Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Activity

Activity

The desert is an ocean

The desert is an ocean, with its life underground.  And a perfect disguise above. In the arid heart of Australia, in the Central Tablelands of NSW, paleontologists have found new evidence of an abundance of life. A new fossil site that can most aptly be described as "exceptional" has turned up fossils of spiders, insects, fish, plants…

Read more

Kinda blue

Don’t worry about feeling sad: on the benefits of a blue period. In a Twitter account called So Sad Today, the American writer Melissa Broder has been sending out snippets of her daily inner life since 2012. Broder writes about mundane sadness – ‘waking up today was a disappointment’ or ‘what you call a nervous breakdown i…

Read more

Mountains come out of the sky

The first thing that strikes you when you visit Banff, Canada is the sheer size of the mountains.  Words can't describe it -  until you actually see it for yourself. And every time you round a bend in the road, an even bigger mountain presents itself.  It really is something that you need to experience…

Read more

Silence is golden

Sometimes there's nothing better than being out on your own, doing what you want to do on your schedule. And if you want a little peace, what could be a better choice than some of the expansive and - in many places - crowd-free places in Asia.  Just you, your backback, your phone and .…

Read more

A mooving tale

Much of the developed world is rethinking how it eats.  Less meat, more vegetables, more water, less junk. One popular food that is booming is milk substitutes (we really like Chobani) as some of us can't (or won't) drink milk from an animal.  Some of us are simply looking for a more sensible alternative to help…

Read more

Fun with Get Your Guide

We periodically like to feature our valued affiliate friends.   Today, it's GetYourGuide.com.  Based in  Germany, they have a diverse and exciting mix of activities for almost everyone. Get Your Guide's mission statement We’re on a journey to transform ordinary trips into extraordinary ones. We are your guide, bringing you personal experiences. Wherever your travels take…

Read more

Here’s a thought . . . why not take it easy?

It will likely come as no surprise to you that Scandinavian countries are regularly ranked at the top of the healthiest and happiest countries in the world.  Why? The Scandinavian diet is focuses on reducing starchy carbohydrates and substituting those calories with generous servings of healthy proteins, such as locally-sourced, cold-water fish, and organic vegetables. Scandinavians also…

Read more

Conversations with the trees

They can hear you, you know . . . The hippies never really went away, and that's a good thing.  What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?  But, the hippie movement has changed shape over the decades, especially since we now better understand that we must partner with Mother Nature rather than subdue her. Thankfully, there…

Read more

ROAMania

If you're a walker, we have some good news for you, indeed. Romania is in the midst of building a 1,400km walking / hiking trail traversing the entire country. The Via Transilvanica will stretch from the country’s northern border all the way to the south and the Danube, at the crossroads of Central, Eastern and Southeastern…

Read more

Fish party

Pull up some sand and wait for the customers to arrive - in this case, they're  octopuses, moray eels, turtles and more. In a nightly event, at Dharavandhoo’s harbour in the Maldives, the sea creatures come in an orderly fashion to dine on the delights of the deep. From May to November, Dharavandhoo is the…

Read more

There’s a Python in your shrubbery

We love Monty Python.  At the age of 12 we rolled on the floor, in hysterics, wondering what they would do next.  Our Welsh father never got it, but we did. Times changed and so did Python.  They went their separate ways, almost all going on to further successes and fortunes. Michael Palin, however, branched off to…

Read more

Monaco-habitation

You can have it all, but sometimes Mother Nature stops you.  Take Monaco, for example.  In case you're unaware, Monaco is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the most expensive and…

Read more

Tenacity city

ACHIEVEMENT IS A CHOICE We won't wax here on about working hard.  That is a personal choice and who are we to say?  It has its ups and downs.  It's not for everyone.  And there is no shame in simply being who you are, ambitious or not. In China, though, there is an entire city of go-getters.…

Read more

Mudlarking

If you're a regular reader here at Matouring, you'll know how much we love London.  We lived there and explored nearly every nook and cranny of that most celebrated of cities.  And every time we return, we find new gems to squeal about. One activity that you may not think about when in The Smoke is…

Read more

I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!

Today's world is getting ever more intense . . . and tense.  Between Covid-19, Mother Earth pushing back on our bad behaviour, just general bad behavior of the "ultra haves" versus the have-nots, and work and home pressures, the temptation to "lose it" is often dangling in front of our noses. But, some cultures look…

Read more

Less guilty pleasures

As we always say, there's no getting around getting around.  Sometimes you want to, sometimes you have no choice.  And, given the fragile state of Mother Earth at the time of this writing, we humans really need to think long and hard about where we go, when we go and why. With that in mind, sometimes…

Read more

Yes darling, but is it art?

Creativity takes courage, that's for certain. It's one thing if you send your masterpiece to your friends and family, but it's another thing entirely if you bare yourself to the world. That being said, some of the best artists were laughed at in their early days, and now we spend millions to buy them and…

Read more