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Harry Poulton, 24, grew tired of life in the UK and decided to move to Benidorm, Spain, after falling in love with the popular hotspot. Now, he has zero plans to ever move back to England

A young British man took the dramatic step of moving to Benidorm for good following a lads’ holiday – and has pledged never to return to the UK again.

While Great Britain offers plenty of positives, it’s not without its shortcomings. Between the famously erratic weather and the ongoing cost of living crisis, it’s increasingly understandable why some people make the leap and move abroad. Such was the experience for 24-year-old Harry Poulton, who travelled to Benidorm for the first time on a lads’ holiday and immediately knew it was going to be his future home. For Harry, one of the factors that made his choice easy was the fun lifestyle available at a far lower cost than compared to “gloomy” Britain.

The travel vlogger, originally from Brighton, had become tired of life in “gloomy” England and, aged just 18, opted to transform his circumstances by abandoning his homeland in favour of Spain.

In a TikTok clip detailing his reasoning, he admitted one of the main motivations for moving was escaping the “horrible” British weather.

The cost of living was another reason behind his choice. Daily life in the Spanish coastal resort proves considerably more affordable for Harry.

He explained: “Everything in the UK is just going up, up, up and up, and no one knows when it’s going to stop. At least here in Spain, your money travels so much further – you’ll get way more for your money here in Spain than you would in the UK, and that’s my opinion.”

Speaking to Luxury Travel Daily, Harry explained: “I don’t know why anybody would want to live in Britain. It’s cold, dreary and gloomy all the time.

“There’s no room to have fun outside of the constant boring routine and work. After I visited Benidorm, I knew that it was the place I wanted to settle down.

“It offers great weather, beautiful beaches and such a laid-back vibe. It’s the complete opposite of the UK.”

Harry is a passionate advocate for Benidorm, convinced many Britons unfairly make a “mockery” of the beloved holiday hotspot. The Spanish municipality is known and loved for its thriving hotel and live entertainment industry, its golden beaches, and impressive skyscrapers.

The town is said to receive just as many tourists from abroad as it does from Spain. He said: “Stop making a mockery of such a wonderful place. If you live here, you’ll know better than any British tourists what this country is really like.”

Harry continued: “Everyone says not to visit Benidorm, as you’ll get scammed or mugged. And that bars will rip tourists off with extortionate prices for drinks – but that’s all absolute rubbish.

“It’s crazy what Brits believe. It’s not just for party-goers or stag dos. Benidorm has so much on offer and it’s not a place you’ll regret going. There are so many haters out there that like to spread misinformation or myths, stopping people from coming here.”

He added: “It’s mad. Look at the state of the UK – all of these things happen there more than they do in Benidorm.”

Harry believes he’s considerably happier living in Spain than he ever was in Britain.

For anyone contemplating a similarly dramatic overseas move, he suggested: “Learn some basic Spanish before coming. Ensure to plan financially, too. Be prepared for some paperwork, especially since Brexit, but it’s so worth it once you’re here.”

Looking back on making such a major decision at such a young age, he added: “It’s completely transformed my life – and being so young, I’m glad I leaped now rather than later. Who wants to wake up to grey skies every day, when you can have blue ones greeting you each morning? Benidorm is paradise – anyone who says otherwise is lying.”

People heading to Yosemite to escape urban congestion fumed this weekend as they waited in a seemingly endless line of cars at the park entrance.

Inside, they circled aimlessly around full parking lots, scanning for empty spots instead of majestic views.

Near the summit of Half Dome, on the infamous steel cables hikers use to ascend the final stretch of bare granite, another traffic jam formed, trapping people hundreds of feet in the air, according to social media posts.

Even before the summer rush, California’s most visited national park is seeing big crowds — the most people in a decade, according to National Park System data.

Critics of the free-for-all are blaming the influx on the Trump administration for abandoning a reservation requirement that, for the last few years, has helped control the number of visitors and preserve a sense of natural tranquility.

California’s nine national parks drew a record 12 million visitors in 2025, up more than 800,000 from the previous record set in 2019. Yosemite accounted for more than a quarter of those visits.

This year, the pace continues, with more than half a million visits to Yosemite so far. In March, the park recorded 236,000 visits, up more than 45% from the same month a year earlier.

Yosemite National Park is enormous, covering more than 1,100 square miles on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Even at the height of summer, an adventurous soul willing to hike a bit can spend weeks in the park and rarely see another person.

