Welcome
I'm glad you dropped by. Pull up a chair; fetch a cup of tea or a beer; make yourself at home. You'll find pages about my travelling, with photos of course; some of my writing and my thoughts about it; a bit about me; and links to my blog and email. That should be enough to fill your time while your tea gets cold.
And, of course, there are links to my first travel book. (You mean there's more than one? ... Scroll down, you'll find where one book lurks, another is sure to follow. Though just an ebook this time.) Yes, I'd love you to buy it - if you are in a hurry you can click here for a print book in the UK and here for a UK ebook. You're in the US? Click here. You'd rather use Smashwords? You'll find it here. But I hope you'll hang around and say hello first.
And please - let me know what you think - especially if there is anything else you'd hoped to find here. It might be my site, but that doesn't mean I'm its expert! You can send me a message via the 'contact me' page.
And the elephant - ah, the elephant. I rode her through a grove in Kerala, in Southern India, with my guide crushing coffee beans and cardomon seeds into the palms of my hands for me to smell them - when he wasn't taking pictures!
I only spent about an hour with her. It was, of course, a venture set up for tourists, but I did get the chance to peer into the elephant shelters. In some ways they were better off than the mahouts. They were hosed regularly (essential for elephants), and able to roam freely. I even watched as a mother elephant allowed a mahout to wash her baby - the trust between man and elephant was touching. So, as elephants go, mine has a reasonable life!
And she's become associated with me on a forum or few in recent years, and so it seemed fitting that she found her way onto the cover of my book.
And yes - another book! An ebook this time. You want it right now? Click here if you are in the US, and here from the UK. Or on Smashwords here
It is an account of just one month spent in the mountains and valleys of Nepal.
I left home believing I knew all about travelling now - I understood transport to unlikely places. I could forgive the passing insects, didn't cringe at passing pongs.
And by the time I came home, I realised just how little I really knew - you'll have to read the book to find out just how challenging the lessons I learned.
You didn't really think I'd stop there, did you?
I'm home from a trip to Laos, and the ebook of that trip is almost ready. It was a very different trip, without the adventures I had in Nepal (I wasn't sorry about that) but asking different questions. That will be ready for Amazon in June.
The title: BOMBS AND BUTTERFLIES and if you want an explanation of the title, the drop into the travel writing page (in the writing section) and you find a clue or two.