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Valentine’s Day Travels: Mishaps and Mayhem

The ideal Valentine’s Day should be perfect. This does not necessarily mean extravagance, it just means that everything should run smoothly; catastrophes should not be on the menu! Travelling is always vulnerable to mishaps, as are surprises. The combination of Valentine’s Day and travelling is a risky option, but done well it ticks all the [...]
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The Tragedy of Cambodian History

High in the top ten of the historic wonders of the world sits Angkor Wat, the vast city-temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia, a symbol of ancient Cambodian power and holiday destination for tens of thousands of tourists. Less familiar to the tourists will be the name of Kaing Guek Eav, prison commander of S-21, [...]

Golden Futures

There are many issues facing children leaving NGO care in Cambodia. These include having to be independent at a young age, low levels of educational achievement, high unemployment rates, unstable career patterns, common early parenthood and widespread high levels of emotional disturbance. The effects of these problems can lead to prostitution and dependency upon yama, [...]

The things that dreams are made of… New York

I’m sitting at Terminal 7 of JFK airport in New York City. It’s 4.55 in the morning, an hour until we can check in, and I’m bored and unable to sleep on the impossibly uncomfortable chairs that seem to be manufactured for the sole purpose of sleep-deprivation. But more importantly, it’s January 5th, and I’ve [...]
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Cuba: A society on the brink of change?

Cuba is a state practically untouched by Western capitalism. With only ninety miles separating this strictly communist state from the archetype of world capitalism, the United States, it’s not surprising that this region has been the focus of political tensions in the past. There, you’ll find no McDonalds, Wal-marts or any other multi-national companies [...]

Splurge in Stockholm?

“You must be loaded”, “Have you won the lottery?” and “Have you taken out a loan?”, were the questions asked when I told people I was heading to Stockholm. Things looked promising when I was booking the flights and the hotel; the price was no more damaging than staying in central London.
When you’re battling against [...]

Troubles in Transit

Of all the problems I expected to encounter in Ukraine, public transport was not one of them. I was prepared for stray dogs, undrinkable water and the soviet attitude to ‘customer service’, but as a foreign public transport system veteran, I knew when to touch-in and touch-out, where and when I needed to compost my [...]

Colombia: never judge a book by its cover

When I told people at home I was going to Colombia I was asked by many whether it would be wise to do so, the general view of Colombia being synonymous with drugs and danger. On the other hand, the people I met who had actually been there could not speak highly enough of their [...]
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Argentina: Diversidad Increíble

It’s still dark as we huddle around the small, crackling fire by the river. Our local guide, Santiago, pours out steaming sweet coffee into plastic cups to warm us up before our hike. Shivering from the early morning cold, we watch as pink light slowly grows from behind the Andes. We are staying down in [...]
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Pay as you go

Most students, when working to save for a year abroad, spend half that year working long day shifts like battery hens crammed in call centres, or all night in bars that just about pay the minimum wage. Europe is easily accessible whether it is by train or a low-cost airline, however, when your sights are [...]
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