Thoughts Archives

When having bad handwriting is useful

Hotels asking for email addresses It’s increasingly common when checking in to a hotel to be asked for your email address. “If you can just fill in your name, address and email address,” the receptionist will ask after you arrive at the desk. Up until…

The cities and regions of Australia that have really improved

Some regions of Australia that have changed for the better in the last decade-and-a-half. I first arrived in Australia in 2001, and after living there for five years, have managed to go back once or twice a year since. In that time, the country has…

Five underrated aspects of travelling in Australia

Yeah, Australia’s got the beaches, the reef, the Outback and the wine regions. But there’s plenty that people don’t tend to expect. The light Australia has the reputation of being sunny, but it’s not just the warmth that counts – it’s the brightness. The vividness…

Five mildly interesting things I learned recently: 7 July 2025

From a country with far too many lakes to a bird named after far too many countries. Finland has 187,888 lakes That’s according to the Finland Promotion Board. That’s undeniably an awful lot of lakes, but it makes me wonder whose job it was to…

My Orlando Airport disaster

How picking my wife up at Orlando Airport suddenly got very complicated. Waiting for the flight to arrive in Orlando It was a foolproof plan. I knew it takes about ten minutes to get out of Orlando Airport once cases have been salvaged from the…

Five things I learned this week – 23 June 2025

Airport hotels, chocolate brownies, the Ark of the Covenant, the White Stripes and an annoyingly long fact check on the flag of Belize feature in this week’s slightly interesting discoveries. Hilton’s claim to the first airport hotel is complete nonsense The Hilton chain has long…

Five things I learned about the world recently – 18 June 2025

I’m planning for this to become a regular feature on the site. Every time I learn five new things about the world that I find strangely interesting, I’m going to write them down and share them. This week, I have discovered that… Europe’s longest train…

Why our mental maps are so unreliable

Working out where places are relative to each other without seeing a map can be surprisingly difficult… A little quiz on English towns On Sunday evening, I had an idea for a quiz. Given an English town, you have to name the nearest city from…

The Durban city skyline and Indian Ocean beaches.

Durban: The city that South Africans go to for winter sun

South Africans go to Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal coast for winter sun. But why don’t international travellers join them? Direct flights to Durban When British Airways announced it was going to start (now-cancelled) direct flights to Durban in October 2018, it came to many as…

What happens when an airline breaks your suitcase

I got off the plane to discover my suitcase was damaged. What happened next was… weird. RIP suitcase Last Tuesday I arrived back at Birmingham Airport after a trip to Marrakesh with the family. Awaiting me was a sorry imitation of my suitcase. The logo…