Flora The Explorer - Page 11 of 28 -

A Day in the Life of a Camino Pilgrim

Posted on November 22, 2015

“I follow the arrows, and when my feet hurt, I stop. What more do I need?” Our group of pilgrims sits at a circular table made of stainless steel in a nameless town in Spain, a fresh round of beers in front of us. As Carol argues her case for why the Camino is so simple, I can’t help thinking back over the days I’ve walked so far. At first glance, they all seem to meld together. Each day, there are…

Austria Europe Travels with my Dad

Travels with my Dad: Autumn Walks in the Austrian Alps

Posted on November 11, 2015

If your life is anything like mine, November is an unexpectedly manic month. Maybe it’s because everyone’s preparing for the end of the year; maybe the worsening weather makes us simultaneously more lazy and more desperate to get motivated. Whatever it is, I’ve been mired in all kinds of work – from freelance writing projects to typing like a demon for my masters (hello, twenty thousand words to be submitted by early December!) – and I’ve also somehow decided it’s a good idea…

Camino de Santiago Europe Language Solo Travel Spain Spanish Challenge The Camino

The Spanish Challenge: Walking the Camino with Spaniards

Posted on November 4, 2015

NB: Long-term readers may remember that during my travels through South America, I wrote a series of articles about my Spanish learning progress called ‘The Spanish Challenge’. It’s been a while since I added to the series – but the Camino is the perfect place for its resurrection! “Que es una chinche?!” It was almost 11pm in our narrow dormitory. I was tired, my feet were aching, and getting into my slippery sleeping bag for a well deserved night’s sleep…

Europe Latvia

Foraging in Forests: A Latvian Love for Mushrooms

Posted on October 20, 2015

“I really want a garden.” Lelde steps carefully between the brambles and blueberry bushes, a red handled knife in her hand. She is looking for mushrooms. I don’t know the layout of this forest, but Lelde seemingly does. She follows an invisible path between fir trees and pines, tracking her way across springy mounds of bright green moss and clusters of tiny acorns. Beside my hiking boots, large ants scurry through the mulch that has fallen from the trees towering above us. Focused…

Camino de Santiago Europe Solo Travel Spain

You Know You’ve Walked the Camino When…

Posted on October 13, 2015

A lot of people don’t understand the Camino. When you tell them you’re voluntarily walking four hundred kilometres through Spain with all your possessions on your back, they don’t believe you at first. Once you’ve convinced them that, yes, you’re serious – just like many thousands of other people from all over the world, who do the same thing each year – they look at you strangely. “But… why?!” To most, walking the Camino makes no sense. But thankfully a huge…

South Africa

From Cable to Table: in Love With the Mountain of Cape Town

Posted on September 20, 2015

Table Mountain is a South African icon. This bizarrely flat plateau towers above the high-rises and hotels that jostle for space on the Cape Town skyline, is visible from every direction, and welcomes more than 1.5 million visitors every year. I’ve always had the desire to stand at the top of Table Mountain, although I’ve never known exactly why. Its global reputation is probably a big part of it (especially as it’s now one of the world’s Seven Natural Wonders) – but…

Camino de Santiago Challenges Personal Solo Travel Spain Spanish Challenge

Confessions of a Camino Newbie

Posted on September 10, 2015

“Is my little toe supposed to feel numb?” I’m walking through the forests of Sigulda with Janis, my Latvian guide. I’m wearing newly purchased hiking boots with equally new insoles which the shrewd saleswoman in Cotswolds Outdoors insisted I needed. I’m hyperaware of how my feet feel. At each step, with every shifting muscle and every twinge of a ligament, pangs of worry strike at me like sinking stones. “Why do my feet feel sore after only four hours? Should I get…

The Philippines

Of Rivers and Oceans: an Ode to the Filipino Boat

Posted on August 31, 2015

I dip my paddle’s curved edge into the still, green water. The banks of the river are bright with thick waxy leaves and colourful pinpricks of budding flowers. I can feel the vegetation radiating tropical heat. Pulling back on the paddle’s long handle with both hands allows the muscles in my shoulders to take the strain. There’s a string of palpable energy running from the water to my hands and the whole way down my body to the soles of my feet,…

Europe Festivals Latvia

Cesis, Latvia: The Tiny Town with Eight Hundred Years of History

Posted on August 16, 2015

At over eight hundred years old, the medieval town of Cesis, Latvia looks exactly like you’d expect. The streets of Cesis, Latvia, are narrow and occasionally cobblestoned; the small squat houses are made from faded wooden panels; the half ruined complex of a 13th century castle and the oldest brewery in Latvia sit within spitting distance of each other. Cesis is a town where one of the parks is known colloquially by its two resident black swans – and where said swans’ mating habits occasionally make…

The Philippines

11 Things I Never Expected About the Philippines

Posted on August 9, 2015

When you think of South East Asia, what springs to mind? For me, it’s a backpacker’s mecca – particularly for those on a budget. Food and accommodation is cheap, the weather’s good, beaches are seemingly everywhere and the traveller trail is so well established that it’s easy to move from place to place. But with so many countries to choose from, where on earth do you go first? Suggestion. How about the Philippines?! I recently spent a week in the Philippines and fell…

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