Norwegian Cabin in Snow in the Woods
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Hunting Trolls in Norway

There are trolls in Norway. Real trolls, not those socially-stunted, hate-fuelled nuisances that lurk on messageboards and shout abuse at every rational, reasonable comment and make jokes at the expense of 13-year-old suicide tragedies. No, I’m talking real trolls, 13-foot monstrosities that live in the woods and eat goats. Now, I’ll admit I didn’t see…

Union Station Los Angeles

My Weird Experience Couchsurfing in Los Angeles

I spent two nights couchsurfing in Los Angeles, California, and didn’t even see the Hollywood sign. I did, however, enjoy an evening with an amateur dramatic group in a public library. Yes, friends, that cliché is true. Everyone in LA is an aspiring actor or actress. If anyone tells you different it’s because they want…

New York Times Square After Dark
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Walking Blindfolded to Times Square in New York City

My host in New York City led me blindfolded to Times Square. I’d only met Mike that morning so for all I knew he was leading me the opposite direction to some underground prison where he’d do weird things to me involving coleslaw and shoelaces. But thankfully, and perhaps not surprisingly, that didn’t happen. After…

Wooden Raft in Amazon Rainforest
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Waiting for a Jungle Bus at an Abandoned Petrol Station

I once spent an entire day waiting for a jungle bus. Most of the day was spent sitting in an abandoned petrol station in a small town called Salvaccion, in the Manu National Park, in Peru, in the Amazon Rainforest. Now that I’ve got your attention, here’s a picture of a lorry in a river:…

One Foot in the Grave

Watching British Sitcoms While Couchsurfing in San Antonio

I’m British. I like comedies. I especially like British comedies. But I spent one night couchsurfing in San Antonio, Texas, with a guy who knew more about British comedies than I did. From Grandma’s House to Bread via some inexplicable and awful little-known one-season abomination with a title so unimaginative I’ve completely forgotten its name,…