Shanghair, Shanghai!
There was no saucy reason for me being there other than a foot massage, but that didn’t stop the massage boy from venturing, ‘you older?’
Betting on Bornholm
Bornholm’s oldest commercial centre, Gudhjem held herring fairs in the Middle Ages and started the smoked fish industry. Fishing is still the main occupation here and from Gudhjem you can take a boat to Ertholmene, a group of three tiny islands
Trust you’re well
Trust You’re Well - a collection of email conversations between Hans Mackenzie Main and whoever, is funny yet scathing, sarcastic yet heart-warming.
The Mind of Plants
From Ayahuasca to the banyan to beans and coralline algae, every story is a marvel, a revelation. We owe our very existence to plants
Advice for the starry-eyed
Back in another space-time continuum, when you could smoke on planes, go clubbing in Hillbrow, and 'knock three times on the ceiling' if you...
St Petersburg Metro
Saint Petersburg’s metro is one of the world's busiest with five subway lines, 67 stations, 3 000 trains and 2.5 million passengers a day
Beat the Covid Blues
This is a tale of two cities ‒ Scare City and Synchroni City. Looping trains of thought will speed you to either place. How long you choose to stay is up to you
Awaken the Muse-ic
Johannesburg-based Biofield Tuner and Sound Therapist Wendy Leppard can help restore harmony and renew our life force.
Lockdown Lessons
On discovering how many of my Facebook friends are virtue signallers, curtain twitchers, conspiracy theorists and pedantic pedagogues
Last Tango in BA?
With its cobblestones and colourful corrugated iron conventillos, La Boca dazzles in hues of pinks, reds, yellows and blues but it might be a while before you can visit again
Travel with Miss Universe
Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi chats to Jen Su about her favourite Netflix series to binge watch - hint: she loves Korean dramas -and places to shop
Haunting tours
Is visiting famous gravesites a weird tourism trend? Gordon Prentice doesn't think so
Flow like water
Human activity can directly influence weather patterns. and our attitudes may have a far greater impact on the environment than we realise
Lebanon Lament!
Janine Lazarus visited Beiruit about five years before the August 2020 blast. She went to facilitate Crisis Communications Training to executives but said she struggled to get a sense of the real Lebanon due to sectarian allegiances
Celestial Spectacle
Officially, the aurora-borealis comprises electrically charged particles from the sun colliding with gas molecules but the more arcane among us know these celestial emanations mark the entrance to a twilight paradise lit by a twin sun, where assorted beings, including Germans from the Vril Society, a few pixies, giants, and Lemurian descendants, have lived in perfect health for hundreds of years
DRD4-7R, the wanderlust gene
As we enter Level 3 Lockdown, I wager that if you tested all the so-called business travellers in planes and cars, many would show up positive for the DRD4-7R gene, having got their papers in mint camouflage condition.
Clock Shock
Lapland is Europe’s last wilderness with salmon-stocked lakes and forests filled with brown bears, lynx, foxes, elk and reindeer.
Going the extra Nile
Some river cruise vessels are fit for a pharaoh, offering sparkling pools on deck, floor-to-ceiling glass windows, crystal chandeliers, gourmet restaurants, and postprandial belly dancing. Tarek's boat t was not one of them.