My life has been so bound up with travel. The excitement at looking out of a plane window as you come into land, or circle a city at night. The wonderful experience of learning a new culture as a genuine resident – someone who has decided to live in that country for at least a couple of years but had little experience – if any at all – before arriving. I have been fortunate to have had that privilege on many occasions, and around the globe. Learning a language. Learning local customs.

I have decided to draw a line in my life – for various reasons – in autumn of 2012 – and just build a new site that reflects the people and travel experiences from this point forwards. So I arrive at his point as a 55 year old single man, looking to explore the world with new eyes and new enthusiasms.

I look forward to everything the world is going to throw at me – my first trip was to Thessaloniki – a city about which I knew next to nothing, during December, 2012. This trip was about getting to know myself, and my new Nikon D5100. I selected Thessaloniki on the basis of a few simple criteria

• New for me
• Steeped in history
• Didn’t need a car
• Might not be freezing

The trip was great – and taught me something about myself but more importantly a lot about Greece and the greek people.

A summary on leaving is here and an example post on the Byzantine museum is here.

My next trip substantial trip is scheduled for end of March and is to Seville. I lucked out a bit here because it turns out that the Easter parades will be on while I am there – and that’s a big thing for Seville. So should be some pretty interesting shots.

I hope to travel every month, many of these will be simple 2 day excursions in the UK and I am sure all will provide rich opportunities for meeting people, dialogue and a creative exploration as to what makes each location individual.