I’ve written quite a lot about the importance of showing respect for your destination and its people when you travel. But, of course, it’s a two-way street.
Your hosts should also respect you. And that means that they probably shouldn’t poke fun of you on national television.
Continue reading Tourists deserve a little respect, too
Before I took my first European trip, I invested in a phrase book, and I taught myself how to order a coffee and a beer in four languages. As it turned out, it wasn’t necessary, although my tortured pronunciation did provide some light relief for the locals.
As a native English speaker, I have a big advantage everywhere I travel: I talk the language much of the world already knows or is keen to learn. But is it simply lazy, or even disrespectful, to try to get by with English when you travel?
Continue reading When in Rome, should we speak Italian?The problem with big cities is that it costs big bucks to visit them.
Quite often, though, there are interesting places nearby where you’re in striking distance of the big smoke but able to save a little money and have a slightly different experience.
Continue reading Five ‘off Broadway’ destinations that are well worth a visit
I really should pay attention to landmarks. I spent far too long walking the wrong way today, all because I confused Metro exit 5 and 8.
But I also visited the National Palace Museum during the day and I’m writing this from a very nice bar I spotted while I was walking the wrong way.
I haven’t the time now for words. Here are some pictures from my first day in Taipei.
For reasons that will become clearer in future posts, I have to be in Bangkok by the last week of this month.
I checked my Qantas frequent flyer points* with the view to making a direct flight from Brisbane. But I discovered that for about the same number of points I could go first to somewhere I’d never been before — and I’m always up for that.
Continue reading Up, up and away … this time I’m off to Taipei
Macau has become a magnet for mainland Chinese and other gamblers in recent years, but to think of it as the Las Vegas of South East Asia would be doing it a great disservice.
The former Portuguese colony about an hour by boat from Hong Kong has its own unique cultural flavour — a potent blend of East and West that can be alluring even for those who are not interested in playing the tables or the machines. Continue reading Magical, mysterious Macau
Christmas markets, Christmas lunches, Christmas shopping … it’s all happening, and not just in traditionally Christian countries.
Not long after I moved to Abu Dhabi, somebody sneered on social media about “politically correct” Britain, where some councils had (allegedly) banned Christmas, and then added for good measure: “I bet you’re not allowed to celebrate it in the UAE, either.”
