Standing at the Bottom of the Top of the World
Motivated by a lecture, guest writer Vicki Dawson, realises a dream by climbing one shallow breath at a time to Everest’s Base Camp. On October 25th 2010, something that had started as a vague idea and then became a full blown obsession, led to me standing at Everest Base Camp crying my eyes out… Armed with 80 wet wipes, two pair of trousers, two tops and some sturdy walking boots I...
Read MoreFun with Airport Codes
(A silly little article with no offence intended to any of the destinations involved.) So! I’ve decided that I need to fly into Massawa, Eritrea, Africa because its three lettered IATA airport code (MSW) matches my initials and I want the personalised luggage tags as the ultimate travel accessory that would accompany any flight there. This got me thinking of alternative airport codes that...
Read MoreMost Colourful Flight Ever
… and the plane hadn’t even left the tarmac yet. There’s something exciting about flying the national carrier of your destination from your home country – what with the foreign accents of the flight crew, the different food etc. it’s like starting your holiday early; like you’ve already arrived when you haven’t yet departed. Then there’s something even more exciting which is...
Read MoreBest Flight EVER
My best flight ever. Hands down, absolutely ever! I had been in Hong Kong with a good friend of mine, CherryPop (this is truly his nickname). We’d even extended our stay by one day we were having such a great time. Having gone through customs & security at the airport in preparation for our return flight to Sydney we were just about to walk up the stairs to the Virgin Atlantic (another...
Read MoreA Tale of Two Buses
I am sitting by the side of the road, California Interstate 5 to be exact, at 11pm on a Friday night as I write this. I was on longhaul bus trip from Las Vegas to San Francisco. ‘Was’ being the operative word. My Greyhound bus, which was running about 60 mins late as it was, has broken down due to loss of air pressure which has rendered the brakes useless. It’s roughly three...
Read MoreThe Crew Ship
Adventure on the high seas need not be the exclusive domain of sea-faring souls; even sea-fearing landlubbers can set sail and prove their sea worthiness by crewing on a private boat. First and foremost, let me clarify, I am not a sailor. I knew nothing of boats and even less about sails, but none of this stopped me from successfully crewing aboard a sailboat from Fiji to New Zealand. It was...
Read MoreLoudest Flight Ever
I’m travelling Alaska to Las Vegas. It sounds more impressive than it really is. I’m aboard my first Alaska Airlines flight as I write this. Top Tip – Barely inside the US border and a short bus ride from Vancouver, Bellingham is a small, manageable airport that offers incredibly inexpensive flights further into the States via Alaska Airlines and Allegiant Air – with low taxes...
Read MoreThe Joy of the Journey
Today I bought a piece of wrapping paper, not because I had a gift to give – nor in fact will I likely use it to wrap a gift – it’s too nice. I bought it because the images on it caught my eye. I bought it for what those images represent. It is a collage of old advertisements for grand international hotels and stately cruise liners, mixed with old luggage tags and different-shaped stylised...
Read MoreSouthern Exposure
Experience # 901 Travelling to the coldest, driest, windiest and least inhabited place in the world to gape at floating ice cubes is not everyone’s idea of a holiday. In fact, roughly only 10,000 privileged people a year have the passion to venture into this eternal winter wonderland, but for those who do the rewards are great. There is a timelessness about Antarctica that humbles even the...
Read MorePhoto of the day
Recent Comments