Tag Archives: Travel

In My Hands Today…

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A Training School for Elephants – Sophy Roberts

In 1879, King Leopold II of Belgium launched an ambitious plan to plunder Africa’s resources. The key to cracking open the continent, or so he thought, was its elephants—if only he could train them. And so he commissioned the charismatic Irish adventurer Frederick Carter to ship four tamed Asian elephants from India to the East African coast, where they were marched inland towards Congo. The ultimate aim was to establish a training school for African elephants.

Following in the footsteps of the four elephants, Roberts pieces together the story of this long-forgotten expedition, in travels that take her to Belgium, Iraq, India, Tanzania, and Congo. The storytelling brings to life a compelling cast of historic characters and modern voices, from ivory dealers to Catholic nuns, set against rich descriptions of the landscapes travelled. In an original weave of past and present, she digs deep into historic records revealing an extraordinary—and enduring—story of colonial greed, hypocrisy, and folly.

In My Hands Today…

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Myths of Geography: Eight Ways We Get the World Wrong – Paul Richardson

Is geography really destiny?

Our maps may no longer be stalked by dragons and monsters, but our perceptions of the world are still shaped by geographic myths. Myths like Europe being the centre of the world. Or that border walls are the solution to migration. Or that Russia is predestined to threaten its neighbours.

In his punchy and authoritative new book, Paul Richardson challenges recent popular accounts of geographical determinism and shows that how we see the world represented often isn’t how it really is – that the map is not the territory.

Along the way we visit some remarkable Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park, where you can swim between two continents; Bir Tawil in North Africa, one of the world’s only territories not claimed by any country; and we follow the first train that ran across Eurasia between Yiwu in east China and Barking in east London.

Written with verve and full of quotable facts, Myths of Geography is a book that will turn your world upside down.

Adulting 101: The Basics of Travel Planning and Budgeting

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Starting out as a young adult with a newly minted degree or first paycheck, travel often becomes a tempting way to celebrate freedom or unwind. But most of us aren’t rolling in spare cash yet. Trips can easily get expensive, and overspending can lead to money stress that spoils the joy. So how do you explore the world without breaking the bank? It starts with smart planning and budgeting, a skill every adult needs anyway.

Rethinking travel expenses and priorities
Before booking a flight, pause and think: What kind of trip do you want? A quick escape or a long adventure? Do you want comfort or experiences? These questions matter because they shape your budget. It’s tempting to think you need to splurge for a memorable trip, but fun isn’t tied to spending heaps of money. Sometimes simplicity and thoughtful choices stretch your dollars far.

Define your travel priorities honestly. Maybe food and culture excite you more than fancy hotels. Or maybe relaxation is your goal, so a comfy place matters more than seeing every museum. Align your spending with these priorities to avoid wasting money on things that don’t add value for you.

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Set a realistic budget with clear categories
Adulting means managing money wisely. Start by setting a clear budget for your entire trip. Don’t guess; list out all expected costs, including transportation (flights, trains, buses), accommodation, food and drinks, activities and entrance fees, local transport, travel insurance, and miscellaneous expenses like souvenirs, tips, and other unexpected expenses.

Research your destination’s costs. Cheap destinations can save you a ton, but even pricey cities have budget options if you look hard. Use online resources that show average costs, like meals or transport, to make your estimates realistic. Add a small emergency buffer in your budget for unexpected costs, because things rarely go perfectly.

Be flexible to cut costs
Flexibility is a powerful tool. Travelling during shoulder seasons (just before or after peak holiday times) means cheaper flights and hotels. Flying mid-week is often cheaper than weekends. Small shifts in your travel dates can reduce prices significantly. Also, be open to alternative airports or nearby cities for arrival and departure; sometimes, a short train ride after flying saves you a lot. For accommodation, consider splitting your stay across different hotels or hostels based on price trends, or explore Airbnb and guesthouses that often cost less than hotels.

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Book wisely and plan ahead
While you don’t need to overplan, some bookings benefit from advance planning:

  • Look for flight deals way ahead or during sales events.
  • Book trains or buses early when possible for discounts.
  • Secure accommodations early to get better rates and avoid last-minute price hikes.

However, keep some flexibility: last-minute changes come with hefty fees except if you use points or travel rewards strategically.

Balance convenience and do-it-yourself travel
A tour or package might seem easier, but it usually costs more. If you’re on a budget, take control by figuring out local transit, choosing self-guided tours, and dining where locals eat instead of tourist traps. These small choices add up in savings and often lead to richer experiences.

