The key to hitching in West Germany, as one quickly learned, was the free booklet that you could pick up at any autobahn service station. Specifically, it was the center two pages. You could pull them out and ditch the rest. Those pages opened out into a map of the West German autobahn system and… Continue reading Life’s Lessons on the road: hitch-hiking in West Germany
I Was Nominated For A Sunshine Blogger Award!
Thank you, ‘What A WanderFull World‘, for nominating me for a 2018 Sunshine Blogger Award! What A WanderFull World’ can be found at: https://thehoosierhistorian.wixsite.com/wanderfull What is the Sunshine Blogger Award? The Sunshine Blogger Award is awarded to bloggers who inspire sunshine in the lives of their readers. Nominees are selected by fellow bloggers. Nomination Rules:… Continue reading I Was Nominated For A Sunshine Blogger Award!
That Bare-Foot Guy on the Overland Track, Tasmania
“Has any one seen the guy in bare feet and a track-suit? He’s mad” ++++++++++ Kate and I were reasonably experienced back-country walkers and we were expecting some bad weather on Tasmania’s Overland Track. We had carefully selected clothes, a tent, and sufficient food for our walk of over a week to the south. In… Continue reading That Bare-Foot Guy on the Overland Track, Tasmania
Where Mongolians fought to the last man
“Would you like to see a Museum?” We were in one of the most remote parts of Mongolia – and I wondered what my driver was talking about. Work Place Health and Safety in Mongolia really came down to you – ‘Don’t Do Stupid Stuff – because any help was going to be a long,… Continue reading Where Mongolians fought to the last man
Sarajevo- The Black Swan and the Trickster
At the same moment I realised I was in a mine field, two guys at a bar noticed the same thing. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ In Sarajevo, you can stand on the spot where, on June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. It’s at an otherwise nondescript intersection, right outside a building with… Continue reading Sarajevo- The Black Swan and the Trickster
Gujurat, India: a lost dream, lucre and an hierloom
India, love it or hate it, so they say. Rajastan was getting me down. Its sights are amazing, but along those well-trodden tourist-routes, from the minute you head outside your room, til the time you head back at night – you are pestered. If it’s not shopkeepers trying to drag you inside their place, it’s… Continue reading Gujurat, India: a lost dream, lucre and an hierloom
An Ottoman Treasure in Develi, Turkey
Tourism – good thing or bad? I’ve written about Develi before –a town in central Turkey, where I was based, along with my geological colleagues. It’s a culturally conservative city, where women tend not to be on the streets. Not because they can’t, it’s just the cultural thing for women to stay at home while the… Continue reading An Ottoman Treasure in Develi, Turkey
Travelling with Landscape-Awareness
Over ten years ago I taught visiting American classes at the University of Queensland. The itinerary of one lucky class was to be taken to a remote location for what was a pretty genuine ‘wilderness experience’. It was located on the ‘Youth Enterprise Trust’ property on the boundary of Carnarvon National Park. When I joined… Continue reading Travelling with Landscape-Awareness
The Prehistoric Songlines of Brittany, France
The French woman had parted the curtains, and was peering out into the stormy night. *** There are up-sides and down-sides to travelling in the European winter – there are, of course, less tourists, but to compensate for this, the locals tend to shut up shop. I’d arrived in Carnac, the little town in the… Continue reading The Prehistoric Songlines of Brittany, France
Making a Bee-line to the Republic of Adygea, Russia
Honey, honey, honey – it seemed Adygea oozed the stuff. Everywhere we looked it seemed someone had set up a road-side stall and in total, were trying to sell more jars of golden honey than there were inhabitants of the Caucasian republic. Honey is nice but that wasn’t quite the bee-product we had in mind.… Continue reading Making a Bee-line to the Republic of Adygea, Russia