It began before dawn in London, late October 2025. The leaves were falling, the city half asleep, and the world on edge. There was a ceasefire in Gaza that few believed would hold, the war in Ukraine dragged on, and markets twitched. The dollar...

The road ends in Madrid, the heat rising from the tarmac, and with it comes time to gather what the miles have said. From the rain of the Lake District to Spain’s sun-bleached ridges, the journey has been less about destinations than about patt...

Day Five begins gently enough - coffee in Burgos, a cooler morning, and a table of pilgrims lacing their boots for the Camino de Santiago. Some will sleep rough, some in hotels, and one husband will trail his wife by car - devotion on four whee...

Day Four begins unsteadily in Bordeaux, perched on a high chair like a stork wobbling over breakfast. From this precarious throne comes conversation -  Americans, Canadians, Scots, one Englishman. Politics rises, as politics does, and for ...

Rouen woke me with bowls of coffee, croissants that actually tasted of butter, and the guilty hum of air-conditioning. I had switched it on overnight instead of opening the window. Foolish. Cooling now accounts for about 10% of global electrici...

Day Two began with an early escape from London, rubbish bag in hand, tucked neatly into a pile of others at the corner of the street. And straight away the question surfaced - where does all this refuse go? Not gone, just gone elsewhere. The wo...

It begins, as so many English journeys do, in the rain. I’m at my desk in the Lake District, about to point an old hybrid Audi south and drive 1342 miles to Madrid. By road, not by air. Not the quick hop of two and a half hours from Manchester ...

Rain was promised, but London delivered sunshine instead—and a strike that closed the Underground. The solution? Not a taxi, nor an Uber, but a scooter. Not the sleek electric kind either, but the childhood relic you shove along with one foot a...

In this one-off, field-worn and deeply personal episode, surgeon Richard Villar speaks directly to humanitarian healthcare workers — current and aspiring — about the hidden truths of medicine in conflict and disaster zones. This is not just abo...