I have been travel writing since1998 when I became editor of business-focussed Travel IQ Magazine, which focussed on emerging markets. Sponsors included Kempinski Hotels and Resorts, Avis, Marriott, British Airways and several different specialist travel organisations and airlines. I also guested for CNN Traveller and various consumer titles. Most recently (2019) I was a launch contributor to Google’s astonishing travel guide online project. Touring Bird.

My travel has taken me on adventures including:

  • Horseback safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara during the migration
  • Independent in Sri Lanka with my daughter age 3
  • Vietnam and Cambodia, a personal itinerary
  • Disneyland Florida: The week after 9:11
  • Zanzibar: Seaweed and Cucumbers
  • My endurance running has taken me to marathons in Chiang Mai, Copenhagen and Loch Ness, a cliff race in Bray, Dublin and an incredible 80 mile race across the dramatic volcanoes of Gran Canaria.

Personal Feature Highlights (mostly Travel IQ)

  • Shadowing the deputy mayor of Moscow, Iosef Orzhonikidze in the week following his attempted assassination by Chechen rebels
  • Celebrating the new Millennium in Kazakhstan
  • Elections in Kyiv and Lviv as The Ukraine went to the polls
  • Pipeline – Oil, Gas and the development of Southern Russia
  • Convoy: How Egypt protects its tourists under terror threat
  • Jordan: The balance of multuculture in the Middle East
  • Sweden: Call Centres in The Arctic Circle
  • Bratislava, Brno and the Velvet Divorce
  • Travel Directions: Kenya on Horseback: Being hunted by lions
  • Berlin: The emergence of a capital complete
  • Austria: Unexpected Saltzkammergut
  • Budapest: Democracy, divisions and hot water
  • Dubai and Sharjah and Qatar 2001: Building a Tourism Dynasty
  • Romania: Living with fishermen in the Danube Delta
  • Uzbekistan: The Silk Route and its links to modern trade
  • Krakov – Preparing the 2000 EU City of Culture
  • Istanbul: An audience with the Greek Patriarch in Turkey
  • Homes Overseas Magazine: Time to invest in Dubai
  • Google’s Touring Bird: Highlights: Insight: Zanzibar Island. Insight: Rhodes Island https://www.touringbird.com/zanzibar_island/activities/insider_tip

Responsible Travel Writing

Travel IQ, in particular, was a product of its time, held as immensely important in establishing business trust between the emerging East and West Europe. We were read by business travellers, diplomats, senior politicians and presidents. I was very much regarded as a key voice for the countries of the old USSR, had access to the leading politicians of the day and was required to set the tone for the big topics that have developed since – Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine, International Terror from the Stans, New borders in Yugoslavia and more. We were often prescient, predicting the recent episodes in the Crimea, the success of tourism and sport investment in Sochi, or the effects of Bulgarian and Romanian accession into the EU. The weight of responsibility was hit home to me in interview with the Slovenian president Milan Kucan, who told me that Travel IQ had been instrumental in seeing his country’s potential recognised on a world stage.

Of course these weighty expectations could not be at the expense of the fun and thrill of travel, so a careful balancing act was required.

Living in France

From 2002 – 2013 I lived in France at Chateau de Chazelles, in the Massif Centrale mountains. My partner and I rebuilt the Chateau from its previous status as a closed down hospital. We opened it for riding holidays, providing horses and tours through the Auvergne and the Camargue.

Today, Chateau de Chazelles has been reimagined as an exclusive weddings venue.

Run: 202020

In 2020 I will be documenting 20 endurance events globally en route to the book of the same name to be published in Spring 2021 I am able to cover insight and editorial requests for extra angles on any destination that I am planning to travel to.

Countries currently on the plan: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Germany, Portugal (Azores), Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, North Korea, Uganda, USA, Canada, Vietnam, Chile.

The journeys that I have planned are epic to run and epic to visit and the event organisers match that with their passion for the location and the exploration of endurance. I expect to get some amazing pictures. Pictured here, am completing the popular Race to the Stones, 60 miles/100 km, my first ultra marathon. It is an astonishing route along the ancient Ridgeway crossing through many sites of early Britain and finishing at the standing stone ring at Avebury.

A full itinerary for 2020 is here. [THIS WILL LINK TO A PDF]