It has been five years since I went to the Picos de Europa. Five years during which I have constantly hassled my brother, a mountain leader based in the French Alps, to come and see this beauty with me. We finally made it last autumn. Although i...
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Walking out of the airport in San José, you suddenly realise you are in the tropics as the warm, humid air hits you. Things don’t sink in sometimes until we are in the moment, living it. That smell of hot wet tarmac took me back a decade and broug...
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The moment you step onto Asturian land, time slows down. You find yourself surrounded by scattered sleepy villages, leafy forests, wildflower-covered valleys and of course the dramatic Picos de Europa mountains. However, it is not just the beautif...
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Working in travel for over a decade I’ve been lucky enough to stay in some pretty plush hotels around the globe. And of course I like 400-thread count sheets or a bathtub I can do lengths in as much as the next chap. But I can honestly say that it...
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Jimmy patiently straps crampons onto each of us. There are only four of us but it takes an inordinate amount of time to ensure the fit is secure. It's a complicated business, reams of ribbon-like, leather straps to hold the metal toes and heels in...
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I flew over to Catalonia for a slice of Spanish life in early February; the beauty of this particular trip being that I was able to see something of bustling Barcelona for two days, before zipping off in my teeny Toyota Yaris to the tranquil count...
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