The Where Next Kate Story

I love food. Haute cuisine. Street food. Your grandma’s home-made cookies. All of it. It needs to get in my face! I love travel and adventure. I’ve been to 41 countries and counting! And I love to talk.

So, it is no surprise that I was first bitten by the travel bug when I was 9 on my first family holiday abroad to France and that I was in a bakery. Every morning my younger brother and I would toddle over the road on a little adventure to the boulangerie and I would say in my very best French, “Je voudrais quatre pains au chocolat, cinq croissants et deux baguettes s’il vous plait.” It wasn’t just the fact that I got to eat delicious French goodies after saying it, but I also got a kick out of communicating with someone in a different language and France is beautiful, so I was hooked!

I’m Kate MacKellar-Still and I am a complete travel bug! So much so that my best friend’s nickname for me is ‘Bug’! I have a 1st Class degree in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese from the University of Manchester and have done a variety of jobs over the last 10 years to fund my travel habit. I’ve worked as a tour guide in Valencia, an English teacher in China, a tour leader all over South America and even a secondary school languages teacher in the UK (thank god for the holidays!). I now work as a freelance social media manager and blogger and am launching my own travel agency specialising in small group tours and bespoke itineraries for foreigners visiting the UK. I am passionate about welcoming people to my country and providing off-the-beaten track adventures delivered in their own language. I want people to truly experience all the amazing things that the UK has to offer and leave with new skills, new friends and a deeper understanding of our culture.

Where Next Kate is a collection of my travel musings, short stories and travel tips and ideas that I have gained over my last 15 years of adventures. It is a place for me to record my memories and share useful travel information with other like-minded travel enthusiasts. My dream is that it will also inspire any of you nervous, potential travellers to just strap on your backpack and give it go! I am passionate about learning languages and know that I have got so much more out of my travels when I’ve been able to speak the local language. So, as well as weird and wonderful stories, expect practical how-to guides and lots of top language tips to help you get the most out of your travels too.