How to buy Copper Canyon train tickets

El Chepe, the Copper Canyon railway train

Updated June 2020. This post gives details on how to buy your Copper Canyon railway tickets before you travel, without having to pay a USD $100 tour operator premium. Andrew and I travelled on Mexico’s Copper Canyon railway in October 2016, from El Fuerte to Creel. We travelled in Business (then known as First/Primera).   Since then, new First Class carriages have […]

Should I pack regular or prescription sunglasses for travel?

eyewear for travel

If you wear glasses or contact lenses, should you pack regular or prescription sunglasses for travel? Andrew and I compare. This post includes a 50% discount on your next glasses/sunglasses frames. Andrew is an avid glasses wearer. I’m a contact lens aficionado. We have quite different approaches to our eyewear when we’re travelling. Here we […]

Travel by Instagram: The twelve days of pictures

Travel by Instagram: The 12 days of pictures - The Gap Year Edit

Yes, it’s a really bad Christmas pun … the twelve days of pictures is here! We “Travel by Instagram” to get the story behind your favourite twelve photos from my Instagram account in 2015, including the truth of whether I liked the places in the pictures … Huuuge thanks to my fellow Instagrammers for the […]

How to (re)create the feeling of travel at home

travel at home: vegetable photographs!

How much time do you spend travelling every year? Two weeks? Three? Four if you’re lucky? What about the other 48+ weeks? How can you experience what you love about your holidays and travel in everyday life? Here are some top tips for creating – or recreating – the feeling of travel at home. Be a tourist […]

How to pack for backpacking Central America

How to pack for backpacking Central America

From T-shirts to travel towels, torches to trousers, read on to find out how to pack for backpacking Central America and other tropical destinations.  I’ve got you covered … Tips on how to pack for backpacking Save space – and the hassle of trying to find an iron – by rolling your clothes instead of folding […]

How to pack hand luggage only for a one-week trip: the carry-on challenge

hand luggage only for one week trip

Here I help you avoid expensive baggage fees by sharing some tips and a hand luggage only packing list for a one-week trip in varying climates. Hand luggage only packing tips Find clothes and accessories that mix and match. If a T-shirt only goes with one pair of trousers, it’s a no-no Multipurpose “dress up, […]

The A to Z of gap year planning. Part 4: U to Z

when you're 80, which will you remember

“I’ve got zillions of gap year ideas – how do I narrow them down?” Visas, work, and what to do with all those gap year ideas – we’ve got it covered in this, the fourth post on gap year planning. If you missed the earlier posts in the series, you can find them right here – […]