Expert Travel Advice – Page 3

Five Otherlands to Visit Across Deep Time

Our Book of the Month for February 2022 is Otherlands: A World in the Making by Thomas Halliday. It is an epic, exhilarating journey into deep time, showing us the Earth as it used to exist, and the worlds that were here before ours. Travelling back in time to the dawn of complex life, and across all seven continents, award-winning young palaeobiologist Thomas Halliday gives us a mesmerising up close encounter with eras that are normally unimaginably distant.

In this guest blog post, Halliday explores five otherlands to visit across deep time.

Walking Safaris in the Wild Heart of Kenya

Author Denis Costello follows the tracks to Kenya’s finest walking safari destination

-By Denis Costello, co-author of Walking Safaris of South Africa

If setting out with the right attitude is the first step to a successful journey, then travelling to the right altitude is the key to walking safari heaven. Nowhere proves this better than Kenya, where most safaris are at a higher elevation than Ben Nevis, and in Kenya the perfect intersection of biodiversity and walking conditions is found in the country’s heartland on the Laikipia Plateau.

The Fairy Tellers’ Trail

The Stanford Dolman Award winning author, Nicholas Jubber’s new book The Fairy Tellers: A Journey into the Secret History of Fairy Tales looks at the global origins of the fairy tales we all know so well.

Here, Nicholas takes us on a brief fairy tellers’ trail:

How to Live Icelandic

How to Live Icelandic is the ultimate insider’s guide to the northerly nation of Iceland. Written by Icelanders Nína Björk Jónsdóttir and Edda Magnus, this book is your one-stop guide to all things Icelandic,so the world can benefit from the special blend of old Norse wisdom with liberal modern attitudes. This beautiful book is full of inspiration and insight into this progressive and peaceful nation that has freedom, community and equality at its core, revealing why Iceland remains one of the happiest countries in the world.

Nina and Edda have put together their Top 5 insights that everyone should know about Iceland.

Mapping the North Wood

by C.J. Schüler

Hard though it may be to imagine today, until the end of the 18^th century oak woodlands stretched for seven miles along the range of clay hills that runs through southeast London from Brockley to Selhurst, straddling what was the Kent-Surrey border until the Local Government Act of 1889. Since a substantial part of the wood lay in the northern reaches of the manor of Croydon, it was known for much of its history as the North Wood, or Norwood, a name it bequeathed to the South London suburb that replaced it.

Muslim Europe in Five Sites

In his 2021 bestselling book, Minarets in the Mountains: a Journey into Muslim Europe, author Tharik Hussain tells the story of Europe’s living indigenous Muslim communities in countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro, where they have been living for almost six centuries. Yet the story of Muslim Europe is actually as old as Islam itself. These five places of European Muslim heritage reveal the continent’s fourteen centuries of Islamic presence.

A Walk in the Wild, a Bed in the Bush

By Denis Costello, co-author of Walking Safaris of South Africa

Wandering in the tracks of African megafauna in deep wilderness is the essence of the walking safari experience and in the safe hands of knowledgeable professional guides, it’s never less than a fascinating adventure. Thanks to its size and variety of biomes, South Africa is prime walking safari territory. With so many options, the secret to finding the right one for you is to think less about the walking and more about the sleeping arrangements. Here’s five styles to consider, from camping mat to luxury sleep-out.

‘Unlost’ by Gail Muller

Hello, I’m Gail Muller and I’m delighted to introduce my book ‘Unlost’ and share some of my favourite top tips for getting outside and exploring. These tips are practical and actionable, even if you don’t feel confident or experienced. The great outdoors is for all of us, and there is joy, learning, resilience, and peace to be found out there – just beyond your doorstep.

Life Lessons From the Amazon by Pip Stewart

Last night we made the most of a beautiful balmy evening in Covent Garden by hosting the launch of Life Lessons From the Amazon: A Guide to Life From One Epic Jungle Adventure by Pip Stewart.

Never leave home without these 5 backpacking items

-by Martyn Howe, author of Tales from the Big Trails

Over the years, my kit list has evolved from my early days of carrying almost everything I could need, to a honed collection of lightweight items, often with multiple uses. I spend the most on the big four: tent, sleeping bag, backpack and boots – balancing durability, weight and cost, but these five items will always be with me on a long backpacking trip: