Around the world in 80 ways

I had the pleasure of hearing author of Only Planet, Ed Gillespie speak this morning. Gillespie traveled the world without the use of airplanes with the purpose to spread the message of the importance of global warming and how much of a carbon footprint air travel has.

I’m not convinced.

I found Gillespie spoke more of one solution, and not enough about the root problems. We indulge in carbon rich activities every day without even knowing. I believe a greater understanding and effort in the little things can still leave room for the joys and education that exposure to different cultures will provide.

Eat local. 95% of the fruit in your grocery store has been on a plane this week. If our food doesn’t fly, we can fly.

Buy less. I posted a few weeks ago the impact that our clothing has on the environment.

Wash your clothes less! We aren’t that dirty! Detergent is a huge polluter, washers use way too much water, and dryers suck energy. Do your jeans smell funky? Throw them in the freezer for two days, same effect, far less resources.

And as always, avoid plastic bottles and plastic bags.

Next Solar Eclipse – 2026

I was really excited for todays solar eclipse, like, really really excited.

I set my alarm super early to be sure I was up and running on the Thames to witness the crashing of our favourite two every day sky ornaments. You can imagine my disappointment when neither the sun nor it’s intersection with the moon made an appearance. Regardless, with a gaggle of diehard spectators I sat there on the river bank and imagined what was going on behind all that smog and cloud cover.

Solar selfie at 9:31 am, the peak of the eclipse. Nothing to see here…

The most interesting part of the experience was how cold it got at 9:36am, minutes after the peak of the eclipse, the chill was undeniable.

The sea birds called out to each other restlessly and refused to land.

Although it was not seen, the eclipse was definately felt.

In that moment I said thank you to that ball of burning gas for all it offers us; direction, food, life, warmth and energy.

I spent the rest of my run with a smile on my face, meditating on the significance of our sun and the first law of thermodynamics.

Compromise, not Sacrifice

I usually have a long answer to the question “what do you do?”. Risk and Geography aren’t fields that many people are familiar with, and as a result, two common reactions to my studies are either “the board game?” or “so, like maps?”. Yes, I do spend time looking at, analysing and creating maps, but what makes Geography unique is the study of human interaction with the earth. I couple this knowledge with a Risk framework, which is to look at past events in order to project the future, and in turn hopefully create preventative techniques based on models.

One fun projection is that of world population, the statistic is that we will gain another 2 billion people by the year 2050. It is somewhat likely I will still be around in 2050 (age 66) and the Geographer in me simply cringes at the thought of sustaining the needs of that population.

Well, what can I do about that? I most certainly do not want any of my creature comforts to be taken away, especially not around the time that I should be retiring. I am a strong advocate that the future is about compromise and not sacrifice, and it turns out now is the time to start making these compromises.

Quality over quantity is a really easy sacrifice and if you live this every day maybe the future won’t be so grim. This applies to all your indulgences. Food, travel and one that I haven’t mentioned yet, clothing.

I don’t think we really take into consideration the true cost of our clothing.

What do I mean by the true cost of clothing? On top of the dent in your wallet, each year manufacturing textiles uses 1,074 billion KWh of electricity and wastes up to 9 trillion liters of water. From the growing of cotton, to the production of cloth, to sewing then the freighting of the final product, a single pair of jeans creates 6 kg of CO2. It is estimated that clothing production is in the top 5 contributors to carbon dioxide emissions.

Now internalise the environmental cost of chemical contamination from pesticides, dyes, bleaches and societal costs of health care due to human interaction with these chemicals and the bargain prices of Primark and H&M really are not worth it.

The solution? When you go shopping look at where the garment is made, and consider only buying things that are made within an acceptable distance. Sure you will buy less, but you will be buying products that you will be able to wear more than a few times.

There once was a time when Made in China was exotic, but no more.

Therefore, I am adding local UK made clothing and accessories as one of the central themes of this blog.

Be Unlimited

I met Bianca Elgar on a plane from Marrakesh to London. Bianca was reading a behavioural classic by the legendary Daniel Kahneman called “Thinking Fast and Slow”, and being Canadian as well as overly friendly I asked her what she thought of the book. We started chatting heuristics and anchoring and before we knew it we were in London 5 hours later. Bianca is a statuesque and creative woman with a fiery yet sensitive soul. She makes scarves. Beautiful silk scarves with vivid colours and versatile non-symetrical patterns. Hand printed, made in the UK, buttery soft scarves.

(Get it? – I want me to go to Marrakesh, not my clothing.)

Be Unlimited is about versatility, luxury and most importantly, quality.

I was lucky enough to visit Bianca’s home office in Oxford and was asked to do a little modelling. Within a few minutes of agreeing, she had set up a home photo studio in her kitchen.

I present to you, my first ever photo shoot.

Lucky me got to take this stunning scarf home!

Glasses hand made in the UK by Bailey Nelson and rings hand made by GemSteady in Cincinnati, OH.

Canary Islands – A Physical Geographer in Heaven

On my winter break I chose to head to the Canary Islands. This decision was made by the following criteria: It had to be over 20’C while I was there and the plane ticket needed to be under £100. I am embarrassed to say I probably wouldn’t have been able to spot the Canaries on a map before I committed to the trip, but the decision could not have been more perfect.

