’ behavior!

In all seriousness though, and regardless of the roots of these riots or which politician(s) our country can hold responsible- Journeys Hostels remains a safe choice for all its guests. If you’re due to stay at any of our hostels anytime soon and have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our head office on +44(0) 207 231 4672.

Here’s the first of installment of our new ‘Challenge the Fox’ feature. ‘The Fox’ (in case you haven’t noticed him liking most of the posts on this page!) is an employee at Journeys. His real name is Sean Fox and he’s the company brand manager. Over the next few weeks we’re going to be setting him challenges to test his wits, cunning and general ‘fox like’ abilities. The first of these took place in the office last week, and is featured in the video above. We’ll be setting new challenges for him soon, so be sure to check back and vote for what he should do. And if you have any suggestions for a suitable challenge for Sean (big or small- the more imaginative the better) then just post them on our facebook wall!

Spot of Naked Cycling this weekend anyone?!

Yes, indeed- it’s the end of the week again already. We hope you’ve had a brilliant one wherever you are in the world, wherever you’ve been, and whatever you’ve been up to!

Back here in London, the ‘Journeys Street Team’ has been taking the city by storm this week- wielding signs, flyers and bright green Journeys balloons. ‘The Journeys Street Team’ is our new little initiative of getting Journeys out in the public eye, ‘up close and personal’. Keep a look out for us around London this summer- we’ll be the ones dressed in neon green T-shirts dispensing free travel info and advice, as well as a free Journeys balloon if you’re lucky! You won’t be able to miss us. Also, you can check out the pictures from all the previous street events on our new Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/journeyshostelsofficial

What’s everyone doing this weekend? We’d love to hear about any plans you’ve got. Just let us know on the Facebook Page. Also, if you’ve got any London/backpacking related questions as well- we’ll do our very best to answer them on there as well!

This weekend in London, thousands of crazy Londoners will be ‘bearing all’, for the London leg of the ‘World Naked Bike Ride’; a day of naked festivities on two wheels. The event’s designed to be a, “peaceful, imaginative and fun protest against oil dependency and car culture. A celebration of the bicycle and also a celebration of the power and individuality of the human body.”

Don’t get us wrong, we agree with the cause, but want to make sure that any borrowed Barclays Boris Bikes get a good clean afterwards! Erghh. If you do decide to go and check out the event though, head to Hyde Park at around 3pm. You can find out more info at: http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/uk/

If the naked cycling wasn’t enough for you, and you want an equally ‘colourful’ day of Sunday (!), then why not head over to Hyde Park again- for this year’s ‘Festival of Chariots’; an annual carnival parade organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness:

http://rathayatra.co.uk/

Three colourful, 40-foot chariots will be drawn by hand from Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square, accompanied by a procession of floats, singers, musicians, and dancers in traditional Indian and fancy dress. In Trafalgar Square there’s music, drama, traditional Indian dance and displays, plus sari-draping and face-painting sessions as well as authentic Indian vegetarian food. Yum!

Whatever you get up to this weekend, make sure it’s fantastic!

Til’ next time,

The Journeys Team.

www.visitjourneys.com

xxx

Summer’s well and truly here!

Well, well, well- it looks like it’s going to be a very hot one this weekend. Temperatures are set to sky rocket to 24°C in London, and perhaps even 25°C in Brighton! See you by the seaside everyone! Or if you can’t make it down South, see you at the London Green Fair in Regent’s Park (www.londongreenfair.org). Watch out though- there might be a spot of (quintessentially British) rain on Sunday afternoon…

As for news our end, Journeys Kings Cross will be going through quite a lot of changes over the coming months. If you’ve stayed there recently, you’ll have noticed that the carpets aren’t in the same shape they used to be five years ago (there’s been a lot of different footprints from around the world on those carpets since then!), and also- the showers haven’t been as piping hot as we might have liked. Rest assured though- (despite the fact you won’t be needing piping hot showers in this weather!) - the showers will be working to an impeccable standard at Kings Cross very, very soon! And as for the floors, they’ll be clean enough to eat your dinner off. Saying that, we still wouldn’t recommend it…

We also want to welcome back ‘Ivan’ (Kings Cross’ fantastic Duty Manager); who had to take some time off recently after a truly nasty bicycle accident. Take note from us, London traffic is not something to be reckoned with lightly- especially not on two wheels!

On another note, we want to let you know that Journeys will be ‘representing’, out on the streets of London later on today; taking the first of, (hopefully many) fashion mag style, backpacker interviews! Look out for photos shortly!

Finally, we urge you to join (or at least ‘Like’) the new, improved and 100% OFFICIAL Journeys Facebook page. You can find it here: www.facebook.com/journeyshostelsofficial

Until next time folks, big love and hugs from the Journeys Hostels team…

xxx

‘Journeys Hostels- The World. Under One Roof’