New Articles for Private Air Magazine

During October, I wrote three articles for the bi-monthly Private Air Magazine – and they have all just been published. Two are foreign investment pieces, and the other is a destination piece. You can read the openings of each below…

Shenzhen: A Better Investment than Hong Kong?
“For more than half a century, Hong Kong has been one of the world’s great economic success stories. Thanks to a mass influx of Chinese immigrants and foreign business people during the mid-20th century, the autonomous city-state boosted its economy to impressive levels, and so established itself as one of the biggest financial and investment centres not only of Asia, but of the world. However, in recent years Hong Kong has had to cope with an ever-growing threat to its established global position – and it’s a threat coming from next door.” // Click to read more

Ukraine Again: Is Real Estate Investment Back?
“On 2nd October 2012, the Ukrainian government passed an amendment to their Land Code that allows non-citizens to become land owners when they buy real estate. It’s an attempt to combat a property market crisis that has enveloped the nation since 2008, and to tempt back the scores of American, British and Middle Eastern investors who helped grow the economy so dramatically at the turn of the century. The question that really needs to be asked is whether Ukrainian property remains an attractive opportunity for foreign investors.” // Click to read more

The Call of the Cayman Islands
“The Cayman Islands may be best known as an offshore tax haven, but any regular visitor will attest that this charming corner of the Caribbean has far more to offer than pinstripe-suited bankers and fat cat financial lawyers. These Caymans are also bewitchingly beautiful holiday havens…” // Read more

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Jordan’s Surprise Luxury Tourism Trend

“It was 200 years ago that explorer Johann Burckhardt rediscovered the Nabataen city of Petra. The ancient architectural masterpiece, in which stately façades are carved from pink sandstone cliffs, immediately caught the collective imagination of the Western world and was swiftly transformed into a booming tourist attraction.

However, over the last decade there’s been a concerted effort in Petra – and Jordan at large – to play down this mass tourism appeal and target the niche luxury market. From high-end hotels to haute cuisine, there’s now a trend for quality over quantity…”

This is the beginning of a new web article for Forbes Travel Guide, and you can click here to read it all. With thanks to Mövenpick, Royal Jordanian and Bacall Associates.

Heart of Seoul: Five Grand Palaces in Two Days

“It’s 10am when the drum beat starts. The heavy thud-thud-thud of anticipation. The crowd falls silent – even the breeze drops to a whisper – as the relief guards appear at the gate. Resplendent in uniforms of crimson and cornflower, holding colorful banners aloft and accompanied by a cacophony of bugles and conch shells, they slow-step in synchronicity across the palace courtyard towards the on-duty sentries.

The Changing of the Guard at Gyeongbokgung Palace is one of Seoul’s oldest traditions. This display of military might first took place in 1469 and today guards are changed six times a day, on the hour, in a festival of color where ceremonial costumes, instruments and weapons whirl past in all directions. A rare and welcome celebration of prestigious past in a city – and country – preoccupied with the future…”

This is the introduction of my latest article for Serendib, SriLankan Airways’ inflight mag. You can read the rest here.

The Rise of the No-Choice Restaurant

“As with so many things in the world of haute cuisine, it was the French who started the no-choice dining craze. Known as ‘Prix Fixe’ (fixed price) or ‘Table d’hôte’ (host’s table), the idea was simple: to offer a set menu at a set price, allowing a restaurant to focus its energy on a limited portfolio of finely-honed dishes.

In recent years, this concept has spread across the pond, and today the US boasts some of the world’s finest no-choice diners. Here are Forbes Travel Guide’s pick of America’s best, as well as great menu-free eateries from elsewhere…”

This is the opening to a shiny new fine dining article for the folks at Forbes Travel Guide. You can read the full two-pager by clicking on this here link. Nope, left a bit.

Secret London: Attractions Hidden in Plain Sight

“London is one of the world’s most visited cities, and its shop window attractions – the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum – welcome millions of visitors each year. However, there is also another, less-seen aspect to the city, where uniquely fascinating features are concealed amid the chaos.

To offer you a fresh perspective on England’s capital, Forbes Travel Guide has chosen ten of the most interesting London attractions hidden in plain sight…”

This is the opening to an article and slideshow on London’s greatest secret sights, recently written for Forbes Travel Guide. From the World’s Smallest Police Station to the Seven Noses of Soho, click here to learn something new about an ancient city.

Travel guide writing for Forbes

During the last couple of months, I have been employed as a Travel Guide Consultant for the renowned Forbes Travel Guide, contributing a variety of content on cities across Europe for their new online platform Startle.com.

To date, I have completed ‘Question and Answer’ projects for ten major cities throughout the continent, namely Edinburgh, Glasgow and London (Great Britain), Frankfurt (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), Salzburg and Vienna (Austria), Stockholm (Sweden), Warsaw (Poland) and Zurich (Switzerland), and with any luck there will be more guides to come soon.

You can keep track of every contribution on my Forbes biography page.

Writing for Lime&Tonic London

For the last month or so I’ve been writing articles for the up-and-coming London travel guide ‘Lime and Tonic’, with entries so far covering everything from the World’s Smallest Police Station to the World’s Greatest House Museum.

And there’s loads more to come. You can read all my mini-entries – past, present and future – by clicking right here.

Travel Guides Now Online

Good news! After putting it off for a disproportionately long time, I have finally, finally, uploaded all the travel guides I have completed in the last year to this very website.

Since the beginning of 2011 I have written dozens of guides, itineraries and reviews on everywhere from Cardiff to Cancun – with particular focus on my joint residences of the UK and the Czech Republic – and they are now available for everyone to see!

Visit my new Travel Guides page here. Or read my GuidePal guide to Prague here.

Europe’s Best Cemeteries #1

Cross Bones – London, England

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The most famous resting place in London is, without doubt, the wonderfully gothic Highgate: the eternal residence of everyone from Karl ‘Commie’ Marx to Douglas ‘Galaxy’ Adams; Michael ‘Benzene’ Faraday to Jeremy ‘Withered’ Beadle. The capital’s most interesting cemetery, on the other hand, is Cross Bones.

An unconsecrated necropolis for so-called ‘Winchester Geese’ – medieval prostitutes who were licenced by the Bishop of Winchester to work within Southwark – it is simply a mass grave for those deemed unfit for a Christian burial: the outcast dead. Now it’s most famous for a cracking Halloween procession.

You can read the whole article – Killing Time in Europe’s Best Cemeteries – in the August edition of stalkingElk