For those who share my geographic ignorance, the Canaries are a group of 7 islands about 100 kilometres off shore from the most southern tip of Morocco. Much like the Islands of Hawaii, the Canaries are a product of an oceanic plate moving slowly over a hot spot. Essentially this means there is a weakness in the crust where lava has been allowed to escape, rise and cool into these geologic wonders. The oldest of the Islands, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are actually in their erosional stage but have experienced seismic activity as recently as the 1800’s.

Lanzarote

To fly into Lanzarote is what I can only imagine the descent of a commercial airline to the moon would feel like. The landscape is riddled with volcanos and glows a subtle copper red that twinkles in the sunlight. The contrast of the deep blue ocean that surrounds this landscape is quite literally breathtaking.

Volcanic landscape of Timanfaya National Park in south central Lanzarote

Playa Papagayo 

The southern coast of Lanzarote is riddled with pocket beaches subject to intense winds and rough waves. A few of these mini beaches are accessible by car, but if you are feeling adventurous and have a good understanding of tides, you can hike along the coast and find a few places to enjoy in complete solitude.

Playa Papagayo

A beach hopping hike in Playa Papagayo

El Golfo

El Golfo is a crater that is partially submerged and eroded by the ocean to expose the inner striated wall of this cone volcano. Within this crater the Charco de los Clicos lagoon has formed and boasts an extravagantly green colour due to seaweed blossoms which thrive well in the extremely high salt content of the lake. Olivine, a bright green semi precious stone can be found within the walls of this crater.

Inner and outer rocks from the cone volcano of El Golfo are slowly mixing through natural coastal erosion.

A hike into the crater displays the quick transition between the outer and inner geology of the volcano, from the red surface to the black of the cooled lava. All this frames the green lake spectacularly.

Cuevas de Los Verdes

The eruption of the Corona Volcano in Timanfaya National Park and subsequent lava flow towards the ocean formed this 6 kilometre long cave system. The caves are stacked threefold with parallel tunnels. As the area exposed to the air hardened, the internal laval continued to flow carving these extensive tunnels. These volcanos are technically still active and and the tunnels are home to a geologic centre tasked to monitor seismic activity. Additionally, the acoustics within the tunnels lends themselves to a subterranean concert hall.

Inside the Cuevas de Los Verdes.

Fuerteventura 

Anyone traveling to Lanzarote should reserve a day to take the ferry to Fuerteventura. The Parque Natural de Corralejo features impressive sand dunes that will simply stun you after spending time in the rugged volcanic landscape of Lanzarote. One would expect sand dunes to be flowing and soft, however this is not the case. As wind carries away smaller particles the larger sand granules are left behind and subsequently compacted by rain, gravity, soil creep, thermal expansion and many other factors. This results in a varnished shell on top of the sand called desert pavement. I couldn’t get enough of this and geeked out super hard in these dunes.

Strong winds lead to a perfect layer of desert pavement. Dunas de Corralejo.

Tenerife

It’s very easy to go to Tenerife and only experience an impersonal touristy island. Our goal was to avoid all things resort and were pretty successful.

El Teide

This impressive volcano in the centre of Tenerife is a must see and at 3,718 m it is the highest point in Spain. The drive to the summit brings you across the temperature inversion layer of our atmosphere. What exactly does this mean? Well, we all know (hopefully) that the higher you go the colder it gets. At the temperature inversion layer this switches, where your continued ascent begins to get warmer as you are getting closer to the sun. You are quite literally out of your typically known atmosphere and above the clouds. I regret not visiting the summit in the nighttime as I hear the star gazing is unparalleled.

The tops of clouds from the summit of a snow covered El Teide.

Playa de La Tejita

Tenerife has a plethora of beaches varying in colour. The most interesting to me were the black sands of Playa de La Tejita. When the lava flow of El Teide hit the cool waters of the Atlantic at El Medano the lava shattered into fragments small enough to be called sand. As the ocean eroded these pieces down they softened and glistened with hues of grey and red. Black sands are unsurprisingly warmer to the touch than white sand, and far more dynamic in colour and facet.

Black sand sparkling in the sun.

In the interest of keeping this post “short” and legible in one sitting I will skip some info on dolphins, coastal erosion and the saltiest ocean waters I have every experienced. Feel free to contact me for tips and more information. Here are some concluding photos that I simply had to include.

Local boys jumping into the ocean from an abandoned pier in Tenerife.

Sunset in Tenerife.

Street Feast

I went down to Hawker House for the first of ten weekends of street food warehouse partying. Street Feast has a rotating list of 18 or so food stalls who will be serving food on three floors of swanky lounge style loft space. There were some interesting choices available, Jamaican Jerk sliders, Indian sliders, bar-b-que sliders, sliders, Mongolian sliders, fish sliders, hot dog sliders… wait no, they were just hot dogs. I tasted some good things in buns but was most impressed with the few selections that were a little more unique. Breddos Tacos offered tasty decent sