travel blog
A complete travel photography gear guide
We’re often asked about the gear we take on our travels. In response, we have written a detailed and complete travel photography gear guide I have been involved in film or photography throughout the course of my career: initially as a camera operator, video editor and AV engineer, later as a teacher in digital media, and now as a travel writer. I’ve published photography in a range of magazines, newspapers, books and websites including BBC Travel, Lonely Planet, The Telegraph and The Independent among others. I even provided the photography for a recipe book once. I’ve also sold stock images for several years on Shutterstock and iStock by Getty Images, and my photography plays a prominent role throughout our travel blog and social channels, particularly Instagram. ...
When nature calls: why going to the toilet in the outdoors may be about to change
Burying your waste may no longer be the most sustainable way to go to the toilet in the outdoors, according to new research The number of people using public lands in the US has been steadily increasing for years. The pandemic accelerated the trend as lockdown-weary Americans flocked to outdoor spaces in record numbers. The increase in visitors saw several parks and landmarks introduce reservation systems to counteract the unsustainable rise in visitor numbers. From 2019 to 2021, a study found that there was an increase of 8.1 million hikers and 7.9 million campers in the US. In 2021, the National Park System (NPS) announced that 44 US national parks had set new records for recreational visits that year. Numbers across the NPS are forecast to rise even further in 2022 as international...
Fitz Roy day hike: an essential guide
A Q&A guide to the Fitz Roy day hike, telling you exactly what you need to know to reach this iconic peak We had unfinished business with Fitz Roy. We first visited in 2015 after a disappointing trip to Torres del Paine in Chile. It was winter in Patagonia and thanks to awful weather we saw absolutely nothing. A local guide told us to try El Chaltén in Argentina where one of the most beautiful mountains in the world looms over the village itself. In an effort to redeem the journey south, we followed his advice and headed to El Chaltén. Alas, it was not to be. After hiking 18km (11mi) to Laguna Torre, we suffered the same fate: a complete and utter whiteout. Peter was especially crushed. As a mountain junkie, he couldn’t believe that he had missed seeing these iconic peaks. ...
How to visit Perito Moreno Glacier: a complete guide
An updated guide on how to visit Perito Moreno Glacier following our second encounter with the giant Argentine wonder When reporting on our first trip to Patagonia back in 2015, Kia lamented that once you’ve been travel writing for a while, it’s hard to come up with fresh superlatives. “I mean, you can’t say gaze-catching instead of eye-catching and you can’t say stride-stopping instead of heart-stopping, can you?” she wrote. The source of her discord was Perito Moreno Glacier, a sight so overwhelming that it’s utterly, er, step freezing. Now, I know that travel bloggers are prone to gasping (“we both gasped”, “we gasped in awe”, “we both let out an audible gasp”), but I’m not embellishing when I say that when I first glimpsed Perito Moreno, I really did gasp at the sight. [...
Best things to do in Ushuaia, the capital of the end of the world
Seven years after our first visit, we return to Tierra del Fuego to rediscover the best things to do in Ushuaia, the capital of the end of the world There are few places left in the world that still evoke the romance of old-world exploration. They inspire nostalgia for a time we never knew; places to which we’ve never been. We know their names in the same way we know Neverland and Narnia: shrouded in legend and lore. Cartagena, Antarctica, the Northwest Passage and Vinson Massif. Even men sounded greater then: Drake, Amundsen, Livingstone and Shackleton. Amid these legendary places surely lies space for Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of Argentina and the famed “end of the world”, the last huddle of humanity before the wilderness of Antarctica. It’s with this sense of awe that we set fo...
Best parks in Buenos Aires
We explore the best parks in Buenos Aires to help you find a spot of calm in Argentina’s whirlwind capital Buenos Aires whizzes past. While its cafés, bars and restaurants spill out onto the sidewalks, honking throngs of traffic hurtle by just inches away. Porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) barely raise an eyebrow over their espressos, but for those of us uninitiated, Buenos Aires can be overwhelming. For all its tree-lined avenues, the ‘Paris of South America’ is among the world’s least green cities with only around 1.8m2 of green space per capita – well below the World Health Organisation’s minimum recommendation of 10m2. Fortunately, respite can be found. In the feverish metropolis nearly 13 million call home, there is a slew of leafy plazas and public areas where the city’s residents...
