I went to Rome last month, for four days – a quick trip, nestled between hectic work schedules and a typically unstable income. Now, as a 24 year old female (and a pretty tiny one at that), I regularly cause bewilderment by disappearing off around Europe on my own.

‘But it’s not safe,’ friends and family members cry, ‘women shouldn’t go travelling alone, just think about what could happen!’

Fortunately, I’m a feminist and I don’t believe any of that nonsense. However, what it does mean is that I have to think very carefully about where I choose to stay. I don’t generally have enough money to stay in hotels, so you can usually find me sharing a cheap room in a [...]