Meeting the locals when I travel is one of the aspects of being out there that I love the most. I think it's partly because I'm insanely curious about people in general (it's a genetic trait!) and partly because over the years, meeting local people on my travels has led me on all kinds of … [Read more...]
Locals I’ve met: Real life examples of why I love meeting the locals when I travel
June 20, 2015 By 2 Comments
Don’t listen to tour guides: Enjoying Yekaterinburg, Russia
June 30, 2014 By 4 Comments
When I was on my Trans-Siberian trip across Russia (if you're contemplating it - DO IT!), I stopped off at half a dozen spots along the route, turning the week-long train journey into a three week exploration. Half way through, I remember so vividly standing at the Irkutsk train station, chatting … [Read more...]
The ever-changing landscape on the Trans-Siberian train
February 12, 2013 By 2 Comments
I recently re-read some of Paul Theroux's travel narratives in preparation for the travel writing course I ran, and picked out what I considered a "beautiful" passage about his journey on the Trans-Siberian: The experience of the Trans-Siberian Express is both monotony and monkish beauty: all day … [Read more...]
When people equate talking about travels to bragging or showing off
January 14, 2013 By 30 Comments
I've mentioned before that if I start a story with a sentence like "When I lived in Bratislava ..." that people sometimes have a giggle at me. Same goes for "When I was in Tunisia ..." or "When I was on the Trans-Siberian ..." As far as I can figure (and some of this figuring out comes from … [Read more...]
The art of doing nothing on the Trans-Siberian Railway
October 22, 2012 By 11 Comments
I have heard that there are people who would get really bored if they had to sit on a train for a whole week. Really? Okay, I admit I can imagine it, but it's not the case for me. When I travelled on the Trans-Siberian railway I broke the trip up with a few stops along the way so the longest … [Read more...]
My grand Russian adventure is someone else’s summer vacation
August 2, 2012 By 16 Comments
I don't remember when I decided that one day I would just have to ride the Trans-Siberian - I really think it's something that I had in mind even before I had figured out where the Trans-Siberian actually ran. When I started planning to do some serious travel, it was high on my priority list. Then I … [Read more...]
Russian-style trains, planes and automobiles
November 21, 2011 By 2 Comments
I really wanted to write this post to show you a couple of photos of great Russian cars that I saw on my travels, but as I sat down to type, the title just forced its way in. I haven't managed quite as many modes of transport in Russia as my friends Helen and Andy (just check their post on an … [Read more...]
Who can decide on a favourite place in the world? Not me!
December 2, 2010 By 13 Comments
Professional Hobo Nora hit the nail right on the head in her post this week on one of the most difficult-to-answer questions that travellers get asked: "What's your favourite place in the world?" It's well worth reading Nora's response, because she suggests quite rightly that even absolutely adoring … [Read more...]
Trans-Siberian travellers get studied
August 4, 2010 By 2 Comments
The Trans-Siberian railway is one of my all-time favourite topics, so you can imagine that I read with interest an email that arrived in my in-box this week asking me to answer questions for a Masters dissertation study into "western identity transformation on the Trans-Siberian" - I just wish I'd … [Read more...]
Virtual Trans-Siberian rivals the real thing
March 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
My love for the great Trans-Siberian rail journey across Russia is no secret, so you can imagine my excitement when I read recently that Google and the Russian Railways have joined forces to create the virtual Trans-Siberian. It's just like it sounds - go to their website, and you'll be taken on … [Read more...]