Monitor spending during your trip
Keep track of your expenses daily. Use budgeting apps or simple notes. This prevents surprises and lets you adjust your spending if needed. If you splurge one day, scale back the next. This is a real adult skill: self-control and realistic monitoring.

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Travel insurance: Necessary or optional?
Some might view travel insurance as an unnecessary cost, but it’s important. Emergencies like illness, trip cancellations, or lost belongings can ruin your finances and peace of mind. Look for budget-friendly insurance options, especially if travelling abroad.

Avoiding debt for travel
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: Travelling on credit and accumulating debt is a bad idea. Adulting means taking responsibility for your financial health. Save up ahead of time. Treat your travel fund like a bill you must pay every month from your income. When you have saved enough, book your trip. This prevents post-trip financial hangovers.

Alternative budgeting tips

  • Cook some meals if your accommodation allows it; eating out all the time adds up.
  • Use public transportation instead of taxis or rentals.
  • Take advantage of free or low-cost activities like hiking, museums with free days, or exploring city parks.
  • Limit expensive souvenirs; prioritise memories, not stuff.
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Travel planning is an adulting practice
Travel is more than fun. It’s a microcosm of adult life: budgeting, planning, flexibility, prioritising, and managing unexpected situations. By learning to handle your travel budget well now, you build skills that pay off in every other part of adulthood.

In My Hands Today…

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Red Sauce Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey – Felicity Cloake

If there’s one thing that truly unites this country from Aberdeen to Abernethy, St Ives to St Pancras, it’s an obsession with breakfast. We all have an opinion on the merits of brown sauce versus ketchup on our morning sandwich. No other country’s culinary identity is so bound up with breakfast – the French may love their croissants, the Chinese their congee, but they’re rarely held up as national symbols in the same way as a Full English, an Ulster fry or a bowl of porridge. A good breakfast is our birth right, eaten with as much relish in the Wolsey on Piccadilly as in Terry’s Caff in Borough.

In this eagerly anticipated follow up to One More Croissant for the Road, Felicity Cloake sets off on an epic bike ride round Britain to celebrate and investigate the legendary Great British Breakfast. She rates fry-ups on criteria from the crispness of the bacon to how long they keep her pedalling and stops for fact-based tea-breaks in place of last time’s pause cafe. And a woman cannot live by All Day Breakfast alone, so as well as recipes for things like Omelette Arnold Bennett or proper porridge, she will report back on the delights of regional specialities she encounters along the way, from Lancashire hotpot to Welsh cakes, Balti to boxty and everything else that takes her fancy en route. All washed down with tea, naturally.

From the less celebrated breakfast items that often cause puzzlement to visitors abroad – baked beans on toast, for example, or Marmite or Weetabix – to the homely foods of different communities, the halwa puris and Polish rye breads, grilled plantain and century eggs, Felicity will take them all in. Her mission is to eat all the best breakfasts of Britain – whether a crumpet hot from the factory production line in Enfield or a desi breakfast in Birmingham or even a pease pudding stottie cake from the original Greggs in Gosforth, this will be a true tour of Britain. And Britain is a country that runs on breakfast.

In My Hands Today…

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Four Points of the Compass: The Unexpected History of Direction – Jerry Brotton

North, south, east, and west: almost all societies use these four cardinal directions to orientate themselves and to understand who they are by projecting where they are. For millennia, these four directions have been foundational to our travel, navigation, and exploration, and are central to the imaginative, moral, and political geography of virtually every culture in the world. Yet they are far more subjective—and sometimes contradictory—than we might realize.

Four Points of the Compass takes us on a journey of directional discovery. Societies have understood and defined directions in very different ways based on their locations in time and space. Historian Jerry Brotton reveals why Hebrew culture privileges east; why Renaissance Europeans began drawing north at the top of their maps; why early Islam revered the south; why the Aztecs used five color-coded cardinal directions; and why no societies, primitive or modern, have ever orientated themselves westwards. In doing so, politically-loaded but widely used terms such as the “Middle East,” the “Global South,” the “West Indies,” the “Orient,” and even the “western world” take on new meanings. Who decided on these terms and what do they mean for geopolitics? How have directions like “east” and “west” taken on the status of cultural identities—or more accurately stereotypes?

Yet today, because of GPS capability, cardinal points are less relevant. Online, we place ourselves at the center of the map as little blue dots moving across geospatial apps; we have become the most important compass point, though in the process we’ve disconnected ourselves from the natural world. Imagining what future changes technology may impose, Jerry Brotton skillfully reminds us how crucial the four cardinal directions have been to everyone who has ever walked our planet.