Rupert Wolfe Murray: Profile and CV

My aim in life is to write books and inspire people to discover the joys of independent travel, to fit into foreign cultures and get jobs anywhere on the planet. I call these “Skills for future travellers” and post videos about the subject on YouTube @thepsychologyoftravel

If you’re looking for my CV/Resume you can find it here (updated November 2025), and here’s an extract, a summary of my life’s work:

“Six words from my work experience sum me up: Strategic, Practical, Creative, Flexible, Humble and Moral. I have worked as a journalist, aid worker, EU project manager, builder and PR consultant. When approaching a project or job I “reframe the problem” and tackle it from a new angle, always with an eye on improving communication/outreach. Fluent in Romanian. British citizen. Currently I publish weekly on my blog  and this article shows where I stand regarding Ukraine — my current passion.”

I’ve worked in Albania, Bosnia, Romania, Russia, Tibet, Ukraine and, last but not least, Britain.

Currently I’m preparing to publish and promote my next book, 12 jobs in 12 months. Here’s a link to its introduction. It will be published in February 2026 by Stone Books, Edinburgh.

My published books

Romania: Rude & Vile? A collection of stories about travelling, politics, history, revolution, architecture, books, and people. ”Rupert Wolfe Murray has been working and living, off and on, in Romania for three decades, and his comments and judgements on the country and its people are incisive and accurate.” Tim Burford, author of Rough Guide to Romania

Himalayan Bus Plunge, and Other Stories from Nepal: I describe a day in the life of my brother, a hyperactive aid worker, travel with a Nepalese brain surgeon who drives like a demon, hang out with a guitar-playing guide from Romania, chat with doctors from Iran and Tibet and meet a man who looks like Saddam Hussein but is, in fact, a tramp.

The Wind and the Castle: a fairy tale that was inspired by Hermann Hesse. It’s a love story within a love story and is set in ancient time. It was my first eBook, also my first foray into fiction, and is quite short.

9 Months in Tibet: described by Alexander McCall Smith, who wrote the intro, as an “adventure, memoir and travel book.” McCall Smith also compared it to the early books of Patrick Leigh Fermor and Laurie Lee. It was published by Scotland Street Press in Edinburgh.

Stephanie Wolfe Murray — a Life in Books: a short tribute to my mother who died (far too early) in 2017. It’s a collection of warm, funny and interesting stories by people who knew and loved her — including family and friends and some well known authors like Alasdair Gray and William Boyd.

IFOR on IFOR and The Road to Peace were two documentary books I did about the aftermath of the Bosnian war (1992-95). It’s a collection of great photos by Steve Gordon and transcripts of interviews by generals, soldiers, translators and cooks. I sold over 20,000 copies of these books and I’m glad to see their second hand price on Amazon is quite high, about £17.

I’ve also published some books that are now out of print and were never online: in Romania, I published a book about regional development and in Bosnia I published two books that were banned by my main client, the puritanical US Military: Bosnian for Peacekeepers, a cartoon guide; and The Bosnian Joke Book. I’m keen to get these re-published as they’re all interesting and the Bosnian ones are really funny.

My documentary films

I lived in Romania for 17 years and during that time I produced two documentary films with the great Romanian documentary filmmaker Laurentiu Calciu:

The Land is Waiting is a one-hour observational documentary about a Roma family in NE Romania/Moldova. The kids break Romanian stereotypes by doing what people say Romany gypsies never do: they work hard on their studies and toil on the land.

After the Revolution is made up of people on the streets of Bucharest, just after the 1989 revolution, talking freely for the first time in their lives. It’s a moment of pure chaos that didn’t last and they’re all talking on top of each other about Communism, Democracy, and their fear of the future.

Here’s an article about the other documentary films we made, as well as some relevant articles.

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Do get in contact with me. I’d be really interested to hear from you. Best way to get me is via email on wolfemurray [at] gmail.com and my phone (and WhatsApp) number is +44 (0) 747 138 1973.