Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal

I am starting this article at Boulogne-Billancourt in the suburbs of Paris just hours after watching Rafael Nadal win the Men’s single title at the French Open Tennis Championships for the 11^th time in the last 14 years.

Of all the sports played in the world today I think that Tennis has a very strong claim for being the home of not just the world’s most pre-eminent sports personality Roger Federer, but also the sporting world’s two finest exponents of sportsmanship in Federer and his nemesis Rafael Nadal.  Continue reading →

I like to think I am a person with an open mind that embraces many interests, but without doubt, two of the most influential factors that have shaped my life during the last 30 years has been my love of walking in and exploring the high Mountain ranges of the world (and in particular the Himalaya and Alps), and also for the music of the Canadian singer Leonard Cohen. Continue reading →

I first came to Ban Nong Weng in 2006 and I am pretty sure I have been here every year since. It is a small village of maybe 300 or so inhabitants in Isaan, the hot, dry, north eastern region of Thailand, that many people believe provides the economic (and perhaps spiritual?) backbone to Thailand, if for no other reason than the fact that, for generations, the people of Isaan  have flocked to Bangkok, Pattaya and cities throughout Thailand in search of employment and provide the labour force for so many activities. Continue reading →

I have a lot of time for the country of Vietnam. It is one of those nations like New Zealand, France and the USA which appears to have a never ending list of varied attractions, both Cultural and Natural to visit and admire. Continue reading →

As my wife Sharron enjoys living in our family home in the UK (with frequent visits to see her mother in Canada) and I prefer to spend my time out of Britain, either in warmer climates or the mountains, we usually find ourselves spending between three and six months together and living separate lives for much of each year. Continue reading →

On August 29 2016 my wife Sharron, and myself boarded the MV Ocean Atlantic in the Northern Icelandic port of Akureyri.

We were so impressed by the magnificent scenery we discovered when we visited Greenland for the first time in 2016 (you can see images here and here) that we were both keen to return and visit other parts of Greenland, a country that affords a never ending  procession of spectacular landscapes, and  we subsequently spent 26 days on two back to back expeditions aboard the Ocean Atlantic exploring parts of the eastern and southern coastlines of Greenland in Zodiacs and also undertaking some challenging hikes on the days the conditions allowed us to go ashore. Continue reading →

Last November I was travelling from the UK to Australia as our family had decided to spend Christmas with Lisa and James ‘Down Under’ to save Lisa the stress and hassle of organising a trip back to Europe at a time when she could not really afford to disrupt her PhD studies. Continue reading →