Hiking Glenturret – The Grouse Experience

Famous Grouse ExperienceGlenturret is a small glen in the Scottish Highlands of Perthshire, just north of the little town of Crieff. Within easy reach of nearby Glasgow and Edinburgh, this is the southern edge of the true Scottish Highlands, that extend from here to the rough North Coast. It is an area famous for a typical Scottish bird: The Grouse. The easy access makes this a great area for hiking and camping in the hills. It literally takes minutes to go from friendly Crieff town square to the rugged and remote hills of the Highlands. With my company Expedition Factory I organized an early spring mini-expedition to this wonderful place. Please follow me on a virtual tour to Glen Turret: Continue reading

Road trip: Best of Britain in a British Roadster

MGLive09_022sA few years ago I was able to purchase a small British sportscar, of a type that I had always really liked. An 8-year old MGF convertible in British Racing Green, with a beige leather interior. Two seats, central engine, rear wheel drive (meaning I couldn’t safely drive it in winter). When owning a British car there is only one country in the world where you truly experience the classic English sportscar feeling: England! As a member of the Dutch MG club I had the opportunity to join British MG events, the most famous of which is organized every year at Silverstone, the home of British motor racing! In 2007 and 2009 I attended this MGLive event, making it into a very cool road trip from home to Silverstone and back! The best of Britain in a British roadster! Continue reading

The best 5 road trips in the world

MGLive09_065sThis post was not entirely my own idea. I was totally inspired by a short blog post by fellow travel blogger We Are Travellers, who wrote about ‘the five coolest cars for a road trip‘ recently. Her post immediately reminded me of the many very cool road trips that I have done over the past years. It even made me realize for the first time that I am actually a real road trip travel addict. Many of my most epic trips were road trips and I still prefer taking the car wherever I can… or can’t… Let these road trip ideas inspire you: Continue reading

A space tourist on Earth

SpaceBucketList_27Earlier today I published the space bucket list, containing all flown manned spaceflight vehicles on public display around the world. Reason for compiling this list was ongoing debate about specific spacecraft locations and people (including me) questioning the authenticity of certain spacecraft on display in museums. I visited a record number of spacecraft in museums in 2014. This blog post is an attempt to describe a specific (geeky?) travel theme and the diversity of destinations this covers, rather than a story about a destination. Join me on a virtual tour of Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan and the United States, all visited in 2014. Continue reading

Cornwall with kids

Cornwall_2012_017I am writing this at home, on a rainy Sunday afternoon. A good moment to write about rainy travel experiences. For me personally, weather has never been a primary concern when making travel choices. My main drivers are curiosity for unknown places and a desire to stay off the beaten track as much as possible. One of my bucket list destinations was Cornwall, in southwest England. In 2012 we decided to make Southern England our family summer vacation destination, starting with a week in Cornwall, exploring kid-friendly and adventurous sights. Despite the weather, it turned out to be a great outdoors family experience. Let me take you on a virtual tour below, listing our top-4 family attractions. Best watched on a rainy day… Continue reading

Romans in the North: Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrians_Wall_Feb2014_014The Scots are a fearful people. So fearful that they should be kept out of the empire at all cost. At least they were in Roman times. Known simply as the ‘Barbarians’ to the Romans, like all people outside their large empire, the Scots were a bridge too far. Emperor Hadrian built a wall to protect the Northern end of the empire from the Scots, just north of the Tyne river, around the year 122 AD.

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40 Years of Ferries

DFDS Seaways Prince of Scandinavia modelI blame this shipmodel on board the DFDS ‘Princess Seaways’. I saw it at the deck 6 lounge of this modern ferry a few weeks ago. It is a scale model of the “Prince of Scandinavia”, a 1975-built ferry that sailed for DFDS Seaways from 1981 to 2003. One of my oldest childhood holiday memories is of this ship, which was originally registered as MS ‘Tor Britannia’, sailing for Tor Line in 1979. I still have a postcard that I got on board that ship, as an eight year old kid.

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Newcastle: Bridges over Tyne and Toon

Millenium BridgeWhat is it with people on the side of a river? Is the grass always greener on the other side? The two opposite cities of Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne are linked by as many as seven bridges within less than two kilometers. These famous Tyne bridges were once a symbol of British industrial engineering. Now they make great landmarks in a new tourist destination in Northern England, that forever shed its coal dust in favour of science and great nightlife. The bridges still dominate the cityscape, where they carry party goers and football fans from one side of the river to the other. Remnants of a rich industrial past, now functioning as pillars for a rich future. Continue reading

DFDS Seaways – Slow travel over the North Sea

DFDS_Seaways_Feb2014_09It takes about an hour to fly from Amsterdam to Newcastle in Northern England. A quick and cost effective trip, especially on one of the lowcost carriers. So why would you even want to consider taking a ferry on this route? A question that DFDS Seaways helped a group of Dutch travelbloggers answer, when travelling to Newcastle upon Tyne for the #Traverse14 travel bloggers conference in February 2014. Continue reading

Stonehenge, from the inside out

Wiltshire Stonehenge 2013 05Social media have brought me to all kinds of special places around the world. I have been invited to conferences, expositions and even space launches, meeting the most wonderful and passionate people you can think of. I am really lucky to live in a vibrant online community, where my virtual friends are also my real friends. It was through one of these communities that I received an invitation to visit Stonehenge in England, several months ago. I had been to Stonehenge before and remembered it as a crowded place, where tourism had taken over from magic and history. A tourist trap, hardly recommendable to traveling friends. This invitation was different though. It was for an after hours visit in a small exclusive group of social media friends. And even more special, it was outside the season where they normally organize these VIP visits. So obviously I accepted, but still without fully realizing what this meant. Continue reading