Panama was a real surprise for me. I had very low expectations of the place, to be honest, and it delivered way over the odds – I loved spending time studying Spanish in Casco Viejo, hanging out on the beaches of Bocas del Toro, and of [...]
This forms part of my brand new series, Grads Gone Global. Through interviews I aim to explore how travel can be useful to career, education and perspective, beyond boozing round the backpacker trail in Thailand. From these articles I hope to provoke discussion, provide practical [...]
Flights are often the biggest outlay when it comes to international travel. If you can nab yourself a great, cheap flight deal, you’ll find yourself with a lot more money to play with when it comes to the real stuff – Climbing up volcanoes. Searching for orangutans. [...]
Hiking up Volcan Baru is a decision that you will probably come to regret somewhere between 2 and 4 hours of setting off on the climb. When I first decided to take on the challenge of hiking up to the highest elevation in Panama with a [...]
Panama City’s old town actually has four names. Casco Viejo and Casco Antiguo both translate literally as ‘old quarter’, but then there’s the other two names on top of that. San Felipe is its official name, and Catedral is a local nickname - funnily enough, on [...]
When I first came to South America, my level of Spanish pretty much followed this pattern: Me: Donde está el supermercado? Helpful Peruvian/Bolivian/Ecuadorian stranger: Si quiere ir la mejor ruta, necesita tomar la primera izquierda, y caminar dos bloques más hasta el letrero que dice ‘supermercado’. [...]
Sunrise at Mount Bromo is undoubtedly one of the most popular things to see in East Java, Indonesia. Volcano hiking is the most inexplicable highlight of any Indonesia trip, and Mt. Bromo in particular is a relatively easy, accessible hike. Plus, when you go to Bromo, [...]
Hear me out: I'm in favour of travelling during monsoon season. Many a hapless traveller has found themselves inadvertently caught amid a sudden downpour at some point along their journey. Soaked through, grumpy, probably muttering something along the lines of ‘if I wanted rain, I would [...]
Travelling on a budget in Indonesia is a habit you slip into by accident. It’s an inevitable result of Indonesia being a very cheap country in general. There are plenty of bespoke five-star resorts, of course, but you really have to seek them out. By and [...]
Trip preparation is probably one of the dullest parts of international travel. The exciting parts are finally booking that flight, spending endless hours trawling through travel itineraries and pretty Instagram pictures of your destination. And of course, the travel itself. Getting vaccinations, travel insurance and sorting [...]
