Adventure and Active Travel

Pokhara Nepal is in central Nepal, and stands on the edge of the enormous Phewa Lake. It’s the largest city in Nepal in area and the second-largest in population.  It’s well known as a gateway to the Annapurna Circuit or the Poon Hill Trek, two hugely popular Himalayan treks, but is also a wonderful spot to …

If I told you Nepal with kids was easy, I’d be lying. Nepal has been the most challenging place we’ve ever taken the children, and that includes India, but it’s been worth it many times over. They got sick less in India and didn’t have to hike up any mountains. So here for you, in case you’re …

We got back from Everest yesterday. It’s been an amazing 3 weeks, ( yes, 21 days, not 14) and it’s been tough, so, a few things you need to know about difficulty levels on the Everest Base Camp Trek ( EBC) both for your entertainment and general information, and to help you decide if this …

What’s it live to live, sleep, eat, scuba and snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef? We’ve taken 2 liveaboard scuba diving trips on the reef now in Queensland Australia, both departing from Cairns. But what do divers and snorkellers do out there, what’s it like? It’s the ultimate dive experience and we did it as …

What’s it like to learn to scuba dive? Our post covers the basics of scuba certification and follows my son learning to dive in Cairns, Australia and on the Great Barrier Reef with Divers Den, a local dive school and scuba operator. Yes, kids can scuba dive too, but how old do they need to …

The day we went swimming with manta rays off Bali Indonesia, was one of my favorite days of our six years of full-time travel. The famous Manta Bay is actually off Nusa Penida and we were staying in Ubud Bali. Were we even close enough to take this epic snorkeling trip? It turned out that …

My kids researched  altitude sickness and tried to answer that question ” What is Altitude Sickness?” by creating a blog post. We’re off to Everest Base Camp again soon and this was a little “school” project for them. I studied physiology in university, so I’ve got a reasonable handle on this but I thought the …

It may surprise you to know that you don’t need to be Ironman fit (as I am) to trek in the Himalayas. You won’t want to be a couch potato either, but the average person should do fine up there with no training needed. My wife has been up twice, at 52 and in her …

Trekking watches have made huge advances in the last 5 years. With the invention and continued improvement of GPS based watches they are now more accessible to more people. You can still get great trekking watches without GPS capabilities and I’ve listed a few favourites below but for me the best trekking watchs should have …

If you’re looking for Great Barrier Reef Tours from Port Douglas, congratulations, you picked a great place from which to explore the reef. Port Douglas Australia is a stunning holiday town in Far North Queensland, home to beautiful 4 Mile Beach, close to Mossman Gorge and the Daintree Rainforest as well as the cooler Atherton …

I posted already about the various ways of getting to and from Lukla from Kathmandu, Nepal. Flying into Lukla isn’t the only way to start  your Everest region or Everest Base Camp trek, there are various bus, jeep and walk options. We feel that flying is the best way to go based on our experience, …

A few days ago somebody on social media asked me what my favorite, all time, travel memory was. Without hesitation I told the lady-of-travel that it was the time I trekked to Tengboche Monastery ( via Lukla and Namche Bazaar) with my son, then 11 years old. I added a footnote, that I doubted he …