I am interested in:
Thursday, 14th November, 2013
Having travelled extensively with my family, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, I am frequently asked as to what constitutes a safe age to travel. Obviously, the answer will inevitably come down to personal choice, a choice based on your own beliefs vis-a-vis children and travel, and on your own children’s characters – some six year…
Thursday, 7th November, 2013
The recent Al-Shabab attack on Westgate shopping mall, Nairobi, brought the world of terrorism once again into sharp relief. Watching the rolling news, it seemed almost inevitable that a friend or colleague would somehow be involved, such was the unnerving familiarity of the images beamed a halfway across the world: I know that mall, I…
Thursday, 31st October, 2013
Uganda is rightly known for its gorillas. Rightly because its gorillas, as accessed by way of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, are extraordinary, not only for themselves but also for the fact that they have survived decades of poaching and climate change. They are beautiful and critically endangered. However, for me, Uganda is about its chimpanzees. Before…
Wednesday, 23rd October, 2013
Very pleased to see Departures Magazine’s much awaited Africa edition is out. Pleased, admittedly, because Journeys by Design is credited in a number of stories – Holy Ethiopia, Mobile in the Mara and Guide to the Super Guides; and because I see that we rank in among their top 5 agents for Africa. But also because I…
Thursday, 17th October, 2013
I am a firm believer in the extraordinary rewards that going on safari with one’s family brings. Some of you may remember receiving a circular going into some detail as to why. If not, then I know that many of you will have already read what we have to say regarding the hands-on life lessons…
Thursday, 3rd October, 2013
It’s a slightly emotive title, I know, and I apologise, but a recent trip to the Bayuda Desert, in Northern Sudan, resulted in my briefly returning to the ancient Nubian city of Meroe, where I had last been aged 12, a boy with his very first proper camera – a Pentax K1000, to be precise….
Wednesday, 2nd October, 2013
I am not a fan of luxury for luxury’s sake. Luxury, by definition, is excessive. Promoting luxury over and above the idea of sustainable tourism is, in my opinion, extremely short sighted. It suggests a thinking that is all about the now, with no thought as to the impact such thinking has on the future….
Thursday, 29th August, 2013
Welcome to this, Journeys by Design very first blog post. I thought, it being the first, that I might share with you something general, perhaps how we got started, what we’ve done, and where we are now – imagining, I suppose, that as well as giving you something of an insight into our values and…
Thursday, 29th August, 2013
At the risk of being accused of blowing the company trumpet, I have another quick bit of news: namely, that I have had the good fortune of having been selected as a Conde Nast Top Traveller Specialist for 2013 – – with particular reference to Ethiopia. This may not mean much to you, but here’s an interesting…
Thursday, 29th August, 2013
Sounds a little strange, I know, but I thought today that I’d say something about the thinking behind our new site, which went live in the spring of this year, and which, if Google analytics is to be believed, has seen an extraordinary jump in levels of traffic. First, though, a confession. While I’ve never…