Austria
Travel Cheats
I can’t help feeling like a cheat and wondering if the ease of my getting here hasn’t in some way diminished the achievement of those who have risked so much to stand where I am standing… […]
Travel Talk
Food & drink
The Problem With Off the Beaten Track Places
There’s a thing about some people who like to go off the beaten track. Things they ‘discover’ themselves can often have more value than those in a guidebook. […]
Hiking
Who Needs Three Months to Slow Travel When Three Days Will Do?
Many things written about slow travel focus on a time scale, making the mistake that more time equals more authentic slow travel. […]
Food & drink
Serving Food on Wood in Restaurants, Trendy or Traditional?
There’s a social media campaign at the moment called we want plates, which is a light-hearted crusade against trendy restaurants that serve food on wood… […]
Travel Talk
Do You Know Who I Am?
The circumstances are that I’m now almost in the lobby of an airport hotel, it’s 2.30am and we have to get up for a flight at 4am. At 2am we were rudely awakened… […]
Hiking
When Lost Ask a Local and See What Happens
We’re completely surrounded by soldiers in camouflage uniforms who cradle mean looking machine guns in their arms.
“Quick, take a photo,” Andy urges. […]
Hotels
Taking a Closer Look at Staying in All Inclusive Hotels
For a project we were working on we had stayed back to back in three hotels which offered all inclusive (AI) packages. […]
Travel Talk
Men in Lycra and Braggies, WTM Travel Market Trends 2014
Tourism Reports prepared for the World Travel Market in London in November each year usually throw up interesting revelations and trends in the tourism industry. […]
Europe
My ‘Royale With Cheese’ Experiences of France
Spending three weeks in France last summer, it was the little differences that surprised me. From Paris to the Dordogne and Provence to the Camargue, these are my “Royale with cheese” moments… […]
Hiking
Hikers and Bikers Don’t Mix
On one occasion I was nearly felled by a mountain unicyclist which would at least have had comedic value had an accident occurred…
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Travel Talk
Not Researching Before Travelling Doesn’t Make Any Sense
We might have different experiences but none of us are Christopher Columbus, David Livingstone or James T. Kirk boldly travelling where no person has gone before. […]
Travel Talk
The So-Called Destination Expert
Many of us feel equally qualified to wear the mantel of ‘expert’ but wouldn’t dream of bestowing such a pretentious title upon ourselves… […]
Europe
The Joy Of Travelling Around Switzerland
As I glide across this country, through landscapes whose beauty defies every superlative in my vocabulary, I contemplate whether the Swiss watch industry was born of the nation’s obsession with punctuality, or vice versa… […]
Food & drink
How to Tell a Good Burger from a Bad Burger
Social media is the place to go for recommendations from travellers. But the reality is we don’t usually know personal preferences or weird little foibles… […]
Travel Talk
Why We Will Never Use Goldcar Car Hire Again
I cannot understand the business logic of such short term opportunism at the cost of long term relationships with customers. What’s more, I can’t help wondering if this practice is even legal… […]