Welcome to An Englishman in the Balkans, the podcast where I, share my experiences of life in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a British expat.
Join me as I explore the culture, history, food, and everyday life in this fascinating country. From hidden travel gems and local traditions to expat life insights, each episode offers a first-hand perspective on what it’s like to live, travel, and immerse yourself in the Balkans.
Whether you’re curious about Bosnia, planning a visit, or considering moving abroad, this podcast is your guide to discovering the authentic side of the region, through engaging stories, interviews, and personal reflections.
I Didn’t Set Out to Make a Punk Podcast
I didn’t wake up one morning with a plan to do something called punk podcasting.
In truth, I only heard the phrase recently, mentioned in passing, and it stayed with me as I went out for my daily walk.
I try, as much as possible, to always have a recorder in my pocket. So I can record my steps as I walk, the dogs barking in the village, in other words, Bosnia, quietly getting on with things.
As I was walking, this idea suddenly dawned on me. I might already be doing it.
Not deliberately. Not theatrically. Just by stopping.
Stepping Away from the Noise
As you know, I live in a small village in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. I’ve been here long enough for the place to stop being scenery and start shaping how I think and speak.
These days, most of what I make begins with sound rather than a screen, walking audio, field recordings, spoken thoughts recorded once and left largely alone.
There’s no studio polish. No algorithm breathing down my neck. No sense that something has to justify itself through numbers or performance.
That wasn’t a creative strategy. It was a quiet retreat.
What “Punk” Means to Me Now
Punk, at least in this context, isn’t about noise or rebellion for its own sake. It’s about refusal. Refusing to optimise every sentence. Refusing to explain yourself into neat little boxes. Refusing the idea that creative work only matters if it scales.
Some episodes are short. Some drift. I’m so guilty of rambling.
Some contain long pauses where nothing much happens at all, birds, wind, footsteps, the sound of thinking. That used to feel like breaking rules.
Now it feels like remembering what audio was always meant to do.
Why Bosnia Matters
I don’t think I could make this work from somewhere louder, faster, or more performative. Maybe like it would back in Kensington in London, where I was born.
Bosnia gives me distance. From trends, from urgency, from the constant demand to be relevant. Life here allows unfinished thoughts. It allows walking without purpose. It allows silence without embarrassment.
Without realising it, that has seeped into my podcasting. The place I suppose has shaped the voice.
So… the First Punk Podcast from Bosnia?
Maybe.
I genuinely don’t know, and I’m not especially interested in proving it.
There may well be others, in Bosnian or in English, doing something just as independent and just as unconcerned with the usual rules.
But in spirit and in practice, what I’m making feels close.
Audio-first, independent. Not built for platforms, and made by someone old enough to stop asking permission.
A Quiet Invitation
If there’s a point to all this, it’s a simple one.
If you’re making something because you need to, not because it fits, sells, or scales, then you’re already closer to punk than you think.
And if that work happens to come from Bosnia, carried on footsteps and birdsong, then so much the better.
This isn’t built to chase anyone. It’s built to exist.
And of course, if you’d like to keep up with my own stories of life in Bosnia, from rainy afternoons in Banja Luka to the hidden corners of the Balkans, check out these recent posts.
