Travel

If your mate says, “I wanna go Thailand and hang with my brother and cousin", you know what to do. You ingratiate yourself into the plan, because Thailand. It was my first and, so far, only trip to Asia and I’ve been dreaming about those seas and skies ever since.

Seeking solace, healing, sanctuary?

You’ll find it in the Lake District, in the north of the UK. This is where you go to breath, smell the freshness, know yourself.

It’s the second deepest lake in the U.S. and the water is so pure it almost meets the standard of commercially distilled water—just 0.004% off.

Keough Hot Springs is an excellent place to while away a morning. With the mountains on both sides and electricity pylons overhead, it’s a bizarrely beautiful spot.

After a brief frolic we drove an hour down the road and pulled in to watch the stars. It was after sundown, before moonrise, and I’ve never seen a sky like it.

Just as we passed a few warning signs heading onto the long, unending road into the heart of it, the GPS started going crazy—it kept trying to have us make a u-turn right in the middle of nowhere, off-road, to head into non-existence.

It’s weird, breathtaking, and—perhaps because I’m dramatic—feels dangerous. Then again, there are signs everywhere reminding you to drink water and such.

Highlights included Vegas being dubbed “Atomic City” in the ‘50s, since mushroom clouds could be seen from Vegas during nuclear testing in the desert, and the dark history of mobsters like Bugsy Siegel, who were all up in that gambling biz.

Word of warning, if you decide to spontaneously park up, wasps may spontaneously attack.

Almost 70% of visitors to the Grand Canyon go to the South Rim, so we were in a minority. And even though the park was basically full, we woke up to a peaceful log cabin village. The smell of the woods was stunning. We went back to the main hall to catch the view.

So, for the longest time I’ve always thought all river curves were caused by the flow being faster and stronger on one side, causing the other side to slow. Give it an eon and you get spectacles like the Amazon.

Antelope Slot Canyons: Located inside The Navajo Nation, you can only get in with a guided tour. They were formed primarily by flash flooding, which means you’d be doubly glad of the guided tour while you’re there—as well as getting some awesome photography tips and great stories, we were happily and safely herded in and out via some brand of off-roading human cattle truck. Apparently flash floods are still very much a thing, so official guides are a welcome thing.

The politics of the thing is that this is one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the US, which means a massive natural canyon was filled with water to make good on the Upper Basin’s downstream delivery obligations.

I recently learned that Bryce Canyon is actually a lie—it's not a canyon at all, rather a whole load of giant, natural amphitheatres. The rock formations that stick out of the ground like gargantuan stalagmites are called "hoodoos", which I love.

When things don't go to plan, hold a photo shoot. On my last trip to Iceland a friend and I went on a trip to see the Northern Lights. Sadly, the clouds and solar energy were against us. So we played with long exposure instead.

I rarely walked past Armley Power Station at night, which was sensible. The area isn't exactly dangerous, but it's never a good idea to wander in the dark where there are dangerous bodies of water on both sides of you and no where else to run.