You've found the right place - welcome to my peripatetic world.
For over 20 years I’ve been lucky enough to circle
the globe for a living, writing and taking pictures
between encounters with monks, maharajas or mountain
shepherds.
Travel-lust has always been part of me and my family
(for more on this read ‘About’) although
writing a string of hefty guide-books in the 1990s lured
me deep beneath the surface of several major cultures.
Time has brought huge development in my favourite countries
(Mexico, India, Morocco) - for better or for worse -
while I maintain a strong affinity for places I’ve
actually lived in - London, Paris, central Italy and
Australia. Another region I can't resist returning to
is Andalucia, where I now have a retreat in the olive
groves. That magic never fails.
Slowly slowly the threads pull together and the jigsaw
of civilisations becomes clearer. China still eludes
me but I’ve at last discovered the heart of the
Middle East with all its highs and tragic lows. Increasingly
I find myself in places I visited decades ago, prompting
a dabbling with memory, not quite Proust’s madeleine,
more Dunlop’s Tempranillo – except when
it’s enforced mint-tea.
This brings me to my parallel passion for food and
gastro-communication. Sometimes I feel I could follow
the example of ethically minded friends, put a stop
to my carbon bootprint and concentrate on the dozen
or so ethnic restaurants cooking up delectable stuff
near my north London home. But it’s hard to forego
those intense hours spent shadowing Moroccan cooks in
their kitchens, being amazed by Zapotec techniques in
Oaxaca, sampling Burmese street-food in the shade of
a Banyan tree or, like a stuffed goose, being fed tapa
after tapa by a chef in Seville. It’s a tough
call and, as yet, I’m not ready to stop. Apologies
to the planet meanwhile.
So hit the trail with me. Click on my irregular blog,
on pictures of my travels or on my travel stories. Enjoy
the journey – there and here – and come
back again soon!
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