Travel

Georgia 2026! I am delighted to announce our ninth wine and cultural tour to Georgia, a most remarkable country nestled deep in the Caucasus. Georgia is a wonderful place to visit and enjoy its deep history, rich culture and truly unique food and wine. This will be my thirtieth visit to the country, and I would love to have you join me to explore some of the more interesting and hidden tourism gems. Once again, I will be limiting the group to a maximum of twelve participants, and if you would like to join, I would urge you to contact […]

Georgia keeps beckoning I travel a great deal, and there is always the question of going to a new destination and exploring the unknown or returning to an old familiar friend. And as I age, slow down a little and generally look for different amusements, the decision exaggerates. Georgia, the country, not the state, has been a favourite destination of mine for twenty years, and for the sake of clarity, “Sakartvelo” is thee country’s name in Georgian. Why we anglicised it to “Georgia” remains slightly mysterious, and I must have heard at least a dozen reasons, none convincing. Originally, I […]

Oman – a jewel in the Middle East I lie awake at night from time to time, conjuring up new journeys, and reliving past travels. Cities explored, countries discovered, time-zones conquered and often a list of destinations to be re-examined jostle through my mind as I try to fall asleep. Of all the places that I have visited, only a relative few stand out as completely and totally memorable, and often for reasons that I cannot easily determine. Oman is one such country. It is a fabulous place to visit, and even now, after three trips, I am anxious to […]

Dubai The Gulf rarely springs to mind when deciding on a winter getaway; at least not from Canada or the USA. Dubai, of course, has long been a magnet for tourists from Europe, and increasing access from North America is drawing more and more visitors to their guaranteed sun and astonishing array of entertainment. But the joys and delights of the United Arab Emirates have been discussed and written about at length, and it is not for me to add to the literature. Dubai epitomises excess. Extraordinary hotels, extravagant shopping, extreme dining and an array of wild activities that blend […]

The Queen Mary There are a lot of ways to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and over the past decades I have tried most of them. There are fast ways, Concorde crossed in approximately three hours, twice a day for years, and there are more normal airlines plying the routes daily than one can count. Indeed, the North Atlantic Ocean is dotted with fascinating islands, and well worth exploring in detail on its own. But all to often, it is to Europe that we need to travel, and before reaching to book a plane ticket, it is worth considering the alternatives. […]

Buenos Aires and Asuncion: A Tale of Two Cities Imagine having a week or so off and nowhere in mind to go. Buenos Aires and Asuncion may not be at the top of mind, but, as a North American, Europe means jetlag, Asia is too far and more jetlag, but heading south is easy. Mexico City was a wonderful escape, but this time I wanted to get a little further afield.  South America’s cities are fantastic. From Bogota to Montevideo they offer visitors colour, history, vibrancy, music and culture. While we always want longer, they are perfect “three-day” destinations, and […]

I, like most travellers, am often asked where my favourite place is, and like most travellers find the question hard to answer. Parsma, in Tusheti, is a hard act to follow. Criteria are difficult. Is it for the culture? The beaches? The entertainment? Are you talking about the winter, the summer or both? Usually, we have two or three answers, but for me, it is always Georgia. I have spent nearly sixty years wandering or being wandered around the world; I am certainly fortunate, but with such endless travel comes a sort of fatigue. I have seen a lot of […]

The Wild Atlantic Islands Remote areas are often overlooked, underestimated or simply ignored. Many of us will have, on the way to or from Europe, cast a glance at the flight map and seen the groups of islands they lie between Scotland and Iceland, and even wondered, fleetingly, what goes on down there. A lot, as it happens. The three groups are the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands and the Faroe Islands. Orkney and Shetland are part of Scotland, and the Faroes are part of the Kingdom of Denmark. That is today; in the past, they were all important parts […]

St. Helena – A very, very distant land It is ten years today since I departed from Cape Town on the RMS St. Helena, one of the world’s last working Royal Mail ships, for the six-day run to the remote island of St. Helena. I like remote and unusual places, and adding St. Helena to my list of Odd Islands had been a long held dream. The island is one of the last vestiges of the British Empire; home to Napoleon in his final years of exile, and in its time, a vital chandlering port for the trade between Europe […]