Going to Africa for the first time? Looking for a refresher course on the dos and don’ts of travel in Africa? You’ve come to the right place with these top tips for travelling in Africa. Having travelled right across Africa for more than two years, I know exactly what works… Continue reading
Dear Paul, It is doubtful you will ever come to hear of, let alone see, this letter; nonetheless my passion is so great that these words came to write themselves. You are renowned for being pessimistic in your travel writing, something you have readily admitted to in the past. But… Continue reading
I turn from Oxford Street onto a narrowing side road back to the heart of the city. Shoppers pass me in the opposite direction, mostly empty handed, fists clenched inside coat pockets against the frozen December air. Travelling across the long northern European winter’s night gives me only the slightest… Continue reading
There seems to be a publishing equivalent of waiting for buses: I wait weeks for a bit of my work to move from the ‘accepted’ pile, only for two pieces to make it to the ‘published’ pile in a week. However long it takes, it’s great to see my name… Continue reading
The idea of travelling across Europe by rail for a pre-arranged fixed price is a great one; one that InterRail (Eurail for non-European residents) is perceived to offer. But the one-stop European rail pass doesn’t stand up to any sort of serious scrutiny. The InterRail pass is the bulwark of… Continue reading
For many years one of the easiest ways to see a vintage bus in action was to visit the Triton fountain roundabout at City Gate Square outside Malta’s capital, Valetta. Models not used anywhere else on Earth were still providing routine services around the island and used the roundabout as… Continue reading
A quick background shot on television of Sydney Harbour Bridge reminded me of watching silent black and white footage on the building of the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle’s Discovery Museum a few years before (the gift shop doing a roaring trade in ‘coal from Newcastle’). Newcastle is a Roman city… Continue reading
Freetown’s Lungi International Airport lies some distance from the capital, separated from it by the mouth of the Sierra Leone River, so one of the first things air passengers have to do on landing is decide whether to take the helicopter, hovercraft, ferry or pirogues across to Aberdeen or Government… Continue reading
Something needed to be done. 50 years ago Britain’s publicly financed rail network lost £104 million. If that doesn’t sound too awful then consider that it today’s money it accounts for £1.9 billion; 36% of the Department of Transport’s current annual budget. Income had not covered costs for almost a… Continue reading
Airships were the future once. In an era before mass air travel (or transit, as it increasingly feels) airships provided an alternate means of travelling long distances in the comfort and style more expected of ocean liners. With good weather conditions an airship could hit 80 miles an hour. They… Continue reading
