Goodbye to 2019 – Photo Highlights

2019 has been a great year for exploring! Here are some of my top moments from the last 12 months;

• Licked a MiG-15 in Latvia, a MiG-21in Hungary and super-secret pristine SU-22MK4 (shussssh!).
• 4th visit to Forbidden Fruit; this has to be one of my favourite UK spots.
• Camping at the foot of a Ferris wheel in an abandoned amusement park in Japan.
• Exploring abandoned resorts and hotels on a small tropical island off the coast of Japan.
• Meeting CatBus (nyaaaah!).
• The sobering feeling of driving through Fukushima, seeing how much damage is still left to repair.
• We don’t talk about the rice field, or how much it costs to get your car towed in rural Japan.
• Trekking through a river and avoiding a poisonous snake at Wagakawa Hydro Power Plant.
• Getting hit in the head with a lizard in a pitch-black movie studio in Hong Kong.
• A nice Welsh Chapel adventure with 3 Germans.
• A long weekend in Cologne to visit the Terracotta Army and Quake Arena.
• A quick trip to Belgium…
• ….before going to Latvia/Lithuania a day later.
• Failing to get into a Soviet maritime school in Latvia, but finding a diver training tank instead!
• Battling a storm to photograph sea forts in Latvia.
• Soviet planes, buses, schools and missile bases in the Baltics.
• Some interesting solo explores in Lithuania; including hiding in a basement of a theatre and running through the forest outside of a sanatorium.
• Hiding in a theatre inside an abandoned Kurhaus (Spa complex) in Germany; only to find out the voices were explorers and not security.
• Revisiting some of my favourite Hungarian locations; Special K and Forgotten Migs.
• Visiting the Bladerunner Power Plant (because I am a big sci-fi geek).

An unforgettable trip to Japan

In 16 days we travelled the length and breadth of Honshu and Shikoku, covering over 3500 miles. We explored 53 locations, and I took around 800 photographs.

This trip has many memorable moments, so many that I wrote two blog articles to cover this trip. Check them out if you want to know more, they are jam-packed with photos of our trip.

Japan Haikyo Tour 2019 – Part 1 – Abandoned Onsens, Love Hotels and Amusement Parks

Japan Haikyo Tour 2019 – Part 2 – Abandoned Schools, Clinics and Transportation

An impromptu trip to Latvia and Lithuania

In November, we embarked on an impulsive trip to Latvia and Lithuania. We scraped together an impressive itinerary, considering we had less than a week to prepare.

There were lost Soviet vehicles aplenty; planes, buses, trucks and cars. We also explored a Soviet Flight Academy and a Soviet Nuclear Missile Base. Other highlights were; a sanatorium in the woods, a music school theatre and two abandoned amusement parks.

My Baltics Tour 2019 Blog has more details and behind-the-scenes photos.

“Abandoned Pennsylvania” book was published

My first published book was released on 9th December 2019. It was an interesting journey and insight into the process of publication. I made a short promotional video and uploaded preview images on my Shop Page, you should go check it out :).

Casualties and new beginnings of 2019

Sadly, some great locations were lost this year. On the flip side, there were some saved and brought back into use.

• Chateau Sarco was renovated, it is now a wedding venue
• The Crown Theatre in Eccles was burned down in December
• Demolition of Eglise aux Milles Arches began in December
• Ghost Bus Tunnel in Belgium was emptied
• Orient Express in Belgium was removed, for renovation
• The Nordatlas from War Planes was removed and will be turned into accommodation
• Lister Drive Library renovation work began
• Villa Mistral and Villa Germaine burnt down
• Agecroft A Substation, Salford, was cleared of control panels at the end of December/start of January