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Gauging the Paris to Moscow Express

Recounting an exciting start on my trip

I didn’t intend to write about this first leg of my trip. But if the remainder is anything like the first three days, I’m sure in for one heck of an adventure! My journey began last Sunday on the 09:39 Virgin Trains service from Milton Keynes to London Euston. Everything was pretty straightforward down to Paris, although the train had a fault and was running…

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All set for another adventure

Me and my backpack on a 20 000km train journey

Later this week I’ll be heading on my longest trip to date. A four and a half month adventure around Asia. Over the first month I’ll be travelling from Milton Keynes to Hanoi, Vietnam by train, through Russia, Mongolia and China via the Trans-Siberian railway. The remaining few months will see me continue overland through south-east Asia, exploring the tropical regions of Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, finally ending up…

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Munching through the Big Apple

5 surprising observations on my first trip to New York City

Ah, America. It’s been a while. Actually, it’s been 13 years since an obligatory kids-visit to Disneyland Florida, so you could say it’s my first trip in living memory! This time it wasn’t Mickey Mouse luring me across the pond, but rather an exciting opportunity to meet my team from work in New York City. For a week I was mainly based at the office in Midtown Manhattan, after which…

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Topography of Terror

Another European adventure..

Holocaust memorials and museums of terror. Sounds like the makings of an exciting adventure! As you can imagine, Berlin bears horrific scars from World War 2 . It was the capital of Hitler’s regime from 1932 to 1945, with all of the Nazi party directing their military chess pieces from the Reichstag (German parliament). When the regime capitulated, virtually the whole city was obliterated by…

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Zilwa Attitude

'Island life'

Mauritius. Yes, it’s a little touristy (I didn’t get much of a say) but I wouldn’t say no to doing two weeks of…well, pretty much nothing! In case you’ve not heard of Mauritius, it’s a tiny tropical island located in the Indian Ocean south of the equator. It’s a tiny country – no bigger than London; you could drive all the way round in a couple of hours….

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Singapore Sling

Part two of my winter SE Asia escape

Singapore is a small independent island the size of Greater London, straddling the coast of West Malaysia. It’s a dense country comprising only of a city of the same name in what many term as a “melting pot” of cultures, with locals comprising of Chinese, Indian, Malay and British citizens. Founded by the commander Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 under British rule on and off…

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Wild wonders of Borneo

Part one of my winter escape to Malaysia & Singapore

Back in October I headed out to Malaysian Borneo and Singapore for a couple of weeks to retreat from the inevitable cold and darkness in Blighty. I’ll start by giving some Kudos to Singapore Airlines for great journeys both in and out of Singapore. As a keen aviation enthusiast travelling on an Airbus A380 for the first time was a great experience – particularly given the…

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Swiss Treats

Exploring the serene beauty of Switzerland

Is Switzerland the most beautiful country in the world? At the very least it’s definitely a good candidate, let me say that. Only in Switzerland could the public infrastructure get you round the whole country in a little more than a weekend. Well, maybe I did it over a couple more days, and didn’t see every sight, but what I did see was truly breathtaking..here’s…

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The Catalan experience

My latest travels took me to Barcelona, the capital city of Catalonia in Spain. And what a city is, the place to me is a brilliant reminder of the incredible diversity of character in western Europe. Las Ramblas I was based not far from Las Ramblas, one of the most famous shopping parades in the world and bustling with tourists right from the 1 mile…

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All things Bavarian

An autumnal trip to Munich and the Bavarian countryside

Here’s some pictures from my trip to Munich/Bavaria from mid October. It’s an awesome city that I recommend anyone visit, and the surrounding alpine landscapes of Mittenwald and Garmisch-Partenkirchen were really beautiful. As a petrol-head, a great highlight was visiting the BMW museum and factory alongside the Winter Olympics park. I also visited the WW2 Dachau Concentration Camp which was a real reminder of the…

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