Female solo travel to places that intrigue and inspire
When I told people that I was going to visit New Zealand on my way home from Australia, they all told me to head straight to the South Island for its stunning scenery. However, the thing that had drawn me…
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I remember one Saturday afternoon, shortly after I had graduated from university and got myself a “proper” job, flicking idly through the television channels and coming across an old black and white movie, Krakatoa East of Java. Krakatoa, a volcano…
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After a busy week of running around North Sumatra looking for orangutans in the jungle and chasing a volcano or two, I thought it was time for a short break before making my way to Malaysia to begin my ten…
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Sometimes a particular volcano will take a hold in my mind for some reason; perhaps because it was or is a significant one, like Mount Vesuvius and its surrounding legacies of Pompeii and Herculaneum, or Krakatoa, which I disappointingly haven’t…
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I never imagined I’d be happy to see Jakarta, but when the plane from Singapore touched down at Soekarno-Hatto airport, I felt glad to be back in Indonesia, and excited for the adventures to come. The immigration officer, glancing briefly…
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Two months into my Asia trip, and by now I’d seen a fair few volcanoes. I was yet to find that Holy Grail however; a big bad beastie in full eruption swing (thank you again, Sakurajima, for waiting for me…
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There are roughly 127 active volcanoes in Indonesia. I have four weeks, plus another couple of weeks later on in my trip. There’s no way I’m going to get round even a fraction of them, but on Day 2 in…
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I’d headed to Manila for my final few days in the Philippines, intending to give a proper chance to the city that so many people dismiss. I’d love to tell you I discovered some hidden gems, but sadly not; it…
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It was a promising start. Stepping down from the aeroplane at Legazpi Airport, a 45-minute flight from Manila, I was greeted with the magnificent sight of a perfect cone volcano – the stereotypical volcano if you like – with a…
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Sometime last year the BBC aired a short documentary series called “Japan’s Enchanted Islands”, and one episode centred on the southwestern islands and their gateway, the Kagoshima area. It showed how the people there adapted to the constant geological activity,…
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