Have you ever been in a helicopter? It’s cool. Like, really cool. Up until recently, I had a big helicopter-shaped void in my life. Then I went on six of them in one trip. If you want your first (or any) helicopter experience to be a special one, New Zealand is the place. It is literally the […]

KEEP LEFT. That’s the first thing we tell everyone when they travel here. We also tell them about a dozen more times. In your jet-lag induced, underslept state, it is a valuable piece of advice. Now that that’s out of the way, driving in New Zealand can be a bit of a wild ride. Combining […]

Sure, the flurries are a beautiful novelty right now. We’re all dreaming of a white Christmas too. But come January, escape is going to be the only thing on your mind. Plan your trip now with a few of our favourite suggestions for this January. You can call it a new year’s resolution if that […]

Some people see vehicles merely as a means of getting from A to B. Not me. I relish the ride and appreciate the story behind a vehicle. And I’ve always found that if you take a closer look, there’s often an interesting tale behind the transport (or sometimes even a tail). Herewith a handful of […]

It’s the second last edition of our 100 things we love, celebrating our 100th newsletter. Here we cover number 40 down to 21. 40. The Boatshed on Waiheke Island—Just a short ferry ride away from Auckland, New Zealand’s capital, The Boatshed is a tiny retreat we’ve loved for years. In fact, our New Zealand planner, […]

Today we continue our countdown of 100 things we love, in celebration of our 100th Sounder newsletter, going out to all of your inboxes this week. Here we cover number 60 down to 41. 60. Our National Geographic “Tour of a Lifetime”—We’re not going to lie, it’s nice to see our name in lights after […]

Today we continue our countdown of 100 things we love, in celebration of our 100th Sounder newsletter. If you need some Christmas wish list inspiration, this is it. From 80 to 61: 80. The Nam Hai—Vietnam’s villa perfection is one of our very favourite hotels. Parked right on the beach outside the charming town of Hoi […]

The newsletter we send out to all you fine folks next week will be our 100th edition (get it here if you’re not on the list yet). To mark this special occasion, we thought we’d round up 100 of our favourite things—a little bit like Oprah does around Christmas, but with fewer free cars (sorry). […]

Let’s say you’ve been on safari in Africa a few times. If you’ve gone back more than once it’s pretty safe to say that you’re a fully-fledged safari junkie, and a traditional safari (a couple of weeks long with comfortable tented camps and two game drives a day) puts you right in your happy place. Let’s […]

Cast aside your umbrella, intrepid shoppers of Paris. Even as November’s freezing rain pours down, you can stroll the streets of the Right Bank undrenched; shopping, dining and even staying overnight in the passageways and galleries of Paris. From Stella McCartney to wine bars, teeny tiny antiques shops and seconds art book stores, there are […]

Now that Halloween candy is marked down to half price, it’s only a matter of time before the malls are filled with Christmas carols reworked by pop stars, and all the merchandise to go along with it. But Santa, what we want this year is really quite small. It could fit in the slimmest of […]

Most people visiting Asia think of huge temples, amazing food, and busy everything. Everyone wants to snap a picture of a monk, 14 people riding one scooter, or a water buffalo standing in the middle of a busy highway, but that’s not all there is to it. While playing around with macro photography on my […]

As a self confessed ski addict, the end of the season leaves me with sweaty palms and in a mild panic, knowing that it will be a whole year before winter comes round again; a whole year before another trip to the snowy mountains. Of course there’s the option of the southern hemisphere, but the […]

We’ve always said that the only way to truly know a place is to get on a plane and check it out. So we do that. A lot. This year, as every year, Trufflepig trip planners and coordinators have done a tremendous amount of research around the world. 217 days worth—by conservative count. Here’s a […]

As I laid in the hammam at Riad Fes, my thoughts now turned to survival. Steam hissed angrily from the walls, the intense heat unbearable. Beads of sweat flowed into rivers, puddling up on the hot marble beneath me. My vision blurred, breathing became increasingly difficult in the heavy humid air. I wasn’t sure how much […]

Since we’re friends, I’m going to tell you a secret—but you have to promise you’re not going to tell anybody. Here goes and remember, you promised—Greystoke Mahale, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, might just be one of the greatest places I have ever been. Now, I know you want to hear about the chimps […]