It really isn’t a big deal. I didn’t lose any money over the incident and the hotel acted fully within its rights. Yet by a simple action (or inaction) what had been a very pleasant stay ended with us saying that we would stay elsewhere when we next return to the same place. […]
I’m sure many writers will identify with this. Your story gets published and while you might be pleased with the finished article there’s something that the readers will never know: that what you’ve shared with the reader is only half of the story. Indeed the untold back story to an article is often more illuminating […]
Earlier this month I spent four days in Brunei to research a nature-focussed article I’d been commissioned to write. Despite (or because of) my very short exposure to Brunei, its social structures and its people I left the country with many unanswered questions. I entered Brunei with media accreditation and as a result I […]
Taking in the surroundings of Eneko Island it’s easy to conclude you’ve walked into a photograph on a postcard. Part of the Majuro atoll in the Marshall Islands, the private island ticks all the boxes for a popular view of paradise. White sandy beach, clear turquoise water, palm trees leaning gently over the ocean; all […]
After 18 days we’ll be leaving Micronesia tomorrow. It’s been a fascinating time and an exposure to a part of the world I previously knew nothing about. We have encountered perfect beaches and dirty squalor, broad smiles and resigned hopelessness, inspiring collaboration and systemic indifference. I’ll be writing much about the many contrasting faces of […]
Packing for a trip that covers areas with wildly different climates is never easy, and after the first week in New York we were casting off our coldest winter layers, not expecting to use them again until our return to Heathrow. Los Angeles was our next stop, or more precisely Claremont where we had the […]
For the next few weeks we will be making our way slowly around the world and I’ll be writing for various sites and publications as we go. I’ll be using this site mainly to let my mother know that we’re alive and well and to keep our family and anyone else who cares updated on progress […]
I have just returned from a morning at a local school where I was answering questions from pupils who were interested in a career in writing/journalism. It had me thinking back a little under 4 years to the start of my efforts at cobbling together a freelance career. While that hardly qualifies me to claim […]
Sometimes the most remarkable stories can be found right under our noses. Nowhere does this appear to be more true than in London, where every other street hides an intriguing tale from the city’s fascinating past. Visit The Highway in east London and you’ll be forgiven for thinking there wasn’t much to trouble the historians […]
Driving a convertible had never appealed to me. I’m more inclined to cast disparaging glances at those who ‘go topless’ in their otherwise mundane family cars. I smile at the thought of how much extra they’ve paid just to be able to enjoy the wind messing up their hair on the two or three hot […]
Freelance travel writer and photographer. 501 Places is a personal collection of stories and photos from the road, along with random thoughts and opinions.
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