The Fog Watch

Singapore: Green cake and great coffee

Those who know me, know that I like coffee. So, often when travelling I end up drinking green tea as it can be really hard finding a decent coffee, and Singapore can be like that. But on this trip I think I’ve found one of the best coffees to be …

Singapore: Gardens by the Bay

Singapore – from a garden city to a city in a garden, the Gardens by the Bay symbolises Singapores 21st century transformation

Final preparation for the Camino

With our final training walk with backpacks before the Camino, it is time to reflect on not just the physical, but the mental preparation and final pack, both physical and mindful.

Why Seneca hated Diocletian’s Baths

At the T-junction of the present-day Via Nazionale and the Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando in Rome, lies the Piazza della Republica. Glancing up from your Café Latte you will see a large but somewhat nondescript Romanesque building – part ruin, part cathedral and part museum. This is what remains of …

Hands-free trekking umbrella

What the…? This post is my solution to using an umbrella hands-free. Sometimes when hiking, or walking with trekking poles, it can be useful to use an umbrella. Now, before I get shouted down by the ultra-lightweight hikers, it is, of course, a personal choice. The problem with an umbrella …

Travel sensationally!

Have you noticed that when you eat certain foods, taste certain wines, smell certain smells, you are instantly taken back to your memories of a place, perhaps distant in space or time from now? For example, I recently baked.a tarta de Santiago – an almond cake common in Galicia in …

Arles: Then and now – Van Gogh’s Yellow House

In May 1888 Vincent Van Gogh rented four rooms at 2 Place Lamartine, in a town called Arles in the south of France. This would come to be known as the Yellow House. The rooms were on the right wing of the nearest building in the painting. The two ground …

Angkor Wat – the Jewel of Cambodia

The day was already warm as we made our way along the edge of the 200m wide moat which surrounds the temple complex. We are about to enter Angkor Wat, the largest and most iconic temple complex in Cambodia. In many ways it has come to symbolise Cambodia – it …

Travelling mindfully is like making a violin

Do you approach travel with excitement or trepidation? How do you find calm amidst the excitement? And importantly, how do you balance these to get the most out of travel, and out of life more generally? It seems to me, that to get the most out of our travel, we …