“How ya going?” I got very used to hearing that friendly greeting. While the dust is still settling, the laundry washing, and the jet lag still very much in full force, I thought I would put together a quickie about my recent incredible Australian experience. I just returned from over three weeks of exhausting research, […]

I was designed for the great plains of Africa – its more than just my job. I am reminded every time I land on the airstrip, any airstrip, and take my first breath. Every pore suddenly achieves full aperture, every muscle settles back into comfortable repose. It is like removing a pesky pebble from your sandal after tolerating […]

Escuchame caballeros y caballeras. The fields of Latin America are proving too vast & bountiful for just one farmer to harvest. We are looking for a new trip planner to help make hay in Latin America. Estas chancho numero uno? If so, llamanos pronto! For years now we’ve been bashing about the far corners of the Americas, from […]

Corsica is in a sense France at its finest, although that phrase would no doubt make any self-respecting Corsican pull out his vendetta knife and stick you like a wild mountain pig. The Corsicans view themselves as an entirely different (and superior) people from the French, and are famously and fiercely independent. It’s more or […]

Forget the crumbling ruins of Ancient Greece. Modern Greece is alive and kicking at the all-night-long bouzoukia. A night out at a Greek bouzoukia is like a high-decibel mixture of ‘Zorba the Greek’, ‘Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and a gun-fight at a carnation farm. Sound horrible? Just try not to enjoy yourself… A bouzouki is the name of […]

You’d have to be a real stick in the mud not to enjoy a weekend in one of Un Lit Au Pré’s safari-style tents, pitched uniquely in selected organic farms around the UK, France and Holland. Known as Feather Down Farms in the UK, this is a company that has the art of roughing it […]

Deyrolle is Paris’ famous taxidermy shop, where luminescent green Polynesian butterflies line the walls and stare down on stuffed jaguars and polar bears (all of which are for sale). And it famously burned down in February 2008. Thanks to a public auction and a very wealthy owner, but mostly due to the fact that the shop is as dear […]

It is easy to suffer from temple fatigue in India, regardless of how amazing they are, (and they are incredible, whether they are Jain or Hindu Temples, mosques or Brahma Temples). However, the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar (Punjab) restores the faith. It is a glorious gold edifice sitting in sparkling water in a fabulous […]

Tswalu was born two decades ago when and English businessman named Stephen Boler began acquiring cattle farms in a far-flung corner of the southern Kalahari. His ultimate goal was to restore a huge swath of the desert back into a pristine wilderness. When Boler passed away in 1998, the reserve was taken over by the Oppenheimer family who continued […]

Brazil is hotting up for 2014. Already an intoxicating proposition due to its world-famous parties at New Year’s Eve and its epic celebrations at Carnival, the country is besotted with football (aka soccer) and can play the beautiful game almost as well as the Brits (see footy footnote below). In 2014 they are hosting the […]

It has a landscape harsher than Canada’s, geological wonders to rival New Zealand, and an altitude that will quite literally take your breath away. You may already have seen the ubiquitous optical illusion photos on the Uyuni salt flats, but there is so much more to Bolivia’s southwest. The surroundings seem to change with every […]

I’m not an avid biker. Nor do I have any sort of bike tech knowledge. I’ve been procrastinating giving my own bike a spring tune-up for about 6 years (and I’ve only owned the bike for 5 years). Although I don’t even own a helmet (much to the distress of my family and friends) or […]

On my recent holiday to Cape Town, all I wanted was more time. After two weeks I had climbed mountains, swam with sharks, cycled cities, and ate my weight in food, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. In a city that has so much to offer, you’ll find it’s hard to sit […]

A great trip is the sum of its parts. But picking the best parts and then figuring out how to piece them together, well, that can be a challenge. Perhaps more than anywhere I can think of, planning a silky smooth trip to Indochina usually boils down to a mathematical equation (not to be confused with a […]

One of the things I love about Paris is that it simultaneously manages to be both conspicuous and coy. In a sense, it’s the world’s most obvious place—glaringly gorgeous and positively popping out of its Haussmannian dress. And yet, it’s a city that keeps plenty secret, holding you slightly at bay which, of course, keeps […]

This is not a post for complaining about spelling (although I wouldn’t be opposed to writing one of those). This is the ultimate South American showdown: Argentina vs. Brazil, who will win it all? It’s a tough match, of course. How can you choose a winner in a battle of Buenos Aires vs. Rio de […]