Time is different in Lapland. If you’ve ever tried to get to a campsite in a hurry on a road filled with casually strolling reindeer, you know what I mean. There is no point hurrying. Luckily, we are travelling in summer, when the golden sunset stretches late into the night. Kilpisjärvi, an isolated village in […]

The first time I met Kate Pilcher we were sitting around a kids table doing readers with our young daughters. There’s no way I would have pinned her for a linguist who has spent more than two years living and working in Kenya as a horse guide. Fluent in Spanish and Swahili, Kate’s appearance captivated […]

As someone who thoroughly enjoys being indoors, curled up under a blanket, watching trashy TV or a good crime documentary, I wasn’t overly excited when my fiancé presented me with the idea of a camping trip. “It’ll be freezing!” I gasped, with what I’m sure was a horrified look on my face. Winter not being […]

I learnt the literal meaning of the term ‘take the road less travelled’ about half-way through our 12km walk to our host family’s house in Sapa, Vietnam. The quaint town is 350km northwest of Hanoi and borders China. After a windy five-hour taxi ride, our queasy group was eager to jump out to get some […]

One would think that after seven hours in the company of 50 sniffling noses, sore throats and tired heads there would not be much excitement in the air. However, even viewed through a bus window, Paris is magical. We had been travelling around Europe for 20 days together, hitting cities for two days at a […]

No hardship can crush the hopes of two million people. “Freezing winters, communism, war… all these we endure,” Ljubljana’s Helena said. The red-haired university lecturer stood and watched passers-by stroll through the the main square of Slovenia in southern central Europe. Despite a struggling economy and a ballooning refugee crisis, Helena is optimistic about the […]

Djelko starts his free walking tour atop a park bench beside a busy street in Belgrade. Behind him, expensive cars speed noisily by. Overhead, the sky is blue, cloudless. The young Serb is lanky, thin faced and bespectacled. He wears sneakers, baggy jeans and a green t-shirt that says ‘Save the Earth – it’s the […]

“How’s the serenity” Darryl Kerrigan from the ever so famous Australian flick, The Castle, said. And he was right, I don’t know about Bonnie Doon but I do know about the peacefulness of the Australian landscape. A visit to Lake Maroon Holiday Park near Boonah was a camping trip I will never forget. It was […]

Australia’s best known cities seem to have their own signature. Sydney – the music venture. Brisbane – a business kind of vibe, where even the Apple store looks like a colonial treasury. But Melbourne – an indulgence of art. Whether it’s the graffiti walls on Hosier and Rutledge Lane across from Federation Square or the […]

Supported from a rather fragile-looking euclupt hangs a rope from which adults and kids alike swing into the refreshing cool water of Wongi Waterhole. The deep waterhole is in a peaceful setting as campers hang their towels from the rustic wooden rails and day-tripping families spread picnics on tables and grass. A 25km drive from […]