9 Things to Do in Antwerp in Winter
Antwerp, one of Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities in 2018 and unofficial capital of Flanders, belongs on everyone’s bucket list. Home to Belgium’s best nightlife and filled with historical monuments…
Climate Change and Tourism: Plane, Car, Train or Boat?
Travel Begins at 40 looks at the relationship between climate change and tourism by comparing various modes of travelling to your next destination. Asking yourself what’s the greenest way to…
The No-Fly Movement and Flygskam: What Is It?
Johan Smits discusses abandoning flying with No-Fly movements in the UK and Sweden. Have you heard yet of flygskam, Swedish for ‘flight shame’? It’s the No-Fly movement that originated in…
Japan Winter Festivals: Naked Men and Sake
From naked men to setting off fireworks and lots of sake, here is our round up of Japan Winter Festivals ranging from the quirky to the strange. Matsutaki Festival…
7 Great Beer Festivals in the UK, Belgium, Germany and the US
With the legendary Munich Oktoberfest around the corner, Travel Begins at 40 looks at seven great beer festivals in the UK, Belgium, Germany and the US. There is certainly no…
6 Things to Do in Chiang Mai Off the Tourist Trail
A persistent visitor to Thailand’s Rose of the North, Johan Smits spills the beans about his favourite tourist-proof things to do in Chiang Mai; some of them might well surprise…
A Global Beer Trip: Is There an Oktoberfest Near Me?
In a thirsty quest around the world, Travel Begins at 40 helps you answer the question “Is there an Oktoberfest near me?” for when you can’t make it to the…
5 Wonderful Festivals of Lights Not to Be Missed
The symbolic power of light has always played a powerful role in the world’s many cultural and religious traditions. But apart from their traditional significance, festivals of lights are also…
Venice Film Festival History: through its Poster Art
It’s no less than 86 years ago since the famous Venice Film Festival first saw the light of day in August 1932, making it the oldest film festival in the…
Five Unmissable Hindu Festivals of India
Considering its vast size and enormous population, it’s no surprise that India is an incredible diverse country home to many different ethnic groups and religions. And with each of these…
Voyage to the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest
Taking an old paddlewheel steamer from Dhaka to the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest in Bangladesh, Johan Smits finds poetry, a lost city and a vast water forest. “What beauty, what shades,…
Dhaka, Bangladesh – the World’s Most Crowded City
Johan Smits takes a deep breath before plunging into the world’s most crowded city, Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. I’m a fan of Sci-Fi films. And often it’s the atmospheric, non-tech parts…
