I’m not sure where my love for camping first came from. Mine was not a camping family, so it was only in adulthood that I discovered great bliss in huddling under canvas, everything you need stuffed into a rucksack and the sense of satisfaction of, well, building your own house for the night. Sure, the […]
Travel
Joshua Tree National Park
I have this thing for deserts. Something to do with the emptiness of them – my life feels so cluttered most of the time, and in the desert I relish the space and clarity. Here, we’re reminded that in the big scheme of things we are a mere speck. You’d think there’s little life in […]
Ten Years a Londoner
On 29 April 2005, when I was 22, I landed in London. Fresh off the boat from New Zealand I had little more than a secondhand backpack, a new A-Z and a couple of hundred quid in the bank. Not even enough for a deposit on a room (I think a part of me was driven by […]
24 Hour Paris Cake Tour
Paris is always a good idea. So is cake. The first time my cake-fancying father went to Paris was in 2011 – his debut to Europe, in fact. That was a cold, bleak December, when the city was stripped bare of any colour. The Christmas markets sparkled and we spent almost all our money in […]
Herefordshire Gold: Chase Distillery
It all started with potatoes. Potatoes turned to vodka. Vodka became gin. And from a humble potato farm a rather more elegant empire has sprung: Chase distillery. It was William Chase who created Tyrrels crisps, before reaching the brilliant conclusion that potatoes might be better used to make vodka and gin. The result is the UK’s […]
Marrakechmas
Generally speaking, travelling is about discovery… but it can also be an escape. And last month, when I hopped a budget flight to Morocco, it was definitely the latter. I was adamantly escaping Christmas and all of its jingle-bell accoutrements. And what better place to dodge the flying tinsel and faux-religious sentiment than the gloriously […]
Dram & Smoke
My grandmother was born just outside of Edinburgh. But she was only four when her family packed up and shipped out to New Zealand, leaving little trace of Scotland in my upbringing. And yet, I’ve turned out with a thirst for whisky, haggis, shortbread and rugged wilderness. I may be without a clan, but it […]
New York: Estela
You can absolutely do New York on a shoestring. But a girl’s gotta eat, and I will always give in to a hungry curiosity for something a bit special. So I set aside a budget for one fine meal in the Big Apple. Just one – now that’s a decision I didn’t want to mess […]
8 Free Things To Do In New York
Any good city, no matter how much it might threaten to dent your wallet, is packed with free things to see and do. So even on a shoestring you can still taste a slice of the Big Apple. You will want to invest in a transport card – $30 will get you a pass that […]
Wapping Market
This is an SOS. A new food market has opened up in Wapping. This is within bleary-eyed-strolling-distance of my ‘hood, meaning every Sunday since it began I’ve been able to turn up for a Crosstown doughnut. It’s bloody dangerous. I mean, it’s only been going three weeks, but I’ll be there again tomorrow, and so […]