Tag Archive - Europe

Explore Seven Continents & Beyond – Best of August 2010

September 13, 2010 in Inspiration, Travel with 1 Comment

August has unfortunately been a bit busy for me, moving house and spending what seems like most of the last month with the flu/bronchitis hasn’t helped but in between unpacking boxes and recovering here is my wrap up of the most interesting, topical and/or useful travel stories I’ve spotted in August to help inspire you to explore seven continents and beyond.

Europe

The Lake District is one of the most beautiful areas in England so head north and explore it.  Tony Greenbank of Guardian Travel provides a short diary of his exploration of the area by bike.

North America

This post on the Frugal Traveler’s parents joining him in Nicaragua caught me eye, a great read and a travel trend for the future I think.

And just in case Nicaragua isn’t considered part of North America (where is the accepted line between the continents of North and South America) I loved this visual diary of a flight from New York City to Berlinfrom Christopher Niemann in the New York Times blogs.  The armrest battle starts on boarding!

South America

The Amazon evokes thoughts of adventure and this story from Keith Bellows of the National Geographic Traveler magazine explores the lost world of the Amazon highlighting where travellers rarely go on board the Aqua, one of only a handful of boats running regular trips down the Peruvian Amazon.

Asia

I’m heading to Hong Kong in a couple of days so when I saw this article from CNNGo last month on deserts in Hong Kong I had to make note so I could seek out some mango or thousand layered pudding – Yum

Africa

My first safari experience in Africa was in Botswana, an experience I’ll never forget and these memories were stirred for me by Inside the Travel Lab with The Safari Symphony- The Okavango Delta, Botswana.

Australia & Pacific

Its Australian football league (AFL) finals in September so an apt explanation of Aussie Rulesfrom the @traveldudes for anyone who flicks on late night TV somewhere in the rest of the world and happens upon a telecast of a game will know whats going on.  I also wrote in July about A Day at the Footy: Sport the local way to highlight when travelling that attending a local sports event is a great way to experience a city like a local.

Antarctica

The ice that covers the continent tells a story about what Earth’s climate used to be like.  This post from the Antarctica blog provides a TED Talk on the fascinating process.

Beyond

There is an entire (mostly) undiscovered world under the water to explore so this post from the prolific Patricia Vance on the World’s Most Incredible Underwater Adventures is great to wet your appetite!

Explore on a train – the journey is part of the adventure

July 30, 2010 in Travel with 0 Comments

Like to explore and want to win a weekend away in Europe – it caught my eye and so I had a look at Eurostar’s Explorer Train promotion.  Besides liking the name, I appreciated the TS Eliot quote.

It also made me think of some of my adventures on trains. Growing up as a kid I never had an interest in trains, for me it was anything that would fly – aircraft, spacecraft were exciting.  But once I started to travel and explore the world I found that I really enjoyed train travel and many of my most treasured travel experiences have been on rail.

Part of that is the romance of train travel, being able to look out the window at changing urban and land scapes but most importantly its that on trains you still have the feeling of being up close with local life.  Trains carry a bit of local culture, emotion and feeling that is hard to replicate and to borrow from the Man in Seat 61, the journey is part of the adventure.

I took War and Peace on the Tran Siberian across Russia and didn’t turn a page being so busy meeting people on the train.  After hiking the Inca Trail and returning to Cusco, the Andean Explorer south to Lake Titicaca travelled through awe inspiring scenery. Picking up a bento box and then hopping on a bullet train in Japan or the TGV with a glass of red wine through France all hold a place in my memories. And my wife will never forget hopping on her first sleeper train at 2am from Spain to Portugal while on our honeymoon – the death train is her nickname for it. All explorer train stories I plan to share at a future time. And I hope to hear about some readers great train journeys.  

So if you live in the UK and want to win a weekend away on 24-26 August to Amsterdam, Cologne, Lyon, Avignon, Brussels or Bruges send in a photo with a short description of your greatest journey of  exploration within Europe (with or without travel by train) to Eurostar. I had a look at the gallery of entries to date, some nice photos so far but plenty of chances for travellers to enter some more off the beaten path adventures.

And when you look at your travel choices, always consider a train, as the journey is part of the adventure.

Disclaimer: I don’t have any relationship with Eurostar, besides travelling to Paris every year while I lived in London.  I like a quirky competition though so if you live in London or the UK and want a weekend away have a go.

Explore Seven Continents & Beyond – Best of July 2010

July 20, 2010 in Inspiration, Travel with 2 Comments

A quick wrap up of some of the most interesting, topical and useful travel stories I’ve spotted recently highlighting great travel writing and information from around the world to help inspire you to explore seven continents and beyond.

Europe

Rambling (long walks or hikes) is pretty popular in the UK.  Particularly when there is a reward at the end – this could be great view, natural beauty or a good drink.  Angus Watson in the FT recounts his walk in search of Britain’s most remote pub. A worthy journey indeed to the The Old Forge in the seaside hamlet of Inverie, western Scotland.

North America

I love a good road trip – this post from Got Saga highlights Route 66 the historic highway in the United States extending from Chicago to Los Angeles.  If you’re looking for some other road options in the USA also look at this list of 23

 South America

Some may call Columbia dangerous but as this guest post from Julie Schwietert Collazo on Nomadic Matt’s travel site highlights there are some tips to follow to ensure any holiday is a safe one.  And after all Columbians love travelers and the country is beautiful

Asia

On the roof of the world: solo adventures in Nepal was a guest post on 501 Places written by Kathryn Bullock highlighting the beauty of Nepal, travelling solo and a great Nepali Blues Band – you can’t beat that combination!  Written back in March but retweeted this week so my first read!

Africa

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Africa either – it is just so Alive!  This great post recounts The Adventures of D’s first glimpse of Africa – in Rawanda

 Australia (& Pacific)

When there are so many beautiful, sun drenched tropical paradises in the Pacific to choose from sometimes it’s the people that make all the difference!  This post from AsWeTravel reminds us of 5 Things (Life Lessons) Learned While Visiting Vanuatu From Hanging Out With Some Of The Happiest People In The World

 Antarctica

Fantastic photos of the beauty of Antarctica from George Steinmetz and from the National Geographic Society.

Beyond

Saw a retweet of this from the mail online on a photographer, Clark Little, who risks life and limb to catch the perfect wave – check out the photos!

And I read this post from Traveling Savage on Reading Zorba the Greek and had to agree   …there is only one life for all men…there is no other…all that can be enjoyed must be enjoyed here.