It’s that time of year again, when it’s good and proper to look back on what happened in the previous 12 months and smugly congratulate yourself for how awesome a year you gave yourself. It may have been a bit of a shite year if you care about your celebrities being alive, and we may have taken a step closer to total global sociopolitical chaos… but … Continue reading Year in Review: 2016
In my last post, I explored how and why a rational individual might travel to the other side of the planet for a long weekend, using my recent trip from Scotland to Singapore as the case in point. I deviated somewhat from my regular travel-journal-with-pics style post, but don’t you worry, I’ve done that too. Here is what you can actually get up to with your 5000 minutes in … Continue reading 5000 Minutes in Singapore
People get all kinds of surprised when in response to their socially-mandated inquiry into your planned weekend activity you tell them that you’re popping over to Singapore. Travelling from Scotland to South East Asia for a three-night runaround is apparently something only a crazy person would do. Have you met me, though? Borderline lunacy is kind of my thing. Especially when it is of the travel variety. It helped my … Continue reading Long-Haul Micro-Tripping
The inside cover of my guide book seemed to have a tough time finding a pleasant way to sell São Paulo to the common tourist. The opening paragraph was full of words like “polluted” and “ungainly”, “concrete” and “sprawling”. If I hadn’t booked the flights before doing the reading, I might have had second thoughts about spending the second part of my Brazilian trip here. … Continue reading São Paulo is a City
Day 1 It’s 10am and I’m standing on a bustling street looking at the sky, trying to work out if the sun looks discernibly different from usual. It doesn’t, but the fact that the sun is actually in the sky is more than enough change for me. There is a tropical atlantic breeze gently wafting hints of Cachaça and lime in my direction, and into my line of sight flies … Continue reading And She Dances on the Sand
I’m in South Carolina, the sun is shining, and I have absolutely no commitments or plans of any kind. After a spot of musing over a nice hotel breakfast, I have come to the conclusion that today I quite fancy going to the beach. The interwebs tell me that there is a very pleasant beach at Sullivan’s Island not too far from my hotel, and this sounds to … Continue reading Road to Sullivan’s Island
I’m not a massive history buff. Ok, I’m not even a moderate history buff, but there is one particular historical period (and specific geographic location) that I’m pretty obsessed with: the first quarter of the 18th Century in the North Atlantic – The Golden Age of Piracy. I won’t lie… I’m pretty sure the fascination was sparked as a 5-year old on the Pirates of … Continue reading Plundering Charleston
I’m nearing the end of my 54 weeks in Chicago and there’s somewhere on my Midwest Hotspots list I haven’t yet been. If i’m honest, I think I’ve been pretty good at scouting out the surrounding area. I’ve checked out multiple locations in Wisconsin, explored the tantalising Gary, Indiana not once, but twice, and been to more Chicago suburbs than you can shake a stick at. But one place managed to elude … Continue reading A Hot Second in St. Louis
If you just want to read about my recent trip to Gary, Indiana, please scroll down to Part 2. If you want to know about the origins of my pseudo-obsession with the city, please start with Part 1. If you do nothing else, please check out the galleries towards the end for some great scenes of general abandonment and dereliction. Part One: Genesis Everybody knows … Continue reading Indiana Dreaming
Header photo sandwich board credit to Cup and Spoon – supplier of my commute coffee and morning wit. I’ve never been a staunch believer in wind chill. I like to think that when the thermometer says it’s -15 degrees, it’s going to feel like it’s -15 degrees. Why shouldn’t it, goddammit? Recently I changed my views. Because Chicago. I’m from Scotland. I spent 22 years of … Continue reading Weathering Chiberia
the lost scot 