Having spent a week around Finale we conceded that it was time to do battle with the Italian drivers (and all-pervading toll roads) once more and head down the coast. Italian motorists have a fearsome reputation and it is true that tackling roundabouts and motorway slip roads are about survival of the fittest. We have…

Buongiorno from Liguria, a rugged limestone coastline that sits in front of a mountain range reaching up to 2,650 meters in altitude. That’s quite some height compared with Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, which reaches just 978m. The dramatic verticality, where the Alps and Apennines seem to dive straight into the Mediterranean, provides endless running…

Murray Walker’s famed quote really sums up the thrill of visiting the “jewel in the crown” of F1 racing tracks. Snaking through multi-million pound properties, casinos, hotels and yachts of the ultra-salubrious Monte Carlo, the track attracts throngs of visitors even out of racing season. It was a joy to watch Jem bouncing through the…

The Côte d’Azur has provided a very welcome moment of quiet after getting embroiled in Spain’s five-day national Easter break, when hundreds of folk rush to the mountains to access the below-the-snow-line walks with the family. We spent two splendid nights in hilltop towns, the first sampling the local brandy in a bar frequented by…

Hello faithful followers from Ainsa in Aragon, a Spanish medieval town located roughly half way between the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans. The area is renowned for its roast lamb, and the dramatic backdrop of the towering Pyreneen mountain range to the north. Highlights in the region include the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park; a canyon…

Good morning friends and family from a rubbish-strewn car park in Dorchester, where we look out upon a gloomy and overcast Tuesday morning. A delapidated public toilet door swings sadly on its broken hinges and melancholy seagulls mew overhead, while rush-hour traffic rumbles by a few metres away. The stuff of sadness and despair you…

(Believe it or not) we are back on the blog by popular demand! AND we have special guests this week! As the next few months see us roaming about in our van we have been tasked with keeping family – and the most dedicated of friends – up to date on our exploits.  The last…

A very happy Christmas from Siargao, one of the most easterly of the 7,641 islands which make up the Philippines archipelago. Siargao (pronounced Shar-gow) is internationally famous for its surfing, turquoise waters and sandy beaches, and hosts a renowned break called Cloud 9 which is reserved for the most skilled surfers. The island’s main tourist…

Bags packed and ready for the off! It’s been a wonderful last few days here in Tonsai, punctuated by climbing and backgammon. Our stellar luck in avoiding travel-related sickness caught up with me this week; there’s nothing like spending your last day in paradise shuttling between the toilet and the bed during a nasty bout…

If there’s something I particularly like about Tonsai, in addition to everything else, it’s the fact that there is a cute monkey around every corner. They sit watching from the rafters over breakfast and in the afternoon gather in the bush next to our house to eat the leaves. These are the chillest monkeys you’ve…