Travelling around in circles
No Comments »17th January, 2007; Category: General
I haven’t posted any new articles in a while. I’ve actually been travelling quite a bit over the last four weeks – but going around in circles quite close to home.
Let me explain.
A week before Christmas a close friend had a serious operation. It meant being off work for at least four weeks. From time to time this friend asks me to be his relief driver for his courier business. So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last four weeks – driving around in circles all day delivering and picking up parcels. I averaged over one hundred kilometres of driving each day but went nowhere! I now know my home town much better than a month ago.
Now that my friend is back at work I can get back to posting new travel articles and photos on this blog – so visit often and leave comments where appropriate.
Hazards of travel: Using squat toilets
No Comments »2nd December, 2006; Category: General
Most travel agents, travel books and travel articles gloss over the lesser delights of travel in many parts of the world. The reality is less than glamorous. The reality can be confronting. The reality often stinks.
I am speaking of squat toilets, a harsh reality in many parts of the world. On my trip to Thailand I was not faced with any problems but Nepal was another matter. On the trek through the Himalayas we experienced the challenges of numerous squat toilets. These included well-kept, mostly clean, cement-floored ceramic basin type toilets with an accompanying bucket of water. At the other end of the scale we encountered small smelly huts on the side of the track. These were no more than a few rickety floorboards with several boards missing; a pile of dry leaves in the corner was a toilet paper substitute (but we had our own) and no water.
Coping with this can be confronting to inexperienced travellers. The guide books are often silent on the protocols. What does one do? What are acceptable procedures? How does one manage this situation with dignity intact?
All these questions – and much more – are answered in this wonderfully useful, honest and forthright article:
- How to use a squat toilet – by Frank Bures.
Travel writing: an interview with Pico Iyer
No Comments »1st December, 2006; Category: General
Travel writing has not really interested me until my first trip overseas last December and January. My trip to Thailand and Nepal suddenly gave me a great interest in this genre of writing. I wrote extensively of my experiences in a journal, which I later transposed into short articles on this blog.
Unfortunately I have not really had the time since returning to investigate the many interesting books that have been written by travel writers. That delight still awaits.
Pico Iyer has travelled all over the world as a travel writer. I recently read the transcript of an interview with him. It is a very long interview. In it he describes how he goes about researching his topics, what he looks for in a place and how he goes about his writing.
It has much to commend it for all travel writers. He particularly gives a focus to the literary qualities of good travel writing, and to the barriers that travel writing causes many readers.
“I think travel writing has a hard time appealing to people who haven’t traveled and who don’t see a book on place as a literary text in the way they would see another nonfiction book, and that’s one of the hurdles that I don’t know how we can surmount.†Pico Iyer
Link:
- Pico Iyer: on travel and travel writing – a long article about travel writing.
It’s Nice to be Recognised
No Comments »9th November, 2006; Category: General
It is always nice to be recognised by one’s peers. Today Liz Strauss of Successful Blog has said some flattering things about my three blogs on her blog.
To read the article click on the link below.
Link:
I know I have a growing number of readers of this blog, and I’d like to encourage you to comment on the posts that you read.
- Do you enjoy what I am sharing?
- Have you experienced similar things?
- Where do you enjoy travelling?
- What do you think of the photos on this blog?
On the matter of our family photo gallery there have now been over a 100,000 views of the photos so many people are obviously enjoying them. This is regularly updated with more photos so I invite you to return. I also invite you to give the photos a rating.
Link:
- Our family photo gallery – photos of birds, flowers, places, animals and much more.
Carnival of Travel #6
The latest Carnival of Travel #6 has been posted over at the Group Travel Advisor blog. It includes a posting from this blog, as well as a collection of other posts from a variety of bloggers who love to travel. This time the theme is “Family Travel in all its Glory.”
To read the posts in this carnival click here.