Seven Lessons Learned from the Great Fire of Lincolnshire
I’ve spent the last few days in the burned-out remains of my in-laws’ farmstead, in rural Lincolnshire. Fortunately, both survived the fire unscathed, as did most of their animals. This [...]
Buying a Language School in Spain
It’s 8:30pm, on Sunday 21 May 2023. I’m sitting, alone, on a bench in Puerto De La Cruz, North Tenerife. The photo above is my current view. I landed just [...]
What have we done?
It's 4:30pm on Thursday 27 April 2023. I am walking across the vast expanse of The Stray, in Harrogate. The temperature is around 10 degrees. No rain. My dog is [...]
Money
I’m typing, 36,000ft in the air, on my return flight from Milan to Gatwick. Guess how much my flight cost, just for me, without a bag? £12. Two hours, plus [...]
Sometimes, it’s your turn
(I take no pleasure in writing this blogpost. I write – for my kids - to record what happened. I have only read one of the 10 news articles about [...]
Fiction: Anywhere But Bangkok
Disclaimer What follows is pure fiction, written by me twenty years ago when I was running a backpacking NGO, Voices for Burma, and after completing a travel writing course at [...]
Trump and the Massacre in Goa
Oops: I should have applied sunscreen today. My face is red. Silly me. I’m typing in a hotel bar, then sipping my first Venezuelan rum. Here in North Tenerife, [...]
Ignore the Bedside Manner
During my 18 years practicing law, I have worked with hundreds of lawyers. I have also hired, managed and fired quite a few lawyers, too. Through my work I have [...]
Mark My words: The World Has Just Changed Forever
Like many forty-something-year-olds, I spent the first 18 years of my life without the internet, or a mobile phone. In the last quarter century of online usage, like most people, [...]
The Sick Man of Europe
(Written during take-off from Tenerife South, Airport) Travelling on a rickety bus in rural Thailand, back in 2000, I had my only epiphany. The vast distance from home - [...]
