Author: Charlie Marchant

Can Air Travel Ever Be Sustainable? Taking Responsibility for Our Carbon Footprint

It’s no secret that air travel is harming our environment. Global aviation is responsible for 2% of human induced C02 emissions, and while this figure might seem low, let’s not forget that we’re burning fossil fuels at an unsustainable rate and damaging the environment as a result.

What’s really staggering though is that the demand for air travel is expected to double over the next 20 years. We’re facing a very real risk of over expansion and this increase will only worsen greenhouse gas emissions and local air quality around airports.

We need to find a balance that means we can protect our planet and reduce C02 emissions without sacrificing travel altogether.

7 mins read

5 Unmissable Vegetarian and Vegan Cafes In and Around Bournemouth

With my family’s new home base being in Dorset, I set out on a hunt for delicious vegetarian and vegan cafes in and around Bournemouth. The area isn’t exactly known as a vegetarian and vegan scene compared to more alternative UK cities like Brighton and Liverpool. But there are some real veggie-friendly gems to be found.

4 mins read

Tipi Camping & Stargazing at Dancing Ledge

I never got round to sharing my birthday weekend from back in August. Now that autumn has well and truly overtaken in England, I’m really missing the long summer days that we had. That’s not to say that autumn here isn’t incredibly beautiful, but everyone likes the sunshine right?

There was no exotic destination for my birthday this year – but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any travel for me at all! Instead of just spending the weekend at home, Luke and I dug out my family’s tipi which hadn’t been used for years and headed just half hour away from the house to the Dorset coastline.

3 mins read

How to Keep Fit and Stay Healthy While Travelling

Between the odd long haul flight, seemingly endless bus journeys and train rides across countries, and small towns where you end up just snacking on white buns and pre-packaged foods when passing through, travelling can sometimes leave you feeling unfit and unhealthy.

If you don’t take good care of your body while travelling, you can wind up feeling exhausted. It’s natural for travellers to want to make the most of their time in a new place and pack in as much sightseeing as possible. Too often though, that’s at the expense of their health and fitness and eventually leads to a complete travel burnout.

7 mins read

Tourism Disrupts Turtle Nesting in Ostional, Costa Rica

A year ago, Luke and I had an incredible experience witnessing the turtle arribada in the small Costa Rican beach town of Ostional. During an arribada, thousands of turtles come onto the beach to lay their eggs in the sand.

We were surprised not only by how breathtaking it is to see these creatures come out from the sea, but also how deserted the small town of Ostional was when we were there. One year later, I was horrified to read that swathes of tourists had prevented the turtles from nesting on the coast.

5 mins read

Coastal Paths, Clean Beaches and Local Heritage in Porthtowan

In England, it’s not unusual to take a family holiday to the same familiar seaside town, often just the closest one to where you live, or one of the really popular ones that actually have sand rather than pebbles.

Every year you pack up the car with too much stuff and a bag of Starburst. You go, you build sandcastles on the beach, eat Mr Whippy ice creams, probably eat fish and chips too, walk along the pier and play on some penny machines in an arcade. That’s what family holidays were like for me when I was growing up.

Like most people in the UK, I have a lot of nostalgia about seaside holidays.

4 mins read

Teaching in Taiwan: An Interview with Teacher Amelia

Teaching in Taiwan is something I often get asked about by people who are thinking about making the move and starting a new career on the island. What I always emphasise is that everyone’s experience of teaching in Taiwan is different – variables such as school and branch, workload, location, personality and whether you’re going solo or as a couple can be make or break. I’m interviewing different teachers in Taiwan to find out their thoughts on island life, ESL teaching and travelling. This interview is part of the Teaching in Taiwan series.

8 mins read

Thailand’s Growing Raw Food Movement

The raw food movement, or raw foodism, is a massively growing trend. My Instagram feed is always crammed with raw food bloggers posting images of incredible raw cakes, spiralised veggies and superfood salads, which I admittedly go a little wild over.

Raw foodism refers to a diet with a high consumption of uncooked, unprocessed foods. A raw food diet mainly focuses on eating lots of raw fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds, but interpretations of what else is considered part of a raw food diet varies.

You hear a lot of buzz about raw food diets from places like California, Vancouver, Australia and New Zealand’s North Island, but far less so over in Asia. While travelling in Thailand though, I unexpectedly discovered that the raw food movement is slowly starting to set down roots over there too.

4 mins read

Chicken Coop Saunas and Community Tourism in Thailand

I’m not exactly au fait with spas of any sort, but a chicken coop sauna certainly wasn’t something I ever expected to see. In the Chong Changtune community in Thailand’s Trat province, they’ve invented a new kind of sauna experience, simply involving a traditional style chicken coop ideas, a rice cooker and some local herbs.

Are you as intrigued as I was?

3 mins read

Sleepless in Bangkok – Why It’s so Hard to Find Budget Accommodation and Where to Stay

Wondering where to stay in Bangkok without breaking your budget? Well, so were we.

While the cost of travel in Thailand can easily be kept on the cheap side, Bangkok is unsurprisingly the most expensive city. The majority of travellers to Thailand will arrive or depart from Bangkok and spend a few days in the city at least. Backpackers can grab a dorm bed for a little as £3 and double rooms in hostels can go for as low as £10 near Khaosan Road.

For the budget conscious traveller who doesn’t want the loud party scene that dominates the Khaosan Road area, finding budget accommodation in a more desirable location takes a bit more hard work. Luke and I set an accommodation budget of £20 per night for two, which is really the upper end of budget for Thailand, and went from there.

6 mins read
Rocky outcrop on koh samet

Rocky Outcrops and White Sand Beaches on Koh Samet

With a couple of days to spare in between traversing the neon lit expanse of Bangkok and heading to the green mountain city of Chiang Mai in the north, we pulled out a map to locate an island not too far from Bangkok.

After some flash research, we ended up opting for Koh Samet, an island known for it’s close proximity to Bangkok, it’s silky white beaches and clear waters, and it’s – as we discovered – dubious National Park status.

We only had three days on Koh Samet, and though we prefer to travel slowly as often as possible, I’ve got to say that unless you’re keen to just kick back on a white sand beach for a week, then Koh Samet can be easily covered in that time.

4 mins read