Where is it? I want to go there, wear La Perla and pay ridiculous import tax on Champagne. The sexiest place I have ever been to is Mira Flores in Peru (crumbling Spanish architecture, a touristy-Bondi vibe and ultra-friendly waitstaff serving the best seafood soup in the world). Thailand doesn’t do it for me, despite [...]

This is my favourite poem and it is written by a Japanese poet. I just want to acknowledge the huge tragedy that has befallen the Japanese people and send them our greatest love and greatest compassion in this exceptionally sad time. This poem resonates with me because sometimes I feel like I am always trying [...]

Travelling with a dietary disclaimer By Jen McDermott Have you ever been to someone’s house for dinner, only to find that dish they’ve lovingly prepared and served up containssomething that you absolutely cannot bring yourself to eat whether due to allergies, a gag-inducing distaste or moral choice? As an (almost) lifetime vegetarian, if I had [...]

Please blame Twitter for the fact that you are getting two back-to-back doses of my amateur philosophy this week. I asked whether I should blog about a) boobs, b) wine, or c) crying in public and the Twitterverse came back with a unanimous c). Crying in public. We have all done it at some point. I [...]

I have read a lot of motivational books that encourage you to be the best you can be. I can dig that. I’m no slouch. But here’s the thing: since when did everyone have to be the ‘best’ at everything? Can’t we just try to be OK? There are lots of things that I would [...]

I love a cock as much as the next person but a whole cave full of them? That’s what I call a tourist attraction! So it is in Ao Nang, Krabi. At the end of an idyllic white sand beach there is a cave that is chockers full of carved wooden wangs. Big ones, small [...]

David Thompson has had 17 espressos today which accounts for the overly wide-eyed way he buzzes around his restaurant. He darts from one task to another with the air of someone deeply focused on each moment. One minute he is briefing a staff member in softly spoken Thai; the next he is swaggering up to [...]

I have always seen flying Business Class as a marker of success in life; something that will happen when I have ‘made it’. Apparently that day was February 28th 2011. I turn left for the first time and find myself in a large room full of space age recliners, complete with toiletry bags, pillows and [...]

Hint: Russell Crowe. That is all.  

I am writing this on a beach in Ao Nang in Southern Thailand. My work has brought me to a 5 star resort that costs more per night than I dare to think about. The sun is shining. The water is the colour of a Scandinavian’s eyes and I sit surrounded by baking Europeans. And [...]