On the Politics of Museums
The more time we spend in museums around the world, the more I come to realise how very, very political they are. Take the National...
Category: Wibble
When Does the Chinese Century Begin?
“Why do you want your son to get to know China?” James asks. We’re sitting in the sun, by a rushing canal in beautiful Lijiang...
The Friday Photo: Little Fluffy Clouds
Remember that song by The Orb — Little Fluffy Clouds? No? Wayull, this shot from our big road trip to Australia’s Red Centre kind of...
Should I Vaccinate My Child For Travel?
The single most surprising question I get asked by readers of this blog is this: “should I vaccinate my child for travel?” I say “surprising”...
F*ck It. I’m A Tourist.
Tourist or traveller? It’s a question as old as the first ever travel books. But I don’t like the word “traveller”. It smells of one-upmanship,...
My Love-Hate Relationship with Australia
THINGS I LOVE ABOUT AUSTRALIA 1: The Landscapes After Namibia and Mongolia, Australia is the third least densely populated country in the world. And given...
Sweet Charity? On Volunteering
I have an aversion to the idea of volunteering overseas which dates back to a hospital bed in small town Mali. It wasn’t the extended...
Ecotourism? My *rse
Monday morning sees us in Chiang Mai, for centuries capital of an independent state, sometimes Siamese, other times Burmese, now the hub of northern Thailand....
On Eating Insects
So Z and I have eaten our first round of insects on this journey — in Vientiane, Laos. Baby crickets, deep-fried to a quite delectable...
SPF 50. Oh Yeah?
Remember when the highest sun protection factor on the market was 8? God, I’m old. Factor 15, when it came in during the 80s, was...