But Yosemite’s most famous and Instagrammable vistas — the towering, 3,000-foot granite wall of El Capitan, the thundering spectacles of Yosemite and Bridalveil falls — can be enjoyed from parking lots and picnic benches in the relatively cramped confines of Yosemite Valley.

Visitors don’t even have to get out of their cars to gaze in wide-eyed wonder at sights they will probably remember for the rest of their lives.

And that’s the problem.

Traffic in the valley, especially on summer weekends, had become legendary by the end of the 2010s, inspiring think pieces with headlines such as “Inside Yosemite’s Traffic Meltdown” and “The Siege of Yosemite Valley.”

In June 2020, to limit crowds in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the park introduced a controversial system requiring a reservation before entering.

That left a lot of would-be visitors frustrated, but those lucky enough to snag a reservation were treated to the most peaceful, serene Yosemite Valley experience in years.

Since then, the reservation system has been tweaked repeatedly as administrators searched for a sweet spot between welcoming more visitors and retaining the peace of the great outdoors.

In February, the Trump administration, which had already slashed the national park system’s staff by about 25%, scrapped the reservation system and replaced it with “targeted management” of crowds.

“We are committed to visitor access, safety, and resource protection, and will continue active traffic management strategies to ensure a great visitor experience,” Yosemite Supt. Ray McPadden said at the time. “While reservation systems are one valuable management tool, our data demonstrates that a season-wide reservation requirement is not the most effective approach for the coming season.”

A crowd of tourists gather to take pictures of the Yosemite Valley on March 23, 2025, in Yosemite National Park.

(George Rose / Getty Images)

But the new approach is already getting harsh reviews, and the busy season hasn’t even begun.

During “Firefall” in February — an annual phenomenon when sunlight lands on the water cascading from Horsetail Fall, making it glow orange and red, like molten lava — the crowds were reportedly nightmarish.

“I spent over an hour stuck in traffic leaving the park, and exiting felt more like leaving a major sporting event than it did visiting a national park,” Mark Rose, a senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Assn., a nonprofit devoted to protecting the park system, wrote in a blog post.

“I saw an ambulance stuck in standstill traffic announcing over a megaphone for pedestrians and vehicles to move out of the way,” Rose wrote. “The views were incredible, but I don’t think I’d ever go back without a reservation system in place.”

It left Rose worried about a return to the bad old days of Yosemite traffic, when visitors would wait forever just to get to the gate, pay the $35 entrance fee and then run into road blocks, with signs turning them away because the valley was too crowded.

“That was not an unusual situation,” Rose said. “To wait in line for close to two hours to get into the park and then just be stuck driving around for hours trying to find any parking at any location within the park.”

Over the weekend, the wait in traffic to simply get through the park entrance was an hour and a half, according to Lorena Calvillo from Fresno, who posted pictures and video of the traffic on Yosemite National Park’s official Facebook page.

And once she got in?

“Gridlock. Cars everywhere. People everywhere. No parking. No space,” Calvillo wrote.

“This all comes right after the reservation system was lifted … and honestly, it showed,” she added. “Officials were literally telling people to avoid the Valley.”

Another visitor, Richard Smekal, posted about the conga line of climbers who packed onto the cables leading to the Half Dome summit. He shared a photo of the cables empty when he arrived at 9 a.m., and another taken two hours later.

“After I got down, I turned around and took the second photo,” he wrote. “The line was a continuous stream of people, barely moving — basically at a standstill.”

The cables can be deadly, especially in thunderstorms, when they become a slippery lightning rod. Being stuck there in a human traffic jam is a nightmare many experienced hikers and climbers would do anything to avoid.

A spokesperson for Yosemite did not respond to requests for comment.

Traffic is at a standstill on the Yosemite Valley floor in the summer of 2017 while a bus lane is empty and off-limits to visitors at Yosemite National Park.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

KYLIE Jenner has once again gotten fans talking with her daring looks as she rocked a curve-hugging “nipple dress” on the 2026 Met Gala red carpet. 

The reality star wore the sexy look for a solo night out in New York City despite fans hoping that boyfriend Timothee Chalamet would be her date for the first Monday in May. 

Kylie, 28, stunned in a formfitting Schiaparelli strapless nude corset that pushed up her chest with cups that included nipples poking out. 

The corset went down to her hips, where a long lace skirt draped down to her feet. 

She completed her look with a diamond necklace and smokier glam makeup. 

The mom-of-two rocked a side part with old Hollywood curls and a long piece of hair going over her forehead. 

INTERGALACTIC STYLE

Katy Perry rocks astronaut mask at Met Gala 1 year after space trip

Timothee, 30, chose to skip the Met Gala red carpet but was just down the street at Madison Square Garden to support his beloved New York Knicks as the team competes in the NBA playoffs.

