Take unique adventures around the world with minimal organisation
Great bursts of wind rattle the straps on my rucksack. Rain pelts against the clean sleeves of my shell jacket and drips over the front of my hood. It's cold, contrary to the heat wave of the last few months, so my hands withdraw from the freezing chill to the lukewarm conditions inside my pockets. ... This is only day one.
I’m standing in a rusting playground. There is an intact Ferris wheel to my right. I half expect to hear children shriek for their parents as their carriage climbs higher – then I remember where I am.
Portland in Dorset, UK, is a tied island at the southernmost tip of the Jurassic Coast. It's a haven for outdoor activity that's surrounded by striking cliffs and beautiful but often rough seas. As the COVID-19 lockdown eases, let's take a look at what's open this month.
Cameron Highlands, 2010. I've made an unlikely friendship with the gardener at the hotel. What happens next challenges the culture I have grown up in, and I learn a new skill - eating with my hands. 'No, you're not doing it right. Here, I'll show you.' He grabs a handful and shoves it in my face, pushing his thumb towards my mouth. 'That's how you do it.'
The lockdown is still in place in most countries around the world, and it looks like it's going to be some time before we're allowed to travel without restrictions. We also still need to isolate for coughs and high temperatures. To make life a little easier, here are a few ideas to make the most of the time.
Travelling solo offers a level of independence and adventure that can be hard to find on group trips. It puts me in situations - normally hilarious, sometimes precarious - that I wouldn’t otherwise enter. I'm also a woman living in a society in which many people still think it's 'brave' to travel alone. I've never liked stereotypes. But these days social media means that researching potential adventures is easier than ever before. Here's a list of 7 useful resources for solo female travellers to learn from, socialise in, join, or just be aware of. Because we're not necessarily brave, and we're not boring. We're part of this massive, adventurous community. And as Caitlin Moran writes in 'How to Be a Woman,' we're really just some of 'The Guys', just humans, 'in this together.' We shouldn't need gender-specific travel advice - but until society dispels the fears we're told to have, and until all cultures treat women equally, it helps to have a few tips and tricks from the other guys.
Warning enclosed. Beer and saunas are at the forefront of the Finnish lifestyle, but what might seem laid back comes with a hilarious culture shock for the British. It’s also wildly different, bordering dangerous, for any divers following the rule of an early night. ‘Want Finnish breakfast?’
I'm wide eyed, nervous, and alone for six weeks in a remote jungle village where only two tribal inhabitants speak fluent English. I stand opposite Rickson Richard. Between us are two upright sticks and a pile of leaves, which Rickson organises in a 'V' shape as diligently as if this is an arrangement of flowers. He points at the layout. 'We've gone that way. You wait here,' he says. He touches a small twig which rests horizontally on one of the sticks. 'It means they're coming back.' I'm shocked but intrigued, and if the word tribe didn't conjure in my mind an expectation for mystique and unexpected discoveries, perhaps I wouldn't have believed it: this simple layout of wood and plants translates into a sentence. I've just been taught an ancient, fading language known as Oroo'.
I tap my thumb with my mitts - I'm losing sensation. The weather in Bansko has taken a dramatic overnight turn from 'too hot,' as the hotel staff agree, to -2 and snowing.