The travel that changed me: Shafik Meghji
From the biggest myth in travel writing to the dream destination he hasn’t yet seen, author Shafik Meghji tells us about the travel that changed him In his early teens, Shafik Meghji came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to make it as a professional footballer. As such, he settled for the next best thing: a job as a roving sports reporter. He won a coveted Scott Trust Bursary from the Guardian which funded his diploma in newspaper journalism and led to a role at the Evening Standard. Author Shafik Meghji When he grew tired of the 5am shifts, Shafik quit his job to join his girlfriend on a trip around the world. They spent a year backpacking around India and South America, visiting places like the Thar desert, the Western Ghats, Patagonia and the Amazon. The trip sparked a new a...
20 interesting facts about Antarctica
We share the most interesting facts about Antarctica collected on our recent trip to the seventh continent For a long time, it seemed like our trip to Antarctica wasn’t going to happen. Covid postponed it from 2020 to 2021, and then again to 2022. Even after we got the green light, our nerves didn’t ease. If we tested positive for Covid, we wouldn’t be allowed to board the ship, and daily testing meant that we could be quarantined in our cabins even after setting sail. In short, it was more stressful than expected. Despite the extra anxiety, we were thoroughly enchanted by the great white continent. In fact, Antarctica quickly became our number one travel experience – a testament to its majesty given the daily challenges. During our 10-day voyage, we watched a sleeping baby hum...
20 best books about Antarctica
From harrowing accounts of survival to the heartwarming tale of a rescued penguin, we list our favourite books about Antarctica The most inhospitable place on Earth is an engrossing setting for any story, be it fictional or factual. Unsurprisingly, Antarctica’s literary canon is filled with tales of tragedy and/or survival against the odds. It would be easy, then, to fill this list with biographies of Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton alone. But Antarctica deserves attention beyond its tales of tragedy. With that in mind, we have taken a broader view. There are, of course, profiles of the pioneers and their epic journeys of discovery spanning more than a century of polar exploration, but we’ve also included a diverse mix of memoirs, biographies and novels – from crime to science fiction – all...
Best mountaineering movies: 28 must-see cliffhangers
Our carefully curated list of the best mountaineering movies ever made Recently, I re-watched one of my favourite mountaineering movies: Everest. Historically, even the best mountaineering films have struggled to bridge the gap between climbing documentary and Hollywood blockbuster. However, Everest – released in 2015 and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin – managed to please both thrill-seeking moviegoers and mountaineers alike (unless you’re Jon Krakauer of course). I would rate the film right up there with the wince-inducing 127 Hours (2010) and North Face (2008), a chilling German film about a failed attempt on the Eiger. It made me want to re-watch the very best mountaineering movies, in particular, Meru (2015) and Touching the Void (2003), the latter of which also hap...
Training for Kilimanjaro: 7 tips for a successful summit
Completing some basic training for Kilimanjaro will make your climb easier, safer and ultimately more enjoyable I climbed Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, back in 2010. At 5,895m (19,340ft), it was my first high-altitude trek and even though I had some hillwalking behind me, I had no experience of trekking at altitude, wasn’t fit enough and didn’t have the right gear. In hindsight, I was fortunate to make the summit considering I was so underprepared. Fast forward 12 years and I’ve climbed four of the seven summits including Elbrus and Aconcagua, and completed several high-altitude treks including Everest base camp and K2 base camp. I have backpacks full of outdoor gear and am fitter now at 38 years old than I ever was in my twenties. Atlas & Boots Peter on the summit of Kilimanjaro...
Antarctica packing list: all you need for your polar adventure
A click-and-pick Antarctica packing list with links to specific products that have been personally tested by Atlas & Boots A friend of mine recently asked what three things make me happiest, as part of her research for her forthcoming book. I named family and nature which are fairly standard answers. Less common was my third choice of hygge, the Danish concept of cosiness. We hear a lot about wellness, fitness and mental health but very little about nourishing the body on a tactile level. I explained that I love wrapping up in soft fabrics and fleecy blankets and can’t understand why we use these materials to soothe babies and young children but then swap to jeans and stiff, starchy clothes when we’re older. In short: I love being warm and comfy. With this in mind, you can unders...
