International Surfing Day, 2025
International Surfing Day (ISD) was established by The Surfrider Foundation and Surfing Magazine in 2004. Sure, its a day for the surfers, but it may mean a shoreline party, drinks at the bar…
Dive Fest Barbados, Caribbean, 2019
If you love diving, or just messing about in the water, the Dive Fest Barbados in July may just be the right one for you.One of the best things about the Dive…
Levison Wood: Return to Nepal
Explorer, best-selling travel writer and former British army officer Levison Wood returns to Nepal on behalf of the Gurkha Welfare Trust to become acquainted with friends old and new…
Simon Albert: Charity Challenge
Travel Begins at 40 chats with Simon Albert, Director of Charity Challenge, which celebrates its 20th birthday in 2019 helping raise over £55 million for charity in the process. How…
Walking with Elephants the Mandalao Way
On his recent visit to northern Laos, Mark Bibby Jackson visits Mandalao Elephant Sanctuary near Luang Prabang to discover more about the ethical ways that tourists…
Luang Prabang: Laos Past or Future?
Searching for peace, quiet and beauty, Johan Smits finds in Luang Prabang a stunning little town at a crossroads. One tropical evening we find ourselves sitting in the nearly empty…
Ethical Travel Dilemma: To Boycott or Not to Boycott
From Israel to Myanmar, and Uganda to the USA, the list of countries you could avoid due to ethical travel concerns seems endless. Johan Smits tackles the thorny issue of…
Thailand Travel Tips: Do’s and Don’ts
Having lived three years in the Thai border town of Mae Sot and visiting the kingdom more times than he can recall, Johan Smits shares his Thailand travel tips to…
Is Local Tourism the Next Global Trend?
From humble beginnings TravelLocal is starting to take mainstream tourism by storm, Travel Begins at 40 talks with its co-founder Huw Owen about the company and why local tourism is…
Luke Bailes: Africa Wildlife Conservation
Luke Bailes, the charismatic founder of Singita, is one of the most influential individuals in African wildlife conservation tourism, preserving swathes of African wilderness by promoting environmentally conscious and socially…
Travel to Ogre Island, Mon State
In the second instalment in her Myanmar adventure, Marissa Carruthers gets crafty, takes a history lesson and hangs with the locals for a stunning sunset during a visit to Mon…
Pamir Highway, a Road Less Travelled
After travelling through the Wakhan Valley, Johan Smits reaches the famed Pamir Highway traversing Tajikistan’s GBAO to reach what feels like the top of the world. One of the two…
Cardamom Tented Camp: Saving Rainforests
A pioneering sustainable tourism project is making its debut in the heart of the Cambodian jungle. Marissa Carruthers finds out from Willem Niemeijer how a stay at the Cardamom Tented…
Trekking the Wakhan Valley, Tajikistan
Expecting nothing but the soaring mountains in the Pamir region of Tajikistan, Johan Smits gets far more than he bargained for when trekking the Wakhan Valley. “Some of these petroglyphs…
Myanmar Travel Off the Beaten Track
In the first of two instalments, Marissa Carruthers falls in love with the bounty of natural beauty that Myanmar travel and Kayin State have to offer…
Druk Path Trek Bhutan, the Local Way
Vast landscapes and wide open skies are defining features of Bhutan and there are few better ways to see them than on the Druk Path Trek…
Bye Bye Pai Thailand: The Tuk Tuk Dairies IV
On Day 8 of the Tuk Tuk Diaries, Mark and Jen head for Pai Thailand, a town shrouded in travellers tales, and regret staying there a couple of nights…
White Flowers on The Tuk Tuk Thailand Diaries
On Day 7 of The Tuk Tuk Thailand Diaries, Mark goes off in search for some white flowers and gets led down the garden path by a pack of dogs…
The Tuk Tuk Diaries Part I
Travel Begins at 40 founder Mark Bibby Jackson has taken up the challenge to drive a tuk tuk 783 kilometres through Northern Thailand, you can follow his adventure here…
Cambodia Tourism Set to Soar
Cambodia tourism industry has evolved in leaps and bounds in the last few decades. As it becomes an increasingly important economic pillar for the Kingdom, Marissa Carruthers looks at the…
Beyond Ecotourism – Our Responsibility
Instead of blaming others for a lack of genuine ecotourism, we should take responsibility for making our own travel sustainable, eco-friendly and respectful of local cultures, argues Johan Smits. The…
Con Dao: Beneath the Charm Lies a Brutal Past
Although Phu Quoc and Mui Ne have developed a reputation as beach escape of choice for those looking to escape from Ho Chi Minh City, the former penal colony of…
Things to Do in Panama City
Many travellers have heard of things to do in Panama City – the canal, casinos, etc – but on his most recent visit, Mike East saw many changes and much…
Tajikistan Travel – Dushanbe Lost in Time
Johan Smits shares his fascination for an intriguing mix of old-world charm and bold new vision in Tajikistan’s curious capital, Dushanbe. The employee shoos us away with a mixture of…
