Getting an Oia-ful

I think it’s fair to say that you don’t often see your soon-to-be vacation home in one of the Microsoft Bing daily wallpaper photos. The image was achingly beautiful. A recently-departed sun continued to cast a magical light on the scene, painting the horizon with thin layers of golden stripes. Three small white boats, resting…

A Question of Patriotism

I had never felt more relaxed while watching England play football. Born just two days after its one and only global triumph, 55 years have taught me to expect the worst. It has become a kind of self-preservation technique. However great the anticipation, there was always a Polish goalkeeper, a divine hand, or any number…

Quilotoa Loop: Blocked – 15 March 2022

Due to a road collapse and a landslide, the Quilotoa Loop is currently subject to a significant and perilous detour just north of Lago Quilotoa – and is completely blocked to traffic north of Chugchilán. Road Collapse near Lago Quilotoa Approximately 1km north of Lago Quilotoa the first road closure has a detour that, after…

Back on the road to elsewhere

  I have travelled this road thousands of times. I know all of its many and varied potholes, simultaneously acknowledging their growth and avoiding contact with them in the manner of a disinterested parent. I know the intersection where the traffic always slows to a crawl and where, fifty yards later, it accelerates again as…

As quiet as an airport

I hadn’t seen you for a long time. I suspect we both knew that this first encounter after such a long break was going to be a little awkward. Looking back on it now, and even though we’ve known each other for decades, it was naïve to think we would just be able to slip…

A World Elsewhere: Rovinj, Croatia

This is the first of what may become a series of short posts – occasionally just photographs – that recall a world that still exists beyond the window of a locked down room. Although currently beyond reach, there is endless inspiration to be found in the memories of wandering on a foreign strand … —…