Whilst it’s difficult to pronounce Oaxaca, once you’ve mastered this, the only struggle you will have is leaving. Phonetically pronounced ‘wa-ha-ca’, this incredibly photogenic colonial city will have you admiring every colour saturated street corner.
Crossing the Bolivian Altiplano is an experience in wilderness. There’s something surreal about being so far from modern civilisation, where there’s nothing to do but take in the dramatic colours and contours. Most will take this trip for the salt flats alone and be happily surprised by the wealth of beauty the region has to offer.
There’s a little piece of this world that took my unsuspecting heart by surprise. Something about being surrounded by the imposing red, pink and white cliffs of Zion feels close to magic.
Ella is set in the hill country of Sri Lanka, where the higher altitude means the air is noticeably cooler and offers immediate respite from the typical humidity. The lush green surrounds are made for hiking, so this is the ultimate place to put your sneakers on and explore as far as you can.
Macedonia is a land-locked country, but suffers nothing for lack of a beach. Ohrid, which is settled alongside one of the deepest and oldest lakes in Europe, has all the magnetism of a coastal city.
Every now and then you arrive somewhere that is so completely different from your version of normal that any kind of similarity is hard to draw. Shibu Onsen is one of those places, where it feels like you’ve not only been transported to a different culture, but a different era.
For some, Los Angeles is the gateway to the USA, a necessary stop before moving east to New York… but for others, it is the destination. I fell into the former category, only budgeting for a few days there upon landing in the States for the very first time. Expecting a tacky, traffic-clogged Tinseltown – I was prepared to hate Los Angeles. But I was too quick to judge and an unexpected like blossomed.
