Sometimes we are at a junction, unsure which way to go, and it’s only many years later that we reflect on how a particular choice of path took us in a direction that changed our life irreversibly. I was in Spain without a plan, travelling solo, just me and my backpack, taking each day as […]
Archive | Travel
Kyoto in the snow
It sounded like a call to prayer, an incomprehensible voice from a loudspeaker somewhere nearby. I looked around but I was disoriented, confused. I was carrying my backpack, on the road again, but where was I? I was no longer in Malaysia; this was Japan. This isn’t a Muslim country; there are no mosques here. So […]
On an active volcano in Sumatra
The first explosions awoke me in the middle of the night, in my tent on the slopes of an active volcano. We were in Sumatra, one of the largest islands in the world, that sits on the equator and is the home to volcanos, tropical forests and a population of tigers greater than the rest […]
Coming home in Beirut
“Welcome Mr David. Why are you so late?”, Mady said as she opened the door to the apartment that was to be my temporary home in Beirut. After showing me around the place and giving me the three keys I would need to get from the street to the apartment, Mady gave me the schedule […]
A Sense of Place
As someone who loves to travel and experience different countries and cultures, it has been easy for me to be envious of those people whose childhoods had been spent overseas, travelling from country to country, exposed to more than one language, and being educated in international schools along with the children of diplomats, military officers and corporate […]
From Mount Errigal to the Blue Ocean
The views from Mount Errigal to the blue ocean were spectacular when I reached the summit. It was a perfect day to climb the highest peak in Ireland’s County Donegal in the Derryveagh mountains. I had stayed overnight in the nearby Errigal Hostel and woke early under a blue sky. Later, some clouds appeared but […]
Travel quotations
The following travel quotations inspire me in one way or another. Some of of these travel quotations have links to my travel blogs on associated subjects; and some are referred to in my travel blogs when relevant. “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” Susan Sontag “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.” Robert […]
A postcard from Malin Head
Nobody sends them any more, but I thought I would write you a postcard from Malin Head. You know, just a few sentences scribbled on the back of a piece of card, saying “I wish you were here”, and reporting on the weather. Talking of weather reports, “Shannon, Rockall, Malin, Hebrides, Bailey” is a familiar sequence […]
Surviving without wi-fi in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is a place we’ve all seen on maps and on TV, where remote jungle tribes are discovered and studied by anthropologists. No doubt the best of this country is well away from the cities: hidden inland villages or a coastline that offers perfect conditions for diving. I didn’t have time for either of […]
Observing Timor Leste without taking photos
Somehow the driver hears the signal despite the noise. Heavy music is beating inside and there’s the din of the traffic outside, but the driver stops when a passenger taps a coin against the metal rail on the low ceiling of the minibus: his ears finely attuned to this frequency. I soon learnt the system during […]