A particularly strong year for country counting – powered more by trains than planes.
Interrail Highlights
The best three of the twenty trains I took between London and Tirana.
Finding my way across Europe
My route from London to Tirana – which I largely figured out along the way!
The Albanian Connection
Links to the coverage I produced during my race across Europe.
24 hours in… Monaco
My visit to the smallest of the UN countries was a wash out…
An overnight visit to Hakone
Doing the best bits of the Hakone loop twice, and an ill-fated quest for magical eggs…
Jet Lag: The Game
Following in the footsteps of my favourite competitive travellers.
Bern 2023: IFSC World Championships
Another climbing-inspired trip to Switzerland, this time for the World Championships.
Three nights in… The Hague
An overdue return to the Netherlands, and a bit more of Belgium.
Two nights in… Meiringen
Reviving a travel plan from 2020, I headed to Switzerland for the first bouldering world cup of the season.
Gallery: Chicago to the San Francisco Bay, by train
Arguably Amtrak’s most scenic route, the California Zephyr allows a great variety of landscapes to be sampled from the comfort of a lounge or sleeper car. Here’s some of what I experienced during a winter run with the snow often piled high!
Chicago to the San Francisco Bay, by train
I took on the entire 52 hour, 2400 mile journey from Chicago to Emeryville on the California Zephyr – but rather than one epic ride, I split it into six pieces across nine days. Here’s how those went.
A tour of the California Zephyr
A look at the three types of accommodation I tried during my journey – coach, a roomette, and the family bedroom – plus the communal areas on this superliner service.
Is the train in Spain better than the plane?
Trying out the high speed AVE services, in both first and standard class.
Three nights on… The Isle of Man
Keen to fly, but not to navigate the cost and complexity of COVID rules, I made my way to a relatively obscure part of Britain (but not the UK): the Isle of Man.
Year in Review 2019
Where and how I found myself travelling in 2019.
Austria by train – Salzburg to Hallstatt / Obertraun
My stay nearby in Obertraun meant I could take the slow rail route to Hallstatt, trying out a variety of Austrian trains.
Limburg, The Netherlands
A holiday with Dutch friends introduced me to a new part of the country: Limburg, the southernmost province.
Oregon Rail
To get to Portland, Eugene and back to Seattle we used both of Amtrak’s rail services in the area: the Coast Starlight and Cascades.
Three nights in… Brussels
An anniversary return to the Belgian capital, in search of locations from a board game.