Blog Travel highlights
Even in Scotland, I was a wanderer from an early age. But I was a late starter in foreign travel - I was 18 before I made my first trip to Europe. By the age of 28, I had circumnavigated the globe. I blame John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley for that.
I've crossed the 7 seas (apart from the Antarctic) and sailed many other seas: North, Mediterranean, Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean, Baltic, Black, Arabian, Dead, Red and South China.
I've been over the sea to Skye, Orkney, Iceland, Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Corsica, Sicily, Crete, Galapagos and Easter Island.
I've seen some of the wonders of the world: Calanais, Pisa, Colosseum, Pyramids, Persepolis, Angkor Wat, the Great Wall of China, Petra, Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, Potala Palace, Taj Mahal, Catal Hoyuk, Delphi, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Kruger, Iguazu Falls.
I've been in the Sonora, Death Valley, Mojave, Atacama and Sahara deserts.
I’ve stood in the footsteps of the kings of Dal Riata at Dunadd, St Paul at Damascus, Tarsus, Antioch and Corinth, and seen Pope John Paul in the Vatican.
I’ve rolled along the wine routes of Champagne, Bordeaux, the Loire, Provence, Burgundy, Alsace, Moselle, Styria in Austria, Friuli-Venezia and Tuscany in Italy, Rioja in Spain, Evora in Portugal, Napa Valley in California, Okanagan in Canada, Mendoza in Argentina, Aconcagua in Chile, and Franschhoek in South Africa.
I've been lost in many of the capital cities in the world.
I've climbed the Cobbler, the Cairngorms, Vesuvius, Mt Triglav, Bobotov kuk, Mt Psiloteritis, Mt Olympus and Khafre’s Pyramid; set foot on the Eiger and the Matterhorn; flown over Everest, Mont Blanc and Mt McKinley.
I've ski'd the best places in the Alps, Pyrenees and the Rockies.
I've trekked the West Highland Way, the John Muir Way, the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt, the Haute Route in the Pyrenees, Alta Vias 1 and 2 in Italy, the Patagonia Trails in Argentina, Torres del Paine in Chile, Annapurna in the Himalayas and Grand Randonnees in France: GR4 Verdon, GR5 from Geneva to Nice over the Alps, GR20 in Corsica, GR54 Ecrins, GR70 Stevenson Way, GR98 Calanques.
I've played golf in every European country that has courses, as well as Canada, USA, Australia, Argentina, and Nepal.
I've played football or been to Broomfield, Firhill, Hampden, Wembley, Ajax Johan Cruyff Arena, Milan San Siro, Barcelona Nou Camp, Boca Juniors La Bombonera.
I've canoe'd the Ardeche, Danube, Rhine, Soca, and the Med, crossed the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Rubicon.
I've snorkelled in Cyprus (Coral Bay, Aphrodite’s Rock),Corsica, Galapagos and the Red Sea (Sharm el Sheikh (Ras Mohammed), Hurghada).
I've only had one waterski (Loch Tay), one scuba dive (Corsica), one parachute jump (Portmoak), one paraglide (Val d'Isere), and one balloon ride (Egypt).
Even in Scotland, I was a wanderer from an early age. But I was a late starter in foreign travel - I was 18 before I made my first trip to Europe. By the age of 28, I had circumnavigated the globe. I blame John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley for that.
I've crossed the 7 seas (apart from the Antarctic) and sailed many other seas: North, Mediterranean, Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean, Baltic, Black, Arabian, Dead, Red and South China.
I've been over the sea to Skye, Orkney, Iceland, Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Corsica, Sicily, Crete, Galapagos and Easter Island.
I've seen some of the wonders of the world: Calanais, Pisa, Colosseum, Pyramids, Persepolis, Angkor Wat, the Great Wall of China, Petra, Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, Potala Palace, Taj Mahal, Catal Hoyuk, Delphi, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Kruger, Iguazu Falls.
I've been in the Sonora, Death Valley, Mojave, Atacama and Sahara deserts.
I’ve stood in the footsteps of the kings of Dal Riata at Dunadd, St Paul at Damascus, Tarsus, Antioch and Corinth, and seen Pope John Paul in the Vatican.
I’ve rolled along the wine routes of Champagne, Bordeaux, the Loire, Provence, Burgundy, Alsace, Moselle, Styria in Austria, Friuli-Venezia and Tuscany in Italy, Rioja in Spain, Evora in Portugal, Napa Valley in California, Okanagan in Canada, Mendoza in Argentina, Aconcagua in Chile, and Franschhoek in South Africa.
I've been lost in many of the capital cities in the world.
I've climbed the Cobbler, the Cairngorms, Vesuvius, Mt Triglav, Bobotov kuk, Mt Psiloteritis, Mt Olympus and Khafre’s Pyramid; set foot on the Eiger and the Matterhorn; flown over Everest, Mont Blanc and Mt McKinley.
I've ski'd the best places in the Alps, Pyrenees and the Rockies.
I've trekked the West Highland Way, the John Muir Way, the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt, the Haute Route in the Pyrenees, Alta Vias 1 and 2 in Italy, the Patagonia Trails in Argentina, Torres del Paine in Chile, Annapurna in the Himalayas and Grand Randonnees in France: GR4 Verdon, GR5 from Geneva to Nice over the Alps, GR20 in Corsica, GR54 Ecrins, GR70 Stevenson Way, GR98 Calanques.
I've played golf in every European country that has courses, as well as Canada, USA, Australia, Argentina, and Nepal.
I've played football or been to Broomfield, Firhill, Hampden, Wembley, Ajax Johan Cruyff Arena, Milan San Siro, Barcelona Nou Camp, Boca Juniors La Bombonera.
I've canoe'd the Ardeche, Danube, Rhine, Soca, and the Med, crossed the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Rubicon.
I've snorkelled in Cyprus (Coral Bay, Aphrodite’s Rock),Corsica, Galapagos and the Red Sea (Sharm el Sheikh (Ras Mohammed), Hurghada).
I've only had one waterski (Loch Tay), one scuba dive (Corsica), one parachute jump (Portmoak), one paraglide (Val d'Isere), and one balloon ride (Egypt).