A Wintery getaway (coinciding with a double birthday, always a treat) seemed fitting for Stockholm - a place I’d meant to visit for years to see a friend. I’ve previously been to Stavanger in Norway (cold, dark), and Copenhagen in Denmark (warmer, also dark) at this time of year, so it seemed fitting to head here, and you might say I had a dream: to go to the ABBA museum and make a tit of myself. I did manage to also fit in some pretty cool places to eat, drink, and snap pics of, so please take this list as ‘here are some things to do (once you’ve finished at ABBA)’. If you’re not interested in ABBA, I am not interested in you.

A few days in Philly, hunting out the graphic design of the Old City and the best bagels around* (*the best bagels I could find given limited time)

Owing to a workshop I was attending and a sneaky thing called Annual Leave (big shout out to my two week holiday in February), I only had a day to cram in as many colours and coffees as an enthusiastic slow-walker like myself could muster. If you haven’t heard of On The Grid, I heartily recommend it. It’s a selection of local hotspots in various cities around the world, curated by local designers and creators – as such, it’s a sure-fire way to avoid spending your time circling the drain of tourist traps.

The Color Factory is billed as ‘an interactive exhibit that celebrates the discovery, serendipity and generosity of color’. Pretty standard stuff, then.

'Hunt' might not be the right word, because there's pretty much no hunting of design to be done in Berlin. Design isn't shy in this city, it's like a stray dog that follows you around and is very keen to be your pal. Which is a good job because I think if I'd have tried to seek out lovely design myself I may have got hypothermia.