While other cities are frequently observed as having masculine characteristics, Paris is invariably described as being female. Sensuous, seductive, the unmistakeable city of light, love and romance, my affair with her began instantly as I first arrived off the train from Bordeaux in my early twenties. A frenzied and fertile breeding ground for the arts and novel ideas, Paris has at various times been the home of countless luminaries- indeed Honoré de Balzac went so far as to wildly proclaim “whoever does not visit Paris regularly will never really be elegant”. Severely in want of elegance, I recently re-visited Paris and fell in love all over again. If you’re in the mood for a worldly romance, you’ll need this hit list. Read more →
GoPro Hero3/Hero3+ Action Camera: Black Edition
Have you ever dreamt of filming yourself engaging in action sports, like surfing, skateboarding or skiing? No? Me neither. Although I’ve always loved a walk on the wild side, especially on a new continent, any action I couldn’t easily capture on my Canon EOS SLR (which comes with me everywhere) was happily confined to memories inside my head. However this year, I finally succumbed to the technological seduction and slick marketing and got myself a GoPro. And the verdict is: It’s fun, and great for travellers. Read more →
The Truth about Flying
Griping about the discomfort of flying is a thoroughly modern first-world phenomenon. Here’s how you can relax and enjoy the magic of flight, whether you’re a frequent or infrequent traveller. Read more →
Life is a Roadtrip through Southern England
England never interested me until recently. My early backpacking days were filled with mountains and ice and snow and golden-skinned Scandinavian goddesses, and wild parties and cheap beer in hot, humid locales in South-East Asia. (Or at least that’s my rose-tinged reflection.) England didn’t seem exotic enough for this Aussie, the cultural appeal of a plate of fish and soggy chips cooked by a man named Roger and eaten on a sodden shingle beach in the rain. Of course, I was merely ignorant of the fact that England is brilliant. A fog of mortality and reflection shrouded my journey through the motherland. Read more →
How to Get the Money to Travel
The difference between people who travel, and those that want to but never do, is not just determination (which is also important), but creativity in determination. Travel can be a regular feature in your life, if you’re creative and motivated enough. Before my 22nd year was done, I had visited the USA, Thailand, much of Europe, had been all over Scandinavia, Singapore, Tahiti, Estonia and the Maldives! How did I do it? Read on for some further ideas! Read more →
How to Leave London
Last week, we ruminated over things to do in London. In keeping with the English theme, this week Alyssa James of Alyssa Writes gives us some options for London day trips – getting out of the city and seeing the surrounding countryside. There is enough going on in London to keep anyone occupied for a lifetime, but, if you’re looking for a change of pace and can only spare a day or two, here are some day trips you can make to see more of England. Read more →
18 Cool Things to Do in London
“Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
— Samuel Johnson
Thus spake Johnson to his distinguished biographer James Boswell, and though the words are over 200 years old, they might equally well apply to any age. For London is and has always been one of those places where you can experience the complete spectrum of human possibility. Centre of an empire for centuries, from history to the arts to the sciences, London is a place where you can see, do, and find anything- a world unto itself. If you however, unlike Johnson, will measure your stay in London in the days rather than the years, you’ll want to quickly sort the wheat from the chaff and avoid the touristy riff raff. This list par excellence will help you decide what to check out. Read more →
List of Countries I Have Visited … Plus a Photo for Each
I awoke from the deepest, darkest sleep on the softest pillow and found myself staring out the window of a hotel in disbelief as the last red rays of the sun drifted below the clouds. Wow, I thought, that’s the most beautiful sunset I ever saw. But the bed was unfamiliar and it was far too early in my mind for the sun to be setting. Hang on a second, I thought- where am I?
I am often asked where I have been. But over the years I have done so many oodles of trips that the answer is blurry- several countries I have been to several times, with little rhyme or reason- sometimes I’d need to travel for work, sometimes I followed my heart someplace and sometimes my heart yearned for someone I’d met on a distant continent. I make this list as a little catelogue of memories and moments as much for myself as for you. Read more →
From a Terrorist Bombing to a Pachinko Jackpot
There was 45 minutes remaining til takeoff as I rushed up into the terminal. As I ran my gaze caught a plasma screen showing the BBC News. The label across the bottom of the screen shocked me- “THE ENTIRE TUBE SYSTEM HAS NOW BEEN SHUT DOWN”. How could this be?, I thought. I had just been on the tube! The anchorwoman was talking about a “major incident” on the London Underground. But I couldn’t stay to sate my curiosity as they were about to close the gate. I jumped on the plane and we took off for Japan. Later that day, shoeless, a crowd of onlookers whooped and cheered as I inexplicably won a major jackpot in a strange Japanese Pachinko parlour. If there’s anything to be expected when travelling, it’s the unexpected, as I found out during a most bizarre 24 hour period spanning two continents. Read more →
The Secret Stasi Prison in the Former East Berlin
The tram is warm and comfortable and the snowy landscape is pretty as it slides past. I begin to forget the sub-zero temperatures outside and secretly want the tram ride to go on forever. But after half an hour or so we reach the stop and I emerge into a cold and windy environment. The tram grinds off into the background. It’s too cold to stand around waiting for another one back into town and to the dismay of my empty stomach all of the little shops and restaurants in the nondescript modern buildings are closed for the public holiday. There’s nothing else for it but to begin walking down the long street that leads to the Hohenschönhausen prison. At first the landscape is suburban, but then the first few old administrative buildings of the facilty come into view and the view becomes grim. If this were happening thirty years earlier, I’d be walking off the edge of the map. This whole area was part of the web of lies, denial and paranoia spun by the former East German Communist Ministry of State Security, the Stasi. Officially, it did not exist. “You are free to take as many photos as you please, even of me,” is the first thing we are told as we enter the prison. To my mind, the message is clear that this man wants the history of this Stasi prison to be broadcast. I rattle off shots but the pace of the guiding is fast, and several times I am left behind and I race down the halls, my heart beating as I try to find where the group has gone and avoid being lost in this god-forsaken place. Read more →
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