While his girlfriend was serving looks for the cameras, the Oscar-nominee was pictured court-side at tonight’s Knicks game against the Philadelphia 76ers for Game 1 of the conference semifinals.

Kylie, 28, has become one of the Met Gala’s most talked-about regulars however, it’s not always for the right reasons.

From her dazzling debut to viral backlash over a baseball cap on the red carpet, the beauty mogul has built a reputation for bold glam – and also for occasionally missing the theme entirely.

She made her Met Gala debut in 2016 in a heavily embellished silver gown by Balmain.

The futuristic look, complete with a blunt bob wig, instantly put her on the fashion map.

Fans praised the bold entrance, though some questioned whether the edgy look felt too mature at the time.

In 2017, Kylie stepped out in a sheer, feathered gown by Versace for the avant-garde Comme des Garçons-inspired theme.

Kylie returned in 2018 just months after welcoming her daughter, Stormi, wearing a sleek black gown by Alexander Wang.

The moment grabbed headlines – but not everyone was impressed.

Fans applauded her confidence, while others slammed the outfit as “underwhelming” and off-theme for the religious-inspired night.

Her 2019 look remains one of her most iconic.

Kylie stunned in a lavender feathered gown by Versace, complete with a matching purple wig, fully embracing the “camp” theme.

Fans were overall obsessed, with many still ranking it as her best-ever Met Gala moment.

After a three-year hiatus, Kylie returned in 2022 in a white bridal-inspired gown by Off-White as a tribute to the late designer, Virgil Abloh.

However, it was her backwards baseball cap that stole the spotlight.

The unexpected accessory sparked backlash online, with critics calling the look confusing and “disrespectful” to the theme – though others defended the sentimental tribute.

In 2023, Kylie opted for a more refined look in a red gown by Jean Paul Gaultier honoring Karl Lagerfeld.

Kylie leaned into romance at the 2024 gala with a sculptural, corseted gown featuring floral accents.

The feminine look was well received, though some critics said it lacked the wow factor of her earlier appearances.

In 2025, Kylie returned in a sheer, corseted design that highlighted her signature hourglass shape.

Fans praised the fit – but others complained the style felt repetitive of her past red carpet choices.

AMANDA Bynes was spotted dashing around the streets of Los Angeles on Friday, looking in incredible shape while debuting a new hair colour.

The appearance comes just five days after the singer, 40, surprised her fans by spontaneously dropping a new single called Girlfriend.

Sporting a casual outfit, Amanda opted for a grey zip up hoodie and navy shorts to complete her errands in the city.

To keep her energised and hydrated, Amanda had an iced coffee in her hand as well as an unopened straw.

She finished the outfit off with a pair of comfortable Uggs, a black designer bag and jet black hair.

It’s a major change from the star’s signature platinum blonde tresses, giving her an edgier look.

AMANDA’S NEW LOOK

Amanda Bynes looks unrecognizable as she shows off weight loss

‘THIS IS SO SAD’

Amanda Bynes sparks concern with swollen lips and chopped bangs in video

In December Amanda revealed that she had lost over 28lbs with the assistance of Ozympic.

Posting on social media to celebrate the achievement, Amanda penned to her followers that she was “down 152lbs” to date.

Amanda first announced that she was going to begin her Ozympic journey last June when the craze of weight loss injections swept the entertainment industry by storm.

At the time she described feeling “so excited” to shed some pounds and that she’ll “look better in paparazzi pictures”.

Amanda had previously opened up about battling depression and cited it as one of the reasons behind her weight gain.

It led to her becoming increasingly insecure, hoping to someday return to her teenage weight of 110lbs.

As she grew up, Amanda underwent some different procedures to alter her appearance.

Last August Amanda confirmed that she had gotten excess skin surgically removed from her eyelids.

She described the procedure, known as a blepharoplasty as “one of the best things [she] could have ever done for [her] self-confidence.”

Amanda has also had various tattoos done over the years, including a Roman numeral on her finger and a heart on her face.

Amanda is a former child actress who was known for playing various roles on Nickelodeon.

Some of the popular TV shows that she featured in include All That and The Amanda Show.

She won several Kids’ Choice Awards for both programmes, and later went on to star in sit coms and teen comedy films including What I Like About You, Hairspray, and Living Proof.

After the end of her conservatorship, Amanda pivoted to try out other creative pursuits including releasing music.

She released her first singles, Diamonds and Fairfax, back in 2022.