There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
– Ratty, the Wind In The Willows
Three nights on a cruiser on the Norfolk Broads.  The smell of the mudweight when weighed in the morning.  A crew paralysed by the hygiene facilities.  Mooring and casting-off single-handed.  Friendly locals [...]

The next day we rose earlier and went to a small bar for breakfast. It took ages to get served, possibly because we were a bit on the late side for petit dejeuner, possibly because I spoke English to the waitress and she was too offended to serve us, possibly because the French believe [...]

If you have not been to Paris before, stay near the Arc de Triomphe! We emerged from the hotel around 11:30, and had a little difficulty getting breakfast: Rachael wanted a croissant and we eventually found a place called the “Croissanterie” or some such, though there were none in evidence.
Me: Est-ce que vous [...]

Jet2 promised us a trip to Paris for 99p there and £1.99 back. Plus taxes. Oh, do you have a bag? That’s £5.99. Oh, did you want a seat? That’s £3.99. Do you want “Priority Checkin”? No? sure?
So £150 each later, we had two nights [...]

… is not the best song to have stuck in your head when you’re surrounded by Malaysian waiters, servers, stewards and so on.
We went on our summer holidays! Which, due to financial and temporal constraints, and the limits of our joint skills at organisation, ended up being a day-trip to Holland, in December.
But first, [...]

These guys are good. Very good. I hope the formula for World Of Warcraft’s addictiveness was discovered accidentally. If it was actually designed this way, there are some extremely dark and sinister agents abroad in the world of computer gaming.
After downloading the game for about 10billion years, I logged in and was [...]

In Alice Springs, 2004, I was walking on the pavement with a bag of shopping in each hand when I encountered an Aborigine coming the other way. He slowly reached over to take my Tilley and I, just as slowly, ducked and avoided his grasp. I gave a little laugh of bemusement [...]

The first time I rode a proper motorbike on a public road was in 1996 in Nepal. Faced with a day’s hiking to go from Dhulikhel to Panauti and see a Buddhist temple in the Himalayan foothills, Jenny and I decided to get smart and hire a motorbike. That should reduce our day [...]

[Whitby to Robin Hood's Bay along the Cleveland Way]
Does it? Yesterday, Fortune favoured the ill-informed, lazy, disorganized yet stubborn. I’m inclined to think Fortune mainly favours the fortunate.
Rach and I decided to walk from Whitby to Robin Hood’s bay. This meant almost zero planning since it was the exact same walk I’d [...]

1) Wear the same deodorant every Christmas, different from your regular one.
2) Always take the same brand of wet wipes on holiday with you, different to your usual one.
3) Wait 3 or 4 years
4) When you wish to bend time, spray a little of the deodorant on (or on your pillow)
5) When you wish to [...]