Travel

We’re Off Again

We head to Europe via the UK on our first proper road trip in five years, and perhaps it’s not just the number of wheels that’s changed. Will we enjoy familiar routes as much in the car as we did by bike? Can I still take the occasional photo of a set of bends or a balcony road? Is the wine still good in France? Read on …

Travelling Light(er)

Photo of an iPhone XS next to a Garmin Fēnix 5 Plus

In the never ending quest to reduce the size of my travelling kit I’ve found two new solutions, two reasons to leave the laptop at home more often: a keyboard that lets me type well using my phone, and an app that lets me plan hikes or runs for use with my Garmin fitness watch.

Nuclear Tourism in Ukraine

A colourful Ukrainian banknote holds place in a black and white notebook resting on the keyboard of a small Apple laptop

To mark the 30th anniversary of the worst nuclear accident in history I’m publishing my notes from a trip to the Ukraine back in 2010. The contents of the following three pages started out as excitedly scribbled paragraphs in a little black Moleskine,…

Jungle Kidnapping

Some kind of leafy creeper growing up a tree

With an unexpected weekend to kill thanks to earlier immigration difficulties, I take a train south to see what Indonesians get up to during their time off, and end up being kidnapped and interrogated. I also get a taste of the rainforest, including the kind of thorough soaking that I’m told is typical for Bogor in November.

Working in Jakarta

View from my window: low-rise dwellings dwarfed between residential tower blocks

Having finally made it to Jakarta I spend a week working with the world’s friendliest people, stay in a top hotel, and subsist almost entirely on mall-food. I shoot some mediocre street photos from the thickest traffic known to man, and there’s a small chance of a weekend in Bali. Oh, and an earthquake. I almost forgot the earthquake.

An Unscheduled Stopover

An aeroplane at the end of a terminal jetty

In part two of my Indonesian business trip I miss the last flight from Batam to Jakarta, having narrowly talked my way out of a tight spot with immigration, and spend the night as guest of the man in charge of airport security. This is beginning to feel like a trip I’ll remember for some time to come.

The Long Way Down

Docked ferry / speedboat

In November 2015 I left London on what was supposed to be another standard business trip; economy long-haul discomfort, long hours with busy clients, a week of lonely dinners for one. In this post, the first in a series of five, I find out what happens when you bring your girlfriend along, and try to enter Indonesia with an invalid passport.

Adventure Travel Film Festival

A group gathered around a bonfire

Knackered. I’m absolutely exhausted, freshly returned from this year’s Adventure Travel Film Festival, a three day event curated by Lois Pryce and Austin Vince to showcase the best independent adventure film-making in the world today. Why so tired? That’s where the festival part comes in …

Leaving Las Vegas

Arty-farty shot of a red sportscar parked by the side of a very long, straight desert road

I’m not sure exactly where I found my mojo today, but something happened between sneaking out of Sue’s place and pausing for air in the middle of Death Valley, something that turned the world right-ways round again. It may be down…