Travel

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…

Of Fear and Loathing

Vintage photograph of a dude on a yellow folding Brompton bicycle

House of The Rising Sun plays on the radio while I’m sitting in Eat, a down-to-earth yet trendy cafe in downtown North Vegas, wondering what to make of their signature dish: Shrimp and Grits. I ordered it because I have no…