Stories behind the stories. By Travel Writer, Amy McPherson
I think it’s important for everyone to look back to their year and recognise what they had done and achieved. It isn’t a show off exercise, but one that can give you the chance to sit down, relax and think of all the memories that you’ve accumulated in the year, revisit some of the happy …
As a traveller I don’t believe in politics. I believe in humanity and friendship and I have been avoiding this topic for a long time, but it seems that it’s time to talk about terrorism. News haven’t been pleasant recently. Humans are turning on each other, either on difference in opinion or on the …
People in their environment have always intrigued me. While meeting them on my travels and taking part in festivals and cultural events form the highlights of most of my trips, I also take a lot of time people watching, observing behaviours and actions as the inhabitants of a place go about their daily routine. …
So, as you now know, that it has been a year since our formal move to the UK. While we don’t actually live in ‘London‘ proper, we do spend a load of time working, studying and entertaining in London. While having explained myself numerous times, there are still questions about what exactly what I like …
We all have places where we go to just breathe, sometimes for a long time but more often just for a couple of days, where we escape the daily grind, away from the routine that is wake up, breakfast, train, work, lunch, work, train, home, dinner, sleep. Some escape to shop, others escape to enjoy …
Hello. Yes, it’s the cat writing. I’ve been quiet for too long about this and it’s time to break my silence. Seeing that you have all been following what my mother gets up to trotting around the globe, I figured that you already know the pain and sufferance she has endowed upon me (not us, …
(First published on Huffington Post Blogs: 10 Reasons Why Travellers Make Terrible Friends) Yep. You know us. We are the ones who post photos and updates from exotic places on Facebook. We are the ones whose fashion collection make up of cultural rags from all the countries we have been. We are your friends. Your …
It’s been a running joke at work, because no one so far has done it this way round, that I had moved to the UK because I preferred the weather. I have (officially) been here for a couple of weeks now and have seen the weather turn from beautiful to horrid, most times within a …
It’s been nice. Our little apartment in Bonn. We packed up, cleaned it spotless and gave the keys back. The door closed with a loud thud behind us marking the end to another chapter of our travelling life, and what a fantastic couple of months it has been Living in Bonn has been a different …
We went for a walk yesterday in a quiet and serene part of the neighbourhood, where the grass is green and the ground covered by flowers. Its residents never make a sound, and some often prove to be great listeners to all one’s concerns and troubles. Many come here to sit and listen, to the …
[Feature image source: Morgue File. Credit to: muvuca] Some people like sunrises, some people prefer sunsets. Some, doesn’t understand why anyone would be impressed by either, as our trekking guide in Thailand wondered “why you tourists always want to watch sunrise and sunsets? It happens everyday. If you miss today, it’ll be there again tomorrow.” …
It’s been a while. A whole month in fact, since I last wrote. Sorry. The years of planning for the big international move (as a couple) is finally in rapid motion and in this past month I’ve…. Sold our unit Gave away most of our furniture and other odd stuff Sent the cats away to …
Before I met my husband, I have always been the solo traveller. I loved the freedom, the independence and the possibilities of solo travel and I have had no regrets. I was loving it so much that it didn’t occur to me, until last year’s Asian Women’s Empowerment Conference, that many women don’t travel solo, …
We are experiencing heat waves here in Australia, and I am trying think cooler thoughts. So, that got me thinking about Stockholm when I visited in winter of 2003. Stockholm is a beautiful city and it was particularly beautiful when I visited in winter. They’ve had some light snow falls and made everything powder white, …
Everyone is talking about Lonely Planet’s Top Destinations for 2014. Not surprisingly, they’ve dished out under valued destinations around the world to try to give them a bit of a boost, which I think doesn’t always work with the travellers and the general public, because different people have different perceptions of what makes a destination …
This is where I had my first meal in Hanoi when I visited in 2004. I had only arrived in the country for an hour, was wet and hungry and needed food. My love of street food took me to this little corner and my nose couldn’t go past the fragrance of the freshly steamed …
We’ve been talking about the concept of ‘trust’ at work lately. We learned that ‘trust’ is the only thing that can change everything. At work, it’s all about internal trust between colleagues, as well as building a trusting relationship with our clients, however I think this concept can extend to any situation and have found …
One of my favourite things about travel is being able to make friends anywhere and everywhere. In this picture I was on Isla del Sol, one of the many islands on the famed Lake Titicaca bordering Peru and Bolivia. They had originally approached us to ask us if we wanted to buy their bracelets. Having …
“Land Ahoy!” An excited husband yelled out through the windows, at 5am Monday morning. After 2 days of straight sailing, through the endless Pacific horizon, ribbons of the ocean and the sky, green specks slowly appeared in the big mass of blue with pine trees like green mo-hawk: we’ve arrived at the Isle of Pines. …
Today was our second day at sea, spending hours eating, drinking and being entertained while staring at the endless horizon that separates the sky and the sea. For two days we lived a life of manufactured excitement, where our every decision and every move heavily influenced by the enthusiastic voice through the loud speaker system, …
2003, summer. I was on a bus between Germany and Czech Republic and we came across this field of blooming sunflowers. I’ve never seen a sunflower field (of this size) so I couldn’t resist a photo opportunity. I remember it was a fine sunny day with a pale blue sky, and as I stood among …
I have previously written about my love of street food, and my experience at creating culinary delights at cooking schools, there is no doubt that food is a great motivator (on top of culture, tradition, history and people) for me. It isn’t always just about the food, but the tradition and practices that come with …
Oh dear. I just cried in public again. It’s the fourth time this week (and considering there are only five working days a week it’s not a good record) and I just couldn’t help myself. I’ve been reading this really sad book called The Story Teller’s Daughter, an emotional (and funny) story about a daughter …
Have you ever arrived at an attraction, after much anticipation of seeing it and feeling it and thought… “WTF?” I felt that when I saw Pis. Yep, the little Pis of Brussels. It took me a bit of time navigating the back streets of the city from central station, through unmarked cobble stoned lanes and …
