Is Macedonia a “Fully Fledged Mafia State”?

Is Macedonia a “Fully Fledged Mafia State”?

A friend recently emailed me from Macedonia and said “we are witnessing a fully-fledged mafia state being endorsed for EU membership by some of the leading democracies on the planet.” I groaned. I couldn’t be bothered. I was on the …
Did Cannabis Help me Write and Travel?

Did Cannabis Help me Write and Travel?

The quick answer is NO – cannabis did not help me write and travel – in fact, it did the exact opposite: it made me unable to write and paranoid when travelling. If I hadn’t given up the evil weed …
 How to Get a Grant

 How to Get a Grant

Here is a story about how to get a grant. When I was in Montenegro recently I checked into a small guest house and asked if they had internet. “Of course we do” boomed the big cheery lady who runs …
10 Skills for Independent Travel

10 Skills for Independent Travel

There was no way I could have travelled to Tibet and spent two years abroad without building up what I call independent travel skills. These are the practices that enabled me to thrive in foreign cultures.…