Yesterday afternoon, in the leafy surrounds of Yerevan Botanical Gardens, the Armenian State Tourism Committee and HIKEArmenia announced their intention to create a new national hiking trail across Armenia. In attendance were government officials, tourism development representatives, long-time members of the hiking community… and the small crew of trail enthusiasts who’d been working behind the […]
The moment I decided to stop travelling, put down roots, and buy a house (on the pretext that I needed somewhere to store my bikes and camping gear), some deeply buried part of my brain started looking for ways to make it feel like I was actually still travelling. I’m certainly not the first. And […]
When, on January 1st, I and many others committed to not flying for a year, none of us imagined 2020 would see 90% of air traffic disappear and the biggest reduction in aviation emissions since the invention of flight. Perhaps predictably, smug people on Twitter soon began making sarcastic jokes about how everyone might as […]
I recently penned this 1,500-word piece for Horizon Guides, whose founder Matt I’ve known for many years. Their mission is to expand our understanding of the world through guides, journals and curated travel experience – a mission that has much in common with my own. There is no particular blueprint for creating a long-distance hiking […]
There’s an elephant in the room with my #FlightFree2020 pledge. My work is tied inextricably to the international travel industry, which in turn relies heavily on flying. In other words, if I continue to do my job well, I will increase overall aviation emissions – whether or not I myself take any flights – as […]
Originally published at homeofmillican.com. In an obscure corner of Armenia, in the town of Dilijan, just shy of the central square, a rickety wooden staircase leads up from the street, through the trees, and into the unknown. If you climb these stairs and follow the red-and-white symbols, you’ll rise far above town along pathways etched […]
My Flight Free 2020 pledge hasn’t come out of nowhere. Call it a rekindling of a long-forgotten conviction that the example I set might actually matter. Because we are all participants, now, in this huge and never-ending conversation we call global society. Our impact is measured in terms of the number of people paying attention […]
Today, on this day of New Year’s Resolutions, I pledge to join the Flight Free UK campaign. Between now and the 1st of January 2021, I will not take a single flight. I’ve joined the campaign because, as a long-time advocate of adventurous travel and exploration, I can no longer ignore my own hypocrisy. I […]
The Gegham Mountains are an imposing chain of volcanic domes that bisects Armenia from north to south. For most of the year they are impenetrable due to a thick layer of snow. But come June, as snow starts to melt, the country’s tent-dwelling Yezidi nomads drive their cattle from lowland plains to graze beneath the […]
A very quick heads-up that places on the Transcaucasian Trail group fundraising hikes in 2019 are now available. Click here for the dates and details and, if the fancy takes you, to register your participation. I’ve been helping design and promote these treks for the last couple of years, and they’ve proved to be a […]