501 Places

We can travel to some of the most remote corners of the earth to see unique sights and experience incredible moments. Yet some of the most amazing natural wonders can happen right over our heads, wherever we are in the world. As someone who is constantly staring up and pointing out cloud formations to my long-suffering wife, I thought I would share a few of the more unusual cloud-related sights I have managed to capture. To demonstrate how universal these spectacles of nature can be, the first three pictures are from my bedroom window in St Albans, England; hardly a hotbed of astronomy or of dramatic weather. The top picture shows the phenomenon of mammatus clouds, occasionally seen after a severe thunderstorm.

Below are two pictures taken at sunset – both in the same week after a major volcanic eruption in Russia: a frequent precursor to dramatic sunsets due to the increase of ash particles in the atmosphere.

Sometimes clouds just form unusual shapes or dramatic backdrops, particularly when building up for a storm. Here are a couple more images, these from our travels, of clouds that caught the eye.

One final image, the one time we experienced when to see the clouds we needed to look down, not up. We went to sleep at this campsite on the Inca Trail in heavy rain – when we woke and emerged from our tents, we were greeted by this spectacular sight of the clouds tumbling beneath our campsite.

While I appreciate the eye-candy of clouds I cannot claim to know anything about them. There are however those who take their passion for clouds to a new level. Take a look at the Cloud Appreciation Society website if you don’t believe me.

Ironically, as I write this there is a thick low level of dull grey cloud outside, and I wish it would disappear and leave us with a beautiful sunny day!

Having just visited two recently erected pieces of public artwork in the north west of England, I was struck not only by their artistic qualities, but also by the effect they have had on their unglamorous surroundings. I wondered in turn about the impact these often expensive projects have on the communities in which they are placed, and have to admit to being very much a fan of these bold visual statements.

The Dream project, a giant girl’s head erected on the site of an old colliery in St Helens, is visible from over a mile away, particularly so from the nearby M62 motorway. It divided opinions when the design was announced, with many people questioning the wisdom of spending over £1m on a piece of art in an area that has suffered severe economic hardship.

Walking up the hill to the base of the statue, it is striking how many people are visiting The Dream. Families walking, runners enjoying the surrounding paths and visitors (such as us) wanting to see this strange looking artwork at close quarters. And it is impressive, its white colour contrasting sharply with the moody grey sky, and the long thin face seemingly changing its gaze as you circle the sculpture.

It has clearly brought an interest to the area, and its impact is evident in the surrounding streets and towns. Only a year or so after being completing, more and more businesses are using the Dream face in their marketing material. It is becoming an iconic symbol of the region, and will undoubtedly have a similar positive effect to that of the Angel of the North in the equally unglamorous Gateshead. There, after initial public hostility to the design, it is now a symbol of pride and is rapidly rivalling the Tyne Bridge as the most instantly recognised symbol of the region. As a valuable marketing tool, it is soon apparent that the money invested in it delivers a strong return.

The same argument can be applied to Anthony Gormley’s Another Place piece of art on Crosby Beach, north of Liverpool. An area that was largely ignored by all other than local people, the beach now enjoys a large number of visitors, coming to admire the multitude of statues scattered over a wide area of the beach, all looking out to sea.
Crosby can now take advantage from these visitor numbers and new businesses develop on the back of these new arrivals, who will be willing to eat, drink and buy on the back of their visit.

I love these exciting and innovating artworks and hope that more local authories have the vision to see the benefits they can bring to their neighbourhoods. And as for us visitors, they are a delight to visit, admire and of course to see a part of the country (or even the world) that we would otherwise have overlooked.

Many people I meet on my travels have no interest at all in visiting the US. “It’s too touristy” is a common reaction; another is “I don’t like Disney”, or “We’ll do it when we’re older and we can’t get to these places”.

True, visiting America may not carry that badge of honour that a trip to the jungles of Borneo or the mists of west Africa warrant, but those who love the outdoors can hardly find a more varied, dramatic and accessible wilderness to explore than the US National Parks.

The south western states in particular offer such a richness of natural treasures that it’s hard to find a part of the world to match it. Arizona and Utah are home to some great parks (Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands to name a few); California to many more. Each are easy to reach by road, provide comfortable hotel options as well as camping, and offer some of the world’s best hiking routes. Most of the visitors are Americans, and given the lack of mobility of most visitors to the outdoors (it’s the same in the UK), although the car parks may be bursting to the seams, walk more than 100yds away and you have the place almost to yourself.

We hiked here in Bryce for a couple of days, and wished we had stayed longer (as an American employee at the time I had to struggle to get a whole week off work!). The hoodoos (the towers that characterise this park) are an eerie sight, and made for some spectacular backdrops as we wound our way through numerous trails in the park. It was surprisingly cold, but then at 9,000 feet above sea level maybe not unexpected, especially in April.

While we have camped on many occasions, it is done as a necessity where there are no other options, and we will always choose the soft bed and nice bathroom where it is available. And here is the one downside of visiting the parks of the south west – the culinary options are not exactly award-winning. If you like traditional American roadside food (soup n salad, burgers, steaks) you’ll be ok. If, like us, you can only manage it for a few days before craving a bit of variety, then you’ll be rushing to the nearest Chinese restaurant as soon as you reach the urban world again.

For those who still remain unconvinced, I would urge them to explore the natural wonders of America. It’s a world away from Disney, you have vast swathes of the great outdoors pretty much to yourself, and it is certainly best appreciated when fit and able to venture away from the masses in the parking lot.

Typing out the first words was a real struggle: What shall I write? Who will care? Is this a sensible use of my time? When I wrote my first blog post less than three months ago, I was very self-conscious about how my words would be perceived and as a result over-analysed each paragraph and statement. That seems like a long time ago now, and I now really enjoy putting the stories I have held in my often distant memory; so much so that I have been known to wake up in the night with an idea that has come to me and that I just have to write down in case it’s forgotten in the morning. The self-consciousness has gone, and instead I have become something of an evangelist of the benefits of regular writing, not only from a business perspective but also for one’s personal well-being and development.

At first it was an unrewarding and lonely task. No responses and very few readers. It was a chore, but having committed to posting daily I managed to maintain the discipline even when it was tough to think of a story to tell. Then I signed up to Twitter, and this changed everything. It provided me with a way to announce my latest posts, and more importantly allowed me to connect with a group of like-minded people: those who love to travel and those who love to write about it. Not only did the number of visits to 501 Places start to rise rapidly, but I found friends online who were happy to share tips, stories and encouraging feedback on each others’ work. It is a real pleasure to receive comments on a blog post, to know that someone has found what you have written relevant enough to take the time to add their thoughts.

This exchange of travel stories in turn has led to more ideas. Having travelled to 70+ countries over the last 20 years and had so many adventures along the way, I know that the stories are in there, albeit locked away in the long-term memory; sometimes another person’s article just triggers a recollection that then inspires my next post.

It is especially pleasing when others ask you to write a guest article on their site, and for me perfectly illustrates the collaborative ethos of travel blogging. I have recently started a second site My Home Pride, featuring contributions from other travel writers and bloggers – it’s a pleasure to feature the talents of others and provide a additional platform for them to publish their work. I am excited about seeing this project develop.

For anyone thinking about writing a travel blog, or those who are just starting off, I can offer plenty of encouragement. Stick with it, share your travel passion with others by contributing to their sites and discussions, and keep adding fresh content to your site. If your experience is anything like mine, you will enjoy it and find it rewarding in more ways than you expected. Happy blogging!

It’s nice isn’t it? Idyllic you might say. And it’s just as picturesque at ground level. A carpet of pristine sand, lush vegetation all around, and privacy whenever and wherever you want it. Just the clear blue ocean, the abundant sea life and the occasional bird for company.

For a week we stayed on this resort, and did little apart from sit on our little beach, read our books and venture into the restaurant three times a day. The perfect opportunity to unwind and feel the pace of life slow down as you while away the hours. No shoes, no news was the motto (it was over 10 years ago; I bet they have wi-fi now!)

The transfer to the island was an adventure – one hour by speedboat from the airport, and the driver flying through the water at breakneck speed. More impressive but terrifying was the return journey in the middle of the night. In pitch black conditions with no moon, he motored along at the same cracy speed. We resigned ourselves to fate and lay back on the deck, enjoying the occasional shooting star tracing its way across the starry sky.

On the island itself though, the adventure was just not there. We did talk to other couples on the island, although with most being on their honeymoon their willingness to chat with others was somehow inhibited. We had finished our books in double quick time, and had snorkelled in every corner of the little island, even seeing a small shark. Aside from a couple of day excursions, including the helicopter trip that allowed us to take this picture, we just passed time, pleasantly but increasingly frustrated. We are both people who like to be on the move, seeing new things and exploring new places. We even went for a run one afternoon: 3 minutes around the island. The resort staff thought we had gone crazy. 5 laps and we were happy to tumble into the sea and cool off.

That was our last full-on beach holiday. I am sure we will be back on the sand soon, but next time there will have to be other places to visit. The Maldives are beautiful, and our island was exactly what it claimed to be : a true hideaway from the busy lifestyles we lead. But sadly, a tiny desert island ain’t big enough for one of us, let alone the both of us!