The Viking project continues apace, and last week it took me to Dublin, where for nearly two centuries the Vikings were overlords of a prosperous city-state, its wealth founded on … well, to be honest we’re not entirely certain. Tradition – and the intimidating set of slave chains now exhibited in the wonderful National Museum [...]
Time travelling – fourteen go mad in the woods
Having spent the last few months pursuing Vikings across the Northern hemisphere, from Germany to the Faroes to Newfoundland, racking up multiple plane flights, cross-country train journeys and epic road trips, I wanted to try a different way of getting closer to them. I’d seen where they lived, but still had little idea about [...]
Newfoundland – a small trip in a big place
Newfoundland. It’s a big place – more than 110,000 km², a similar area to England. I’ve been ‘exploring’ it on foot, mostly from a single place, L’Anse aux Meadows, on the very tip of the Northern Peninsula. I’ve stayed at the same B&B for most of my time here, and most evenings and mornings I’ve [...]
Archaeology from a sunlounger – welcome to Viking Beach
I usually know where I’m going – or think I do. I read guidebooks and the internet, book hotels and schedule travel, and consider what I need to pack. Sometimes the weather can be unpredictable, so shorts and a waterproof come with me everywhere. (Well I wouldn’t take the shorts to Antarctica, or the waterproof [...]
(I wasn’t) born this way – How I got good at travel
I love to travel. And I love it when other people love to travel -I’m a travangelist. But sometimes friends say to me: ‘I wouldn’t have the nerve to travel on your own like you do’, or simply ‘I don’t know where to start’. And I give a little cheer when people say things like [...]
About me
I'm a print and TV journalist, who loves to walk, swim and travel. For the last five years I've worked on investigative films for Channel 4 News. Before that I was Tokyo Correspondent for New Statesman, and Arts, Life & Style Editor for The Japan Times. I contribute travel articles, features and book reviews to a range of UK and overseas publications.