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Book Launch: Ben Aitken
10th May 2025, 2pm
Red Lion Books
£5.00 redeemable against the book

Adios Paris. Hello Essex. 

Not everything that glitters is gold – which is why award-winning travel writer Ben Aitken gave the hotspots the cold-shoulder and went on (sh)itty breaks instead. By ghosting Bath and giving Lisbon the boot, this book champions the unsung in an algorithmic, over-signposted world dominated by celebs and hotspots. Cheeky weekend in Milton Keynes anyone?

Celebration of Unsung Cities (8^th May 2025). Not everything that glitters is gold, which is why Aitken spent a year visiting the twelve least popular spots in the UK and Ireland for unexpected city breaks. Essex gets a mention.

This isn’t a comedic jab at the locations, but a mission to have a genuinely nice time. To celebrate Ben’s latest title, we’d love to see you at this event

Ben went skiing in Sunderland, to the football in Wrexham, and fell in love with Dunfermline. He kissed an alpaca in Bradford, suffered jellied eels in Chelmsford, and had more craic in Limerick than was wise. In turning away from the most popular travel destinations, which are often overpriced and arguably overdone, we can find evidence that there is no such thing as a shitty break.

In a world where we are bombarded with hotspots, celebrity recommendations, and changing trends this is a celebration of the underdog and that anywhere, like anyone, can be enjoyable if approached correctly.

Publishing just ahead of summer, where people will be looking to get away in this cost-of-living crisis, this will encourage readers to use less expensive and more sustainable methods of travel.

BEN AITKEN was born under Thatcher, grew to 6ft then stopped, and is an Aquarius. He won Travel Journalist of the Year 2024 and is the author of six books: Dear Bill Bryson, A Chip Shop in Poznan (a Times bestseller), The Gran Tour (‘Both moving and hilarious’, Spectator), The Marmalade Diaries, Here Comes the Fun and Shitty Breaks.