At over 3,172 kilometres in total, Ireland’s coastline is the longest per head of population in Europe. That’s a lot of sheltered, stony coves, and blustery, sandy strands for not a lot of people. Growing up near a seaside village where others flocked to on holiday, the most important question was often: “which beach should […]
I think, therefore, I Ham. It’s been bitingly cold and dreary (as far as that is possible) in Sevilla and I need a cure, I need to infuse myself with greenery, sunshine, a delectable meal. Looking gnawingly through the cupboard I see our jamón supply is at critically low levels, so in a moment of […]
It’s hard to encapsulate the essence of a place in a single phrase. There are too many layers and complexities, flavours and voices, volumes and colours. But when I think of my latest trip to Florence, “the devil is in the details” comes to mind. I was caught up in a whirlwind of self-inflicted (and […]
It is no secret that we take food seriously in Spain, so let’s address the Paella question. Maybe you think of paella simply as a rice dish. It is so much more than that, and is on its way to being recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (or at least we hope so). Furthermore, for […]
I’m driving on secondary country lanes, having just taken an exit north of Coimbra, on Portugal’s A1 tollway that joins the capital to coastal Porto, some three hours’ journey. As often happens when driving through this country, take just about any random turn, and modern efficient roads are quickly replaced by rolling hills with endless […]
In the gastronomic pantheon, hundreds of foods take their names from famous figures, spanning the whole alphabet from Eggs Benedict to Caesar Salad, Beef Wellington to Peach Melba. In Italy the most popular dish in such a category has to be the pizza Margherita, which, according to the legend, was created by Raffaele Esposito Brandi […]
In November 2024 Germany officially celebrates 35 years since reunification; it’s not been an easy road and continues to unite and divide. The country has come a long way, but to a degree East & West still exist in people’s minds, is reflected in salaries, political orientation and the like. Time to take a brief […]
Early afternoon , Bastille Day, 1989. I have been standing on the roundabout next to my house for nearly 3 hours. The moment I have been waiting for weeks is finally arriving. Le Tour de France, also known as La Grande Boucle, is passing my hometown, and on its way to Marseille, the finish of […]
Sifnos is the island next-door for me. Serifos is “my” island – I started going there a good 25 years ago, and from the moment I set foot on it, I knew I’d be back and start spending my summers there. I still do. It’s mountainous, wild and unpolished; beaches are virgin, and the occasional […]
There is a cluster of islands, right off the coast of Naples, that look like pebbles scattered in the sea by the hand of a giant. Some are big, some tiny, some just deserted rocks: Capri, Ischia, Procida, Li Galli (also called Le Sirenuse), Vivara, and many more… As myth has it, this is the […]
In the midst of lockdown in the summer of 2020 there wasn’t a whole lot of trip related email flying around, but one rather hot afternoon in July the following missive landed in my inbox which I found intriguing: “To find the Azores, look on Google Maps on Portugal, turn towards the Atlantic Ocean, and […]
After a steaming plate of fresh mussels has been set on the table to replace the mound of sautéed pimientos de Padrón (Padrón sweet green peppers) that we’ve just worked our way through, I reflect on how unanticipated moments like these make great travel. In front of me at the table is 2 Michelin-starred Galician […]
When I started at Trufflepig, I noticed that all the trip planners within the company come from quite diverse backgrounds, with often very different interests. But while, not surprisingly, we all share the same passion for travelling, somehow we also all have a similar shared interest in food. Exploring the world on trip research, we […]
***20 December 2023: Please note that applications for these positions are now closed*** Trufflepig as a company was started by Trip Planners and is run by Trip Planners, and in a world of distractions and fads we maintain a single-minded focus on our core objective: planning great trips. Trufflepig’s Trip Planners are destination specialists and […]
The Pearl River Delta, in the early 2000’s, was a place of heavy industry, pollution, run off, waste and ruin. It was rubble and rebar. Home to factories like Yue Yuen (a company that produces the majority of the shoes for Nike, Crocs, Adidas, Reebok, Asics, New Balance, Puma, Timberland and Rockport) and Samsung, the […]
I signed up for an adventure and got a lot more than I bargained for. In a good way. It started with a basic task (put one foot in front of the other), and led me to a lasting experience I was hardly prepared for: ten days in a vacuum-like state, practically closed off from […]