If it was adventure we were after, then X-Pyr 2014 certainly delivered. Add to that a generous dollop of adrenaline, exhaustion and spectacular scenery and you have yourself an event that kept everyone on the edge of their seats day after day in anticipation of the next waypoint. This post is my annotated debrief of […]

I’m a great supporter of the Schengen Agreement, but what I witnessed this week upon my return to Malta from France would send convulsive chills down the back of any EU immigration officer. Yes, Malta Airport gave a real proper bitch slap to all Schengen countries — I really wish there was a nicer way […]

It’s official, my brother and I have been selected for the X-Pyr 2014 paragliding competition. The X-Pyr is an extreme event which aims to have its competitors cross the Pyrenees, from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean, using nothing more than a paraglider and/or walking (running for the diehards is also an option) in the […]

It’s been about a decade since I last strapped tanks of air onto my back, and probably twice that long since my first ever dive in Australia during the early ’90s. I wanted to get some air into my lungs, shake off the malaise brought on by my recent brush with malaria, explore the sea […]

Turkey hints at ‘evidence’ that Israel is destabilizing the Brotherhood, the U.S. fleet is planning a fishing trip to the Med, NSA agents are misusing company resources to spy on their ‘love interests’ and the WikiLeaks Party is about to oust its leader, Julian Assange, if he continues to hide in Ecuador’s London embassy instead […]

To say that I’m a fan of international roaming would be a big fat lie. Don’t get me wrong, I love the freedom of being able to take my mobile phone and SIM (subscriber identity module) card from my current provider, travel half way around the world and still be able to communicate as if […]

I’m a bit confused by the state of modern backpacking, at least when it comes to understanding people’s motives for leaving home in the first place. And with so many travel websites, prescriptive guides and an ever-increasing supply of tourist-compiled material, I somehow feel that the romance and adventure of exploring new lands is slowly […]

Have you ever noticed that there’s always some peculiar system or archaic procedure to adhere to while making your way through immigration? Each country presents the traveller with its own ridiculously bureaucratic hoops to jump through without any logical explanation. I have a large 70-page business passport which lasts me, on average, about 18 months. […]

It’s about time these old diesel-spewing decrepit traffic hazards went off the roads. Far too many times I’ve seen accidents caused by their overly-wide bodies squeezed into tiny streets. Sure they look great as an icon, but in today’s world completely impractical; and given the number of cars on the roads it’s one less thing […]