About Culture Explorer

Culture Explorer is run by me, Qin Xie, a multi-award winning food and travel writer based in London.

Food and travel writing has been my full time job for over a decade. In that time, I’ve been on hundreds of trips around the world.

On one memorable occasion, I even stepped foot in three continents in one day on two back-to-back trips.

I’ve also written thousands of articles for publications such as The Times, The Telegraph, Conde Nast Traveller and National Geographic Traveller. If you’re curious, you can check out my portfolio website or my profile on Muck Rack.

As an aside, I’m also a trained chef, though I don’t spend much time in the kitchen these days. I used to write a food blog called In Pursuit of Food but that has been retired and the domain sold.

My travels in numbers

Visited… 71 countries/territories.

Been to… 6 continents.

Lived in… 4 countries.

Since 2012, Culture Explorer has been a place for all of the stuff that doesn’t go into print.

It’s the practical stuff, like packing lists and trip planning guides.

It’s the reviews, including why I pick a hotel or a tour.

And it’s all the stuff in between, from books to gear to… just about everything really.

Welcome to Culture Explorer, start exploring here.

How I travel

I cover mostly long haul destinations as part of my day job, which means I fly a lot.

So much so, I’m currently a Silver member of the British Airways Executive Club*, and was briefly a Silver member of Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club* at the same time.

And because I travel a lot, I consider myself a part-time digital nomad.

I don’t have a favourite place that I always go to. Instead, I prefer to explore new places as much as I can.

That said, there are a couple of places that I keep revisiting, and plenty more that I’d love to go back to.

For work, much of what I cover can be described as high end or luxury. For my personal travels, I like to do the same, but at a much less extravagant scale.

Either way, I want to see and do as much as possible in each place, and learn about the way people live.

What I like

Here are some of the things I like to include on my trips:

Hiking, on mostly gentle trails
Kayaking, in urban and wild settings
Snorkelling, but I’m PADI certified too
Lived-in cities, with a real soul about them
Hotels, offering more than just a room for the night
Small museums, that go big and bold on their singular niche
Big galleries, showcasing mind-altering modern and contemporary art
Restaurants, from well-known chefs and outstanding hole-in-the-wall joints

Last updated, May 2026.