We were very cautious travelers ‘We knew we had to get out of this situation as quickly as possible because soon it would turn sour. But we didn’t know what to do.’ The hitchhikers were the first thing we noticed when we left Havana, bound for Viñales. Dozens of people were waiting on the side […]

The invisible lines through Switzerland It was one of the shortest train rides I had ever taken: just seven minutes and one stop from the Swiss city of Neuchâtel. Yet when I disembarked in the small town of Erlach, everything seemed, somehow, different. Multilingualism is to Switzerland what politeness is to the British or style […]

The man who disproved the world’s end  Eise Eisinga Dutch amateur astronomer Eise Eisinga might have left school at 12 years old, but he built an inch-perfect model of the solar system in his living room. There was a beat of silence as the room’s atmosphere shifted from inward reflection to jittery disbelief. “How is […]

Are Lithuanians obsessed with bees ? In mid-January, the snow made the little coastal town of Šventoji in north-west Lithuania feel like a film set. Restaurants of Lithuanians, shops and wooden holiday cabins all sat silently with their lights off, waiting for the arrival of spring. I found what I was looking for on the […]

The wise words that changed my life A surprising friendship in Dublin ‘I told her how I had never felt at home anywhere, and how disconnected I had always felt from the country of my birth.’ It was one of those Dublin summer days that don’t make sense; the sun was hiding behind a dark […]

The cliff that revealed Earth’s history A rocky, remote outcrop in Scotland inspired the realisation that the Earth was millions of years old – this cliff led Charles Darwin to his theory of evolution. “Just a bit further, round the next bend,” my guide Jim said, as our fishing boat pitched and rolled in the […]

Spanish Food most expensive delicacy Baby eels are one of the most expensive Spanish Food, but when you see them for the first time you might wonder why. They’re not, to put it mildly, something that cries out to be eaten. When alive, they’re transparent and slimy, slithering and squirming like tiny snakes. Cooked, they turn […]

Is Singapore suffering from FOMO? In practical terms, ‘kiasu’ means that Singaporeans love a bargain and hate missing out. But where did this deep-rooted belief come from? I’d only been in Singapore a few months when I had my first experience of kiasuism. It was a Saturday afternoon and after a couple of hours exploring […]

A ghost island in the middle of the Indian ocean India’s idyllic islands Situated in the Bay of Bengal, India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands are an isolated group of 572 tropical islands, of which only 38 are currently inhabited. Nautically located closer to South East Asia than India, they are known for stunning beaches, thriving […]