I never thought mopping would inspire me to do anything but here I am, writing a story about a mop – or to be specific – the best mop in the world. I have been slopping away at my polished board floors for years with a straggly-ass thing that eventually snapped in half because the handle rusted [...]

Name: Roderick Eime Age: Generation Jones Occupation: Travel journalist and web publisher Favourite travel destination?: Papua New Guinea, particularly their remote islands. They are wild, raw and always surprising. Great people. Worst travel experience?: Left my passport and wallet in the taxi, forgot my USA visa waiver, nearly missed my flight, booked the wrong hotel [...]

You thought it was the title of an old Eagles’ song, didn’t you? Nah-uh. The Hotel California is a 3.5 star property in Albufeira, Portugal. Gimmicky hotel names aside, there has been a lot of conjecture about Hotel California’s lyrics. Is it about a satanic playground (see: ‘stabbing with their steely knives but they just [...]

Did you wonder where I disappeared to this past week? Did you think I’d run off and joined a burlesque troupe named Rosie Gardens and the Kinky Hos? The truth is that I went to HEL – otherwise known as Helsinki – on a work trip. Helsinki is an effortless city in summer; all straightforward [...]

Coldest place on earth; Vostok Station, Antarctica -89.2 celcius (-128.56 farenheit)   Coldest place where people live; Oymyakon, Sakha, Russia -71.3 celcius (-96.34 farenheit) Coldest city; Yakutsk, Sakha, Russia -64.6 celcius (-84.28 farenheit)

Norfolk Island is the little known tax-haven where I spent the weekend with a bunch of travel agents. I expected it to be pretty. What I didn’t expect was that it would be fascinating. There is so much to know about this 8km x 5km island due east of Ballina on the NSW North Coast. [...]

Work trips … The early wake ups, the delayed flights, the crappy plane food, the late nights. I usually classify them under the category of ‘glorified stress’! But every now and then you visit a place you’ve never been before and you most probably would have never thought to visit, are pleasantly surprised, and it [...]

The land of the long white cloud may be just a quick jaunt across the Tasman, but I’d never experienced what it has to offer. I know New Zealand has plenty for tourists to enjoy, thanks to those perky Kiwi TV commercials. I could have visited Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, not to mention all of [...]

The UAE has always confused the bejeezus out of me. Is it Dubai? Is it Abu Dhabi? For a while I thought it included Oman and Saudi Arabia (nope). So, here you have it People Who Are Probably Smarter Than Me, there are seven emirates; Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain. [...]

Where you live affects every aspect of your daily life. It influences what you do for a living, who you spend your time with and how you express yourself and critical health factors like weather, access to fresh food and community services. It’s one of the biggest decisions you will ever make and yet so many [...]