Days not Homeless: 6 Years, 78 Days ...and loving every second of this alpine adventure!
The thought of being let loose on our own with fancy tech bindings and mohair skins, barely two weeks of skiing under our belts, was slightly intimidating to say the least! Shutdown had come far too early in the middle of March 2020, seemingly far too quickly followed...
Yes, we had views to die for, great winter conditions, amazing summer hiking, a bigger apartment, our own car; all suddenly becoming a bit less significant now that we had discovered the infamous French bureaucracy.... and taxes! We had arrived in France eight and a...
Seeing the ultra runners with their minimalist vests and lightweight trekking poles on Corsica's GR20 earlier this year set the seed. Whilst we hauled 20kg backpacks over the rugged terrain these guys passed us with ease, skipping through multiple stages en route to...
France had just removed its 100km travel limitation, Italy was about to open borders with its neighbors; still we were left with few options for a much needed vacation. We had been hiking like crazy in the Chamonix valley and needed something worthy of our fitness...
Every time we drove or cycled out of town, passing Les Houches en route to Servoz or Passy, we would see this huge chunk of rock dominating the view off to our right. Turns out this is known as the Fiz massif. A little investigation also told us that there's a decent...
Every once in a while we get the feeling that this is the place, the place where we'd like to discover more, experience new adventures, and spend a longer period of time. This time it was the picturesque Chamonix Valley. Whilst we had visited a few times before, once...
The thought was.. Well we've been to the Italian Riviera recently so why not spend a few days in between Morocco and Chamonix mixing with film stars and race car drivers in the French Riviera. Also known as the Côte d'Azur this Mediterranean coastline is famous for...
Being in Rome and Vatican City for my first, Andrea's second time, was one of our best travel experiences in Europe. Immensely rich in history the city provided us endless sightseeing opportunities, walking tours, people watching, and some of Europes best tasting...
Not sure that I'd even heard of Portofino on the Italian Riviera until it was mentioned in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the classic 1988 comedy starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin. Still, it was a place that someday I'd visit. Andrea and I had just hiked in...
My choice was the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Andrea’s some winter sun in the Canary Islands, the latter winning out. This was to be a Thanksgiving break for Andrea so how could I not be accommodating! The Canaries ended up as a win-win, and although my last visit was...
Having only been to Edinburgh and fleeting visits to Ben Nevis and the Cairngorms many years ago meant that we had limitless Scottish destinations. We were spoilt for choice so why not head to the summer tourist trap of Skye, easily accessible and looking awesome in...
Island hopping from Iceland to the Emerald Isle provided us with the chance to revisit the places we only skimmed over on a 3 night trip a few years prior, this time with the addition of two weeks house sitting for a couple of border collies. Following a night in...
A stopover in Iceland, the first time in the midst of winter, this time in the middle of the typically temperamental Icelandic Autumn, is an easy option for us. We were on the way to Ireland and with our footloose lifestyle had plenty of time to discover more of...
Having made the decision that we would waste the better part of an entire day to country bag Andorra it would have been far better for us if the rental car had refused to start. We were spending a couple of nights at Mas El Guitart, a spa hotel in L'Hostalnou de...
The time being slightly after 8am during the week and having no espresso maker in our Funchal airbnb rental it was time for one of my frequent fifty meter walks to the local cafe and grocery store. It would have been far easier to fit in with the locals had I ordered...
Having just spent three weeks in Portugal the thought was why not continue in the Portuguese vain and hit the islands, beginning in the Azores before heading down to Madeira. The Autonomous Region of the Azores is located around 850 miles from the mainland and total...
Housesitting, whilst not an entirely new concept to us, was different on this occasion due it being our first overseas experience. We didn't intentionally chose Portugal but with neither of us having visited this European holiday destination before it made the sitting...
We find more and more that when speaking with fellow travelers the response when asking about which country they've seen the most of, their home country is never top of the list. I've probably seen more of my adopted country than I have of my home land. Due to...
Unexpected, traveling alone, and little time for preparation, Denmark wasn't on the agenda. I needed to get to England for personal reasons and only being a week out flights were not looking cheap, especially when traveling with a mountain bike. I had to be creative...
We’ve now been back from our six month tour of Eastern Europe, Israel, Jordan, Cuba and 110 miles of hiking around the Mont Blanc Massif for almost a month and are already discussing whats next. Funny how things go as one minute we’re talking about staying put and...
Over eighty days of skiing under my belt, it was time for Andrea and I to head to warmer climates. We had spent some time in the French island of Corsica a couple of years ago and now it was time for the Italian island of Sardinia. We had zero plans; just the desire...
Not what we had initially planned but more than happy that crap high mountain reports ruined our early spring 4000m peak bagging adventure! What was a loosely organised Monte Rosa trip, overnight turned into a well oiled Haute Route ski tour (thanks for demanding a...
Andrea heading home to visit family for a little over 3 weeks made the perfect excuse to make my third trip to Nepal. This time would be kind of strange as it wouldn't involve the Icefall, the Lhotse Face, nor the summit of Everest! I had to find something different...
Not entirely hopeful that we would have time to attempt a second Dolomites high route we hadn't planned or reserved anything for Alta Via 1. Having a copy of the GPX route downloaded to Gaia and a list of the more popular refuges was the extent of it. Whilst winging...
Planning a long hike during Covid was not as easy as we anticipated. Our, or at least my first option of the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland was pretty much closed - we needed a plan B. We had never really thought too much about the Dolomites but after reading...
Outside of Cape Epic in South Africa the Swiss Epic in Graubünden, Switzerland, is probably the big destination mountain bike race of the Epic series. Being one of the qualifiers for the Cape Epic, the two-person-team five day event is hugely competitive, packed with...
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
Whilst Mont Blanc comes in at the highest mountain in western Europe its normal "Goûter" route is one of the easiest in the Alps. The 4810m snow covered summit looms over Chamonix, the lower glaciers of Bossons and Taconnaz winding their way down from the upper...
We knew that to escape the rainy Alps we would have to head south, the reasoning behind Nimes coming during our recent EuroVelo 17 cycle ride. On that occasion it was Avignon and Arles that got the attention, our route missing Nimes by a day - we felt that we had...
Would this be the start of bigger things or maybe just put us off long distance cycle touring? Fortunately for me this wasn't the first time spending back to back days in the saddle, whilst Andrea on the other hand was going to find out what is was all about! The...
To date we had yet to visit any of the Italian Lakes, the reason being... well we had no excuses! We were living barely on the French side of the Mt Blanc tunnel and Como was a short 3 hours by car - as I said, no excuses, we were just waiting for the right time....
The thought of being let loose on our own with fancy tech bindings and mohair skins, barely two weeks of skiing under our belts, was slightly intimidating to say the least! Shutdown had come far too early in the middle of March 2020, seemingly far too quickly followed...
Yes, we had views to die for, great winter conditions, amazing summer hiking, a bigger apartment, our own car; all suddenly becoming a bit less significant now that we had discovered the infamous French bureaucracy.... and taxes! We had arrived in France eight and a...
Seeing the ultra runners with their minimalist vests and lightweight trekking poles on Corsica's GR20 earlier this year set the seed. Whilst we hauled 20kg backpacks over the rugged terrain these guys passed us with ease, skipping through multiple stages en route to...
France had just removed its 100km travel limitation, Italy was about to open borders with its neighbors; still we were left with few options for a much needed vacation. We had been hiking like crazy in the Chamonix valley and needed something worthy of our fitness...
Every time we drove or cycled out of town, passing Les Houches en route to Servoz or Passy, we would see this huge chunk of rock dominating the view off to our right. Turns out this is known as the Fiz massif. A little investigation also told us that there's a decent...
Every once in a while we get the feeling that this is the place, the place where we'd like to discover more, experience new adventures, and spend a longer period of time. This time it was the picturesque Chamonix Valley. Whilst we had visited a few times before, once...
Less than fours hours after taking off from Auckland International airport we were touching down on the tiny island nation of Niue, a mere blip in the South Pacific. With access only by air from New Zealand or sailing boat, the Rock as it's locally called, is far less...
Reading 'Love with a Chance of Drowning' could well have set the seed for a different kind of adventure, one based in the high seas instead of high in the mountains. Would sailing the Pacific be in our veins, could we spend three plus weeks on the open ocean without...
The thought was.. Well we've been to the Italian Riviera recently so why not spend a few days in between Morocco and Chamonix mixing with film stars and race car drivers in the French Riviera. Also known as the Côte d'Azur this Mediterranean coastline is famous for...
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