Poetry

An Old Dawn

by Chris Hill   We tend to respect things that have endured for a long time.   We respect our professors Because we know that years of hard study have given them knowledge. That time has taught them more than books could.   We respect antiques As relics of an era before our own. As […]

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Comment, Diary, Prose

Slow Travel: The End of the Road?

by Tobias Thornes In the midst of the unimaginably vast, empty expanse that is the surface of the Pacific Ocean – the thin, glittering film across which we have slid for nearly a month – the first, precious sighting of land feels like the fulfilment of one’s every hope and dream. For days I have […]

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Comment, Diary, Prose

Slow Travel: Paradise in the Pacific

by Tobias Thornes I’m going in search of an island. It’s no ordinary island. You won’t find it on any map; it can’t be seen from space. Yet it’s the size of Texas. The only way to reach it is by sea, but you won’t see it coming. You’ll only know you’ve reached it when […]

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Comment, Diary, Prose

Slow Travel: The Waters of Life

by Tobias Thornes The Hunza Valley stretches out before me, reposing upon my vision like a verdant dream. Except that no dream could conjure such sparkling, vivid colours, nor invoke such unimagined beauty as that possessed by this high Green Heaven. Around it, a crisp crown of snow-capped mountains dazzles in the shimmering summer sunlight, […]

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Culture, Prose

The Case for Zero Waste

by Sophie Barnes We have produced more plastic in the last ten years than we have over the last hundred, yet it takes approximately 500-1000 years to degrade. Zero Waste is an attempt to reduce what we throw out to zero, making our lives 100% sustainable. It’s a growing online community. The Zero Waste Bloggers […]

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Comment, Diary, Prose

Slow Travel: The Heat of Saudi Arabia

by Tobias Thornes Down the dusty road from Jordan into Saudi Arabia I make my slow but steady way. The bus takes me southwards through this dry desert peninsula, on another route frequented by pilgrims from far and wide down the ages. They travel in their millions to Mecca and Medina – those great, ancient […]

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Comment, Diary, Prose

Slow Travel: Into the Holy Land

by Tobias Thornes Travelling slowly into the Holy Land, I tread a path taken by countless millions of pilgrims before me, congregating here from every direction. A peculiar power dwells in this small corner of the world, on the Fertile Crescent where human civilisation first found its genesis. A force draws people here – some […]

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Comment, Diary, Prose

Slow Travel: A Slow Walk

by Tobias Thornes Forgive me if I start at the beginning. You might prefer to know the ending first, and judge from the conclusion whether setting out was worth my while at all. Or perhaps you’d rather have a taste first of the adventure that lies between the outset and the end, that you might […]

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