The Light Fantastic
Light is a funny old thing. For around 25 years, I stumbled around with only a cursory concept of it: sometimes it was there, sometimes it was not; sometimes there was too much of it, sometimes not enough. I think this is how a lot of people are with light: they are aware of it, ...
Snap Happy
The name does not, as I have believed for so very long, have anything to do with loud artillery. This makes every explosive noise I’ve ever made while taking a photograph kind of redundant. Of course, Katy always knew better, although she didn’t know that the brand Canon actually comes from the Buddhist god of ...
The Place Where Gods Are Born
Earlier this year we spent seven weeks in America. This was a typical conversation: “Where y’all from?” “Scotland.” “Oh I’m Scottish.” “Really? Where were you born?” “Arizona, but my great, great grandmother on my father’s side was from Elgin.” “Right.” There’s something nice about it, though, the North American obsession over tracing routes. It doesn’t ...
Under the Sea (Well, Almost)
“I tell you I was born on the seashore! I bathed in the waters of the sea! It gave me food and it gave me peace, and its fascinating distances fed my dreams… I have to smile for the salt of the sea is in my blood, and there may be ten thousand roads over ...
Battleship Island
Hashima – or Battleship Island – lying just outside the bay of Nagasaki was, for almost 90 years, a bustling coal mining community. The entire place was owned by the Mitsubishi company, who used every scrap of land to house employees, offices and mining facilities in a concrete fortress in the middle of the sea. ...
The Fat and the Furious
In Europe, we’ve got our own sport for the big lads. Yes, there are some rugby players, who are much larger than average, but they’re only suited to certain positions. But I’m referring to darts, which allows a person to be as obese as they like, so long as they still have the strength in ...
There is a Light and it Never Goes Out
My grandfather was in it from the very start – he lied about his age so he could join up. His first missions came on the notorious North Atlantic convoys, when British ships would navigate icy North Sea to sneak past German forces and deliver supplies to the Soviets. My grandfather was 15 years old, ...
Kobe By Night
Kobe by the sea is famous outside of Japan almost exclusively for its beef. But inside the country, it’s known for much more. It’s home to some of the most fashion conscious people in Japan, and as a result there are literally miles of shops vying for their yen. Great news for Katy (and terrible ...
Farewell To Autumn
Just a few days ago, we were sweating it out on the coast of Shizuoka. I spent half the day surfing; the other half trying to fend off the humidity. It was so warm that autumn hadn’t really taken hold – the ocean was still perfectly bearable (granted, with a wetsuit) and the leaves hadn’t ...
Training Days
Today is our 40th day as travel volunteers: if we were emigrating pets, or Jesus Christ, it’d be time to leave quarantine and come home for a bite to eat and a bit of a cuddle. But we’re neither, so we keep travelling. In fact, for two of those 40 days, we’ve been nothing but ...
← Older entries