Antarctica:

China in Antarctica?

22 October 2013 | Places

▲ Maureen in Antarctica in 1997. When Lonely Planet published its first Antarctica guide in 1996 it felt like a pioneering project. In fact I remember having to work hard to convince some people in the company that it was a feasible idea. Were there really enough...

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How Many Countries?

20 May 2012 | Places

Every now and then I bump into somebody who’s busy trekking around the world putting a ‘been there’ tick beside a list of every country in the world. You can have arcane arguments about what ‘been there’ means – is the airport transit lounge good enough? But the start...

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Sites of Impact

1 February 2012 | Media

▲ Wolfe Creek Crater, Western Australia Every now and then I pick up a ‘got to go there’ book, you read it or look at the pictures and that’s what you immediately think. Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands was a fine example, she claimed she hadn’t been t...

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Ox Travels

18 July 2011 | Media

Edited by ex-Rough Guider Mark Ellingham and others and introduced by Michael Palin, Ox Travels features 36 travel tales by well known travel writers, all around the theme of a meeting. The proceeds go to Oxfam. My half a dozen favourites? • Madam Say Go – Sonia Fa...

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Atlas of Remote Islands

1 December 2010 | Media

Judith Schalansky’s book was originally published in German and won design awards. It’s a delight, a weird and wonderful assortment subtitled ‘Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot On and Never Will.’ Each features a map and a short and often intriguing essay which migh...

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