'No amount of bingeing on nature programmes can prepare you for the Galápagos'

 

When you grow up with a parent who is a teacher it is assumed you will breeze through their specialist subject with ease. My dad taught biology, and things started well. In my formative vocabulary butterflies weren’t butterflies, they were Lepidopterans and house flies were Cyclorrhaphans. During our childhood, my siblings and I were exposed to the life cycles of frogs, stick insects and chickens – I can still recall the smell of an egg-filled incubator – and the odd bag of refrigerated sheep’s eyeballs awaiting dissection...

What's it really like to live in Dubai as an expat westerner?

 

Dubai, by far the best known of the United Arab Emirates’ seven states, is a popular destination for Brits dreaming of a fresh start and an escape from dark dreary winter days. And for good reason: year round sunshine, tax-free salaries – as job adverts go, it’s an attractive one...

Spiritual suppers: cookery classes with a monk in the shadow of Mount Athos

 

“You are going to remember me by the tip of my knife!” scolded monk Epifanios, pointing the sharp end of a large chopping knife at his female kitchen hand. At the Eagles Palace hotel in Halkidiki a cooking demonstration was underway. Most of us were watching and one guest was ‘helping’.

How the coronavirus took my job: 8 tips for freelance workers in the same boat

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The coronavirus has arrived to destroy your freelance career. It seems no self-employed person – small business owners, restaurant workers, beauty therapists, barbers, actors, Uber drivers, designers etc – is safe. And I’m no exception. As a travel journalist, tour guide, tutor and Airbnb host, I’m one of many freelancers around the UK who has been thrown into a hugely unsettling state of limbo. 

Inside Westminster Abbey after its longest closure in 67 years

 

When the great west doors of Westminster Abbey banged shut in March, nobody, least of all the new Dean of the historic church, could’ve foreseen that they would remain so for almost four months – the longest period since 1953, when preparations were being made for the Queen’s coronation...

Ten things you need to know before moving to China

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China isn’t the easiest expat posting but my time in Beijing embodied everything I love about living and working in another country: namely new experiences and the challenge of trying to comprehend them. If you are planning on taking the plunge and moving to the Middle Kingdom here are 10 things to think about before you go:..

Kayaking in Venice: who needs a gondola?

 

It's rush hour and there's a traffic jam on the Grand Canal. Popping out into the canal from one of the narrower waterways is a trio of gondolas; hurtling towards them is the number-one vaporetto (water bus) loaded with its summer cargo. So far so familiar, but in the midst of this waterborne whirl of gondolas, buses, taxis, pleasure and motorboats there's me, in a kayak, with a honking, crane-bearing delivery boat up my backside.

Ten things to know before dating an Argentine

 

1. A date isn’t a date until it happens

Argentines struggle to arrange dates or as my Argentine friend, Max Gigena, puts it: “Our country is so unstable, that it’s difficult for us to make plans. We know that whatever we aim for will ultimately fail.”

Post-lockdown Amsterdam is a crowd-free joy

 

The tourists are trickling back but the streets and canals are still quiet enough to make cycling around the city an unexpected summer treat.

There are many things I’ve missed about travelling in recent months, but it took a chocolate shoe rolled, high heel to toe, in hundreds-and-thousands to remind me of the simple pleasures to be found inside a European chocolaterie.

48 hours in . . . Jamaica, an insider guide to the home of reggae and rum

 

Laid-back living, soft sandy beaches, warm hospitality, rum, reggae, rushing waterfalls, lush mountains – Jamaica is the Caribbean island where people flock, as its most famous son Bob Marley once sung, “to feel all right”.

A postcard from bustling Brighton, a tight-knit town defying the downturn

 

Sunday morning on Brighton beach and I had accumulated a good haul of beer cans, plastic bottles, a flip-flop, a discarded sock, several lighters, some pizza boxes and something far too rude to mention. It takes a lot to shock a Brightonian but let’s just say it was in a tube, came from Anne Summers and would’ve made Mama Ru blush... 

Why ARE celebs like Kim K and Rihanna trying to stop convicted rapist and murderer Rodney Reed being executed in 8 days?

 

In eight days time, the 51-year-old is set be executed by lethal injection for a rape and murder which someone else has confessed to - and dozens of celebs are championing his cause.

10 BEST PLACES FOR A UK WEEKEND BREAK?

 

As we’ve seen recently with holidays to Spain, France, Croatia and other European destinations, little at the moment is guaranteed where international travel is concerned.

Caribbean cruises: what to do on land and where to stay

 

Even if your cruise departs from one of the other Florida ports such as nearby Fort Lauderdale, or Fort Myers two and a half hours’ drive away, and not Miami, the city is still the best place to spend a few days before or after your sailing, with an evolving art scene, vibrant nightlife and cuisine from many different cultures.

12 Reasons You Should Visit the Cayman Islands for Your Winter Getaway

 

Whether you’re looking to kick back and relax on a white-sand beach, hike through mangrove forests or get to grips with the islands’ history and heritage, there are plenty of reasons to visit the Cayman Islands during winter. Here are 12 of them.

Smaller vessels offer a gentler and more intimate introduction to holidays at sea

 

Love the idea of travelling by ship but don’t fancy a resort at sea? You’re not alone.

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For while super-sized ships such as MSC Grandiosa – the largest new cruise ship of 2019 that’s capable of accommodating 6,300 passengers – and Norwegian Cruise Line’s newly christened 3,998-passenger Encore tend to dominate the cruise headlines, they aren’t for everyone.

Meet Naga Munchetty

 

BBC Breakfast newsreader and Sunday Morning Live presenter, Naga Munchetty has swapped the red sofa for Strictly sequins and is currently hitting the dance floor every Saturday night with Russian dance hunk, Pasha Kovalev – who, in 2014, won the series with partner Caroline Flack.

The Best Things to Do on Your Birthday in Palm Springs

 

It's your birthday. You can cry if you want to – but we’d recommend throwing a blow-out bash instead. Wondering where to make merry? Pack your bags and make for Palm Springs, the decadent desert oasis famed for being the hangout of the Rat Pack back in the 60s and 70s.

Man about town! One Direction’s Niall Horan enjoys a night out at Soho House as he makes the most of his time off from touring

 

One Direction are currently enjoying some time out from their On the Road tour and band member Niall Horan certainly seems to be making the most of the break.

Hello boys! Eva Herzigova shows off some skin and her slender supermodel figure in cut-out maxi dress at NSPCC fundraiser

 

Eva Herzigova looked every inch the supermodel as she attended the NSPCC Neo-Romantic Art gala at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London on Tuesday evening.