My First Feature for USA Today

1395332406000-Afternoon-tea-051I am delighted to reveal that I have had my first piece for USA Today published on their website! The feature article is titled:

How London Surpassed Paris as Europe’s Dining Capital

And it discusses how the city has developed its dining scene to now claim its place as the true king of continental cuisine.

The piece appears within the travel section of the USA Today site, under the sub-categories Experiences and Food & Wine, and was published this Monday. You can READ IT right here!

Dancing Spain: From Top to Bottom

This is my brand new infographic on the many varied dances in Spain for BEST IN SPAIN. See it all on their website.

spain-dancing-short

City Vacation Guides for Expedia

ExpediaWe have some exciting news, and it has been a long time coming! Our city vacation guide for Christchurch in New Zealand, which was written back in July, has finally been published on the Expedia website. You can read the overview by clicking on this here link, or check out one of the POIs, Lyttelton Harbour, here.

In fact, Christchurch is just the latest of several city vacation guides we have created for Expedia. We’ve previously written about city destinations in more than a dozen countries right around the world, including Albuquerque (USA), Friedrichshafen (Germany), Hua Hin (Thailand), Rarotonga (The Cook Islands), Edmonton (Canada), and Hong Kong.

You’ll find a selection of our completed guides in Projects. Or click here to see all Expedia’s guides in one place.

Our Latest Private Air Articles

Cities TalkingFor the last year or so, the World Words team has been contributing articles to Private Air Luxury Homes Magazine. And the most recent issue (November-December ’13) has a total of seven of our articles featured. That’s a new high!

In every issue of the magazine we write on a range of topics, from lavish travel to investment destinations to cultural events… and this edition is no different.

The travel destinations we’ve featured vary from the winter wonderland of St Moritz to the watery delights of The Finger Lakes, while other topics covered include London’s Silver Mine, Rossetti’s Proserpine and Harrods’ new whisky.

You can read all our latest contributions on our Projects page, where you’ll also find our work for previous issues, stretching back to November 2012.

Pimsleur Approach Blogs This October

Cities TalkingSince World Words was born back in late 2012, our expert writing team has contributed more than 50 SEO-friendly articles to the blog of the leading language learning company Pimsleur Approach. This October alone, we wrote five articles covering a variety of topics, including tough triathlons, creepy courtyards and – naturally – a little language learning.

You can find all of these blogs, along with a selection of our previous Pimsleur pieces, on our Projects page. Or you can read them individually now by clicking on the links below…

OCTOBER’S CHATTERBOX … Published October 25 … “Welcome to the real lowdown on language learning…”
THE MOST HAUNTED PLACES ON EARTH … Published October 15 … “Discover the planet’s spookiest places…”
OCTOBER’S TOP TRAVEL LINKS … Published October 11 … “Your guide to the best online travel-related stuff…”
THE 10 BEST RACES AROUND THE WORLD … Published October 4 … “From tiring triathlons to Tough Mudders…”
TEACH CHILDREN A SECOND LANGUAGE … Published October 1 … “It’s key for kiddies to learn another lingo…”

Editor Interview with Cities Talking

Cities TalkingWorld Words editor Joseph Reaney was recently interviewed by one of our clients, Cities Talking, outlining all the skills, tips and tricks required to compose great audio travel guides that entertain and inform the listener. Here was one of the questions…

Q. HOW DO YOU TACKLE A BRIEF TO WRITE A CITIES TALKING TOUR?

A. Cities Talking is a wonderful client. They provide a clear brief about the tour they wish to be written and have in-house researchers who send over a long document outlining each and every attraction en route. We’ll then scour these notes, pick out the interesting information and use this to create an entertaining and informative audio script. We also supplement this research with some of our own. In particular, we try to find interesting characters and dig into their personalities.

You can read the interview in full of the Cities Talking website. You will find some of the audio city guides we have written for this client, including on the beautiful European cities Amsterdam, Budapest and Prague, in our portfolio.

Off Mt. Everest’s Beaten Track

I feel like throwing up. My head is spinning, my stomach churning, my joints throbbing. I suck in a lungful of icy air but there isn’t enough oxygen. Yet still I ignore that pounding thought: ‘turn back, turn back’. After two weeks of physical and mental exertion, with my final destination only an hour ahead, I know I can’t give up now. So I plant a walking pole deep into the dirt track and drag my heavy body onwards. Slowly, I begin to move my legs, bend my knees, pick up my feet, and I struggle on through the white wilderness, closer and closer to the finish line. I’m going to make it.

That’s when it all goes black. Continue reading

Face-to-Face with God

“Do not bow at the head. Do you understand?”

I nod. My guide licks her lips anxiously. “Not-the-head,” she reiterates, pointing a perfectly-manicured finger at her temple. “Very disrespectful.” I nod the same nod, and she replies with an uncertain smile. “Then let’s go meet him.”

It’s my third day in North Korea and we’re outside Kumsusan Memorial Palace: the once-residence and now mausoleum of ‘eternal president’ Kim Il-sung. A colossal white-brick cathedral to the revolutionary leader, its reputation as the country’s most important pilgrimage site is cemented by the long queue of personally-invited, immaculately-turned-out Koreans eagerly awaiting a glimpse of their Great Leader. Continue reading

The Great Potential of Petition Marketing

paris-hilton2[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 8TH JUNE 2009 BY RED C MAGAZINE]

Here’s a question: how do you feel about Paris Hilton? Personally I have nothing against the pointless, insipid, spoilt, undernourished, narcissistic, empty-headed, fame-raping little brat… but I know others feel differently.

When Ms. Hilton was found guilty of drink driving in 2006, her PR team decided to harness the power of public outcry in a campaign to request her pardon. The Free Paris Hilton petition – which includes the incredible declaration “Paris provides beauty and excitement to our otherwise mundane lives” – received a fairly impressive 33,000 signatures. Unfortunately, a counter petition requesting that the socialite serve her full sentence was signed by over 91,000 people and featured on several major news channels in the US. Proof, if it were needed, that not everybody shares my innate capacity for forgiveness. Continue reading

Alrite R’kid? Why I Love the Manc Accent

oasis_narrowweb__300x367,2[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 28TH JANUARY 2010 BY RED C MAGAZINE]

When I was growing up in a quiet little town in the south of England, I was always jealous of people with accents. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, I thought, to be able to ask for jellied eels, or a sausage barm, without sounding like a ponce. Wouldn’t it be bloody brilliant if the sound of my voice alone communicated a deep-rooted link to the precise location of my upbringing.

I do, of course, have vocal indicators that identify me as southern English. Many can even place my accent in the south east. But am I from Basildon or from Basingstoke; from Berkshire or from Kent? My part-BBC, part-Estuary English style of speech gives few pointers to a precise location. The fact is, millions of people across a large part of the country speak in much the same boring way as I do. My voice is a poor compass. It’s hardly surprising, then, that I dreamt of having a real accent. Continue reading