501 Places

10 game drives in 5 days (sunrise and sunset); standard for most safari lodges, and in many cases guests opt out of the early morning ones after the first couple of days. We were determined to make each drive; after all we had paid for it, and in any case there wasn’t a great deal [...]

There’s something magical about arriving on a Scottish island. The ferry crossing, invariably gusty and chilly, the stunning scenery on all sides as you chug across the sea, and then the unhurried world that greets you as you drive off the boat. We arrived in Mull in early December. Travelling with friends from California, we [...]

It’s Saturday. It’s 5 o’clock. And I’m stuck in some far flung corner of Europe. Ok not exactly stuck, but far from the familiar tune of BBC Sports Report and any other access to the football scores. Those sports fans over the age of 30 will recognise this scenario. In the days before mobile internet [...]

See that ball coming down the hill? That’s us inside it. We were falling around in hysterical laughter (we were falling around in any case) and loved every second of the rapid and watery descent. Moments later we would emerge; soaking wet, dizzy but exhilerated by the tumbling ride we’d just enjoyed. There are many [...]

I read another great article tonight about travel disasters. As usual, along with the middle seat dilemma, the baby scenario reared its ugly head (metaphorically speaking of course). You know the scene. Walk onto the plane, find your seat and lo and behold, there is stressed out mum with a distressed infant struggling to get [...]

“You can easily tell where the swimmers are from” said the guy we met on the beach. “Our guys only go in the water in the middle of summer. Americans will swim between Memorial Day holiday and Labor Day. Outside of that, only those crazy Brits will swim in any weather” Clearly he hadn’t experienced [...]

A commonly quoted statistic within the National Park Service is that over 98% of visitors to the Grand Canyon do not step below the canyon rim (another one is that the average time spent at the Grand Canyon is around 23 minutes). This of course is great news for those who want to venture down [...]

This is me relaxing at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. If I look tired, there’s a good reason. It’s late afternoon. So far today, January 19th 2001, this is what I’ve done: woken up and had a leisurely breakfast in Auckland, and done a little shopping boarded a flight bound for Honolulu and spent the best [...]

This is McDonald’s in Belgrade on a rainy day in winter 1988. Quite a bright structure set in a drab city. At that time McDonald’s was a good safety net to a young backpacker. Cheap food, predictable food, and best of all, free clean toilets. I would eat McDonald’s far too often as my main [...]

Travelling around Europe in the pre-EU days was a real test of nerve. Crossing any land border required a passport and gained you a stamp; a month’s worth of Inter-rail and the passport looked pretty cool. But the real thrill came when crossing the Iron Curtain; and no-one was more suspicious about your motives for [...]