Travel

The Travelling Ape's mission

  • Encourage curiosity in the world
  • Inspire openness in others
  • Leverage off my travel experiences

I want to encourage curiosity in the world and openness in others, using travel as the vehicle. I’ve been to 155 out of the world’s 195 countries. From places as diverse as Norway, to Nicaragua, and to North Korea. And to other places not beginning with the letter ‘N’.

My aim is to share my insights about the world, and dispel many of the myths that commonly circulate about some of the world's least-visited countries. So if you’re planning a trip to one of the more ‘rogue’ travel destinations, the Travelling Ape might be a good place to start.

Why my travel blog is different

By incorporating my experience working as a global political and economic research analyst, my travel articles go further than your typical 'travel hack’ blog posts. I want to transport you into the heart of some of the most unusual and commonly feared countries in the word. 

  • What makes these countries tick? 
  • What are things really like, if we dare to look beyond the news headlines?
  • With historical and geopolitical context provided, who knows, you might even learn something?

But don’t worry. It won’t be too heavy. I won’t take the subject matter in the world too seriously. Journalists and travel writers often make fascinating subjects like travel and international relations mind-numbingly dull to read about. So I’ll do my best to make you chuckle along the way. I’ll have succeeded if at any stage you even so much as terse your lip at a quip made in one of my posts. 

Latest travel posts

November 15, 2023

It might seem obvious to most. But it took a much longer trip to Italy for me to fully fall in love with it.

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October 22, 2023

I’ve been lucky enough to visit each of the Seven Wonders of the World. How do they match up?

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September 25, 2023

My new book – The Travelling Ape: What Travelling (Nearly) Everywhere Taught Me about Humanity, Geopolitics, and Happiness – is out now.

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November 9, 2022

What can watching a football match in 55 European countries in a year teach you?

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June 13, 2022

Few places on Earth are as isolated as Western Australia. For good and for bad.

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February 10, 2022

My snobbish views about Lanzagrotty and Tenerife couldn’t have been more wrong. These islands are special.

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October 28, 2021

Switzerland has a reputation for being very boring indeed. But if beauty on this scale is boring, I’ll take it.

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August 27, 2021

Is there more to Scotland than haggis, lochs, kilts, and nationalist stereotypes? Overwhelmingly yes.

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July 27, 2021

Here’s a recent interview I did with NomadMania, a community for the world’s best-travelled people. I talk travel, coronavirus, meditation, and a bunch of other stuff.

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May 7, 2021

Dromomania – an exaggerated desire to wander – is a registered medical condition. But can you be addicted to travel? And if so, is it a good or bad thing?

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January 24, 2021

Rwanda has a tragic history. But a much brighter future. How have Rwandans managed to overcome the darkest instincts of the most dangerous of apes, humans?

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December 16, 2020

Travelling in Zimbabwe is not easy. But you will be rewarded with raw, barren, and beautiful natural scenery and incredible wildlife. And of course, the monumental Victoria Falls.

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Expanding your horizons

Almost all experienced travellers agree with some fundamental truths. The world is safer than you think it is. It is better than you think it is. And overwhelmingly, it’s filled with mostly peaceful and kind people. 

My sincere hope is that reading my blog posts will convince you that for all its flaws, this little planet contains wonders beyond our imagination. And you might just be tempted to visit more of the world yourself.

Where I've been

Click on a marker to view the travel posts I've written so far  

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