25-26th June 2007 – Palermo
I stepped off the plane in Palermo yesterday evening and the heat hit me like the blast of air you get when opening an oven. Temperatures have reached 47 degrees Celsius and the signs are everywhere. Sirens can be heard regularly and in the distance are rows of fires billowing smoke [...]

21st April 2007 – Stockholm
Three years ago I missed a train from Oslo to Stockholm. It meant I lost half a day in the Swedish capital and subsequently I rushed the visit and promised I would return. This weekend, I did.
From the main train station to the view down Vasagatan, it all comes flooding back [...]

22rd March 2007 – Istanbul
My first time in Asia doesn’t last very long. Arriving at the Sabinha Gökcen airport, I find a small bus that is heading west, across the Bosphorus and into Europe. There’s clearly a divide between west and east, but it’s more like a distinction between rich and poor, than a difference [...]

31st January 2007 – Nairobi
Finally! I’m south of the equator! However, I need proof! So I head straight for the wash basin and with a big grin on my face, I watch a litre of water spin down the plug hole in the “wrong” direction!
I thought that was going to be the biggest culture shock [...]

25th August 2006 – Salzburg
For this trip, I haven’t been quite so organised. There are two reasons. Firstly, my pen isn’t working and secondly because catching a 06.45 flight has made me so tired, I can barely hold my eyes open, let alone hold a pen.
The first day of Austria’s road trip started with the [...]