A travel journal
I learned to surf in Perth, Western Australia, which has just about the worst surf you could think of for a beginner.
It was inconsistent, windy and often closing out. And that was on a good day.
Hopefully you don’t have to learn to surf in Perth. There’s too many exotic places to stand up on a board to waste your time there. I’ve picked eight of them for a recent Matador Travel article.
Near Monte Clerio, The Algarve
When I announced to my English friends I was off to Portugal’s Algarve Coast to go surfing for a fortnight, I lost count of the raised eyebrows I encountered.
Turns out most people think of the the Algarve as being synonomous with package tours and ugly Brits on holidays rather than good waves.
I thought this contrast might make for an interesting travel article for Matador. Outside the tourist towns the Algarve region is as raw and unspoilt as any surf trip to Margaret River or South Africa.
When I was growing up, if I wasn’t surfing then I was sprawled out on the lounge room floor watching endless repeats of surf videos.
Before the days of bit torrent and YouTube, getting my hands on up to date surf footage often meant waiting for Christmases and birthdays to receive the latest movie on video tape. I grew up on Kelly Slater in Black and White and 110/240.
So when Matador Travel asked me to write an article on the 5 best surf films of all time, the hardest part was narrowing my list down from dozens to just a handful.
I wrote a piece on the top ten most dangerous waves in the world for Matador Trips recently.
I decided to try and be a bit different from most of the serious ‘heaviest waves’ lists you read all the time so some of my inclusions were based on the danger from pollution, localism or distance to medical attention – rather than out and out size.
It got enough recommendations that it ran on Yahoo’s front page and scored a couple of hundred hits on digg.
As a writer seeing instant feedback in the form of comments was a real buzz – and a little confronting. Who knew people took such things so seriously?
Vintage Honda
Renting a moto ws just about the best thing I ever did on my trip through souith east Asia.
Five or six bucks a day brought bucket loads of fun, the chance to explore off the beaten track and the freedom to go where I wanted, when I wanted.
I’ve written a piece for online travel magazine Travelers Notebook which explores how to go about renting a scooter. It’s weighted towards Asia where most of my experience is, but it should translate to most places.
Read ‘Easy Riding: How to Travel by Motorbike and Escape the Crowds’
London ain’t too bad I s’pose.
Being stuck here in London while the Home Office takes its sweet time with my passport and visa application has given me the inspiration for an article.
I successfully pitched a piece to online travel magazine Brave New Traveler (now part of the Matador travel group) on how to stay excited about travel, even if you’re like me and stuck in the one city for months on end.
Read ‘How to Stay Stoked About travel When You’re Back Home’
I’ve written an article for burgeoning travel site Matador Trips on my search for surf through Vietnam.
Hopefully I’ve managed to find a balance between inspiring others to search for waves in this area (or any area) without giving too much away. I think the spots that I do mention are pretty well known anyway. And it’s not like anywhere in Vietnam is consistent enough to be a surf centre like Bali or the Gold Coast.
I’ve submitted my first travel article to UK website TravelMag. It’s about the trip Jacq and I took to visit my friends when we were in Western Australia, shortly before leaving for Asia.
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