Carbon Footprints & The Beast

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The Beast – a Volvo N10. Our new home from late 2020

‘Let he who is without carbon footprint cast the first stone’

If you follow my blog, you will know that the environment is high on our agenda. Travelling overland in a caravan or motorhome is already more eco-friendly than most methods of living, travel or holidaying. Mark and I have a very minimal lifestyle, with few possessions, we try to avoid waste and have reduced our use of plastic considerably.

However, as part of our Brexit Busting plan, we have bought a truck to convert for overland travel outside of the E.U. Continue reading “Carbon Footprints & The Beast” →

New Release: Pups on Piste – A Ski Season in Italy

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In between our latest adventure and purchasing an ex-army truck for our next adventure, I have written a book about a previous adventure!

Pups on Piste – A Ski Season in Italy documents the first three month winter season that we spent in beautiful Monte Rosa, one of the ski areas of the Aosta Valley in northern Italy.

With parables from on piste and off, Pups on Piste tells of my own skiing journey – from tears on a blue run to powder hound, along with how we got a full season on the snow when we, “don’t look old enough to have given up work” – and what we did for Winter Walkies with four pups in tow.

Continue reading “New Release: Pups on Piste – A Ski Season in Italy” →

Our Brexit Busting Plan

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St Lucia – but is it still paradise if you can’t leave?

In St Lucia on my 40th birthday, a local told us, “I wish I had a French passport, then I would be able to travel freely, wherever I want.”

Effectively, he couldn’t leave the island. To travel almost anywhere in the world, he needed a visa, which he could only obtain from Barbados. St Lucia is poor. With 30% unemployment, the likelihood of most St Lucians being able to afford to travel to Barbados to get a visa was close to zero. The man did not have Freedom of Movement; his options were limited. He could not choose where to go to live and work nor could he go elsewhere for a holiday, to study or to better himself. He lived in what we would call paradise, but we had choices. For him, it might as well have been a prison.

I remember feeling humbled. By an accident of birth, I held a British passport; one of the most powerful passports in the world. I realised that I took my freedom to travel so much for granted that until then, I had never even given it a thought.
Continue reading “Our Brexit Busting Plan” →

Dogs in Barolo Wine Museum & A Template for a Long Lost Tattoo

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Castello Falletti, Barolo

“How does Mark decide on designs for his tattoos?” Another question that we’re often asked.

All of his tattoos have significance, but as with, “How do you decide where to go on your travels?” – it is a question with an equally convoluted answer. Continue reading “Dogs in Barolo Wine Museum & A Template for a Long Lost Tattoo” →

A Dog-Friendly Wine Tour, Barolo, Italy

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“Wine is the roar of the earth towards the sky” at Rocche dei Manzoni

Lovin’ the Langhe – Land of Wine, Hazlenuts & Truffles

“How do you plan where to go on your trips?”

A good question. It is one that we’re often asked, although, the answer is not straightforward. Continue reading “A Dog-Friendly Wine Tour, Barolo, Italy” →