We may come in different shapes and colours, but inside all are nourishing and nice.
– Vung Tau, Vietnam
South America
My Travel Philosophy
“I’m blissfully not addicted to other peoples’ opinions.”
I choose where I go, and enjoy what I choose. 🤠
TRAVEL WEBSITES: WHAT CAN WE BELIEVE?
I have been banging on for at least 5 years, about the huge flaw in travel websites such as Tripadvisor: they are too open to manipulation. See the newdaily.com report: https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/consumer/2018/07/31/meriton-penalty-misleading-tripadvisor/
THE BEST PART ABOUT TRAVEL IS…
Coming home to these two. Doesn’t it feel good to be wanted? Travel helps us to appreciate other cultures and what we have at home…
QANTAS DIRECT PERTH-LONDON. A REAL REVIEW…
No 17-hour flight is fun. As a travel editor I’ve done plenty, in First/Business Class, paid by the airlines. Here’s the real story, you’re unlikely to see in Traveller, Escape or on TV…
ONCE BITTER, NOW MELLOW IN A TASTEBUDS TANGO
Doing the X-word and trying a new drop, called Once Bitter (pot $3.50), at the Grocery Bar on Fitzroy Street, St Kilda. Made by Collins St Brewing Co (new to me), I’d place this beer in the “English Pale Ale” variety, with malt and hops in sensuous sync like tango dancers at a street cafe in Buenos Aires…
NO MERIT FOR MERITON SERVICED APARTMENTS
In the Digital Age we rely too much on travel review sites, such as TripAdvisor. Always be wary that the reviews can be easily manipulated. Here is a Fairfax Media report, of a court case involving Meriton Serviced Apartments:
Suffering ‘the darrell’ of travel
Every tour group has a “darrell”. You know, the one who complains the loudest and most often. And wears socks and sandals. The darrell is always holding up the group, lagging behind, late to arrive.
The darrell knows more than everyone else, especially the tour guide. Despite looking wanky, the darrell has the hat smothered in pins and patches, and the luggage covered in stickers and stamps from destinations all over the world. This septuagenarian has been everywhere. That must have been expensive, if paying full fare…
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Argentina, from beautiful Buenos Aires to the glaciers of Patagonia
This is another piece I published in Escape, and is worth republishing because the appeal of Argentina is timeless:
A LOUD “crack” grabs everybody’s attention. Fortunately, my digital camera is turned on so I whip it up as I scan the horizon. Gasps of surprise come from those around me as fingers start pointing to a huge chunk of ice slowly plunging into the opaque water, accompanied by a steady “boom”.
Haxtrax 