Monthly Archives: October 2012
A couple of months ago, I unwisely signed up to The Travel Blogging Calendar. Yes, a travel blogging calendar. This is, as the name would suggest, a laudable initative whereby travel bloggers, male and female, pose for a calendar, which is then sold to raise money for charities (pre-order here!). I’m not, honestly, quite sure [...]
Zac is well on the mend from his surgery. But not enough to do many of his favourite things, or even ride a motorbike — and most of his friends are away. That sucks. You see, a lot of Zac’s favourite things for kids to do in Bali are on the active side. Neither of [...]
How To Climb Mount Kinabalu with Kids
Mount Kinabalu, in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, is marketed as the highest mountain in South-East Asia, excluding the Himalayas and Puncak Jaya in Indonesian Papua. And scaling the 4095m peak provides dramatic views and a stunning lunar landscape that are rewarding for adults and kids alike. A Practical Guide on Climbing Mount Kinabalu with Kids Can [...]
How Many Countries Have You Visited?
I’m sometimes asked in interviews, and recently included in a bio, the number of countries I’ve visited. You’d think “How many countries have you visited?” was a straightforward question. I mean, how can anyone NOT know how many countries they’ve visited?! Well, I visited Czechoslovakia, both the Czech half and the Slovak half. That was [...]
What is Ubud Like? A Few Perspectives
Embarrassingly for someone who writes for a living and has spent months in Ubud, I spectacularly failed the other night to answer the question “What is Ubud like?” Because the answer really does depend on your perspective. So here are a few perspectives on Ubud, the Balinese town where Elizabeth Gilbert found the “love” in [...]
Bali — A GREAT Place to Lose a Child
When it comes to places to lose a child, I can confirm that Bali beats the hell out of Bulgaria and the UK. It’s not that I make a habit of losing children. Admittedly, I did once misplace someone else’s in the course of a sleepover. And I once inadvertently left my own child on [...]
The Art of Flying Solo
Zac is rising 12. That’s the magic age at which many airlines let children fly not as an unaccompanied minor, with a bevy of hosties pandering to their every whim, but actually solo. It’s also the age at which a London child would be taking public transport unaccompanied. Because we’re nomadic, Zac has on many [...]
Postcards from…. Istanbul
We loved Istanbul — and not just Cihangir. The capital of great empires for 1500 years, first Byzantium, then Constantinople, the city forms a boundary between Asia and Europe. The dome of the Aya Sofya, suspended high above, is jawdropping — 1480 years after it was first built. Big ships run through the Sea of [...]
I’m Giving Away Over $1000 Worth of Travel! To celebrate our 1000th day of travel and the all-new, spangly EscapeArtistes, I’m giving away over $1000 worth of travel. That’s $400 of flights from search engine Skyscanner, $350 of car rental from CarRentals.co.uk, $150 worth of adventure, activities or tours from GetYourGuide plus a bundle of [...]
And… We Have Some Winners!
One of the best things about doing a giveaway? Getting a whole bunch of new travel ideas. To celebrate our 1000th day of travel and our brand new name, I asked you where you’d like to escape to, and offered you the chance to win over $1000 of travel in my first ever EscapeArtistes givewaway. [...]