(2)007: License to Travel

Just got back from a brilliant week in Laos and Cambodia and can’t wait to get back to them, particularly Cambodia. Bit of a whistle-stop trip, but the laid-back charm of Luang Prabang made five days feel like five weeks, and however you long you spend at Angkor it will never be enough, so three nights was fine for an aperitif. Memories of Laos are a blur of orange robes, brilliant blue skies, glistening gold stupas, the rich ruddy tones of the Mekong, stunning sunsets, smile after smile and wonderfully decaying colonial architecture.

Cambodia was all about Angkor and Preah Khan was the highlight for me. OK so it’s decaying and overgrown and the carvings may not quite be up to those at Angkor Wat itself, but it has the whole Indiana Jones/Lara Croft thing going on, without the crowds to be found exploring the gargantuan roots at Ta Prom. A week might not seem like a long trip, especially when you’re used to several months at a time, but the absence of work really made it feel like a break and gave me the chance to reflect on what an incredible year it’s been:

January: France, February: England & Belgium, March & April: Australia, May & June: China & Tibet, July: Taiwan, August: Thailand, September: Philippines, October: Taiwan, November: China, December: Cambodia & Laos

I’ve always been a Bond fan so it’s fitting that 007 should be a big year, but couldn’t really have predicted quite how big. 2007 has seen the completion of my first solo book, an Adventure Guide to China for Hunter, the publication of the latest Australia Rough Guide for which I happily traipsed around the Northern Territories and Western Australia in a fully kitted out camper (see The Wilds of WANT) and my first Frommer’s assignment for which I traveled the length of the Chinese Silk Road (see Silk Road Rocks), took the new rail link to Tibet and spent time in Inner Mongolia.

This year I’ve also married my longstanding sweetheart, Tot, got a dog, moved into a house, started running tours of Taiwan for those seeking “The Other China” with Grasshopper Adventures and my sis has just had a baby.

And so to 2008 – a year of, you guessed it, more travel; a Taiwan tour and Borneo in January, the UK in February, more Taiwan tours in April and May, the US and Canada in September and our first Silk Road photography tour in October. I can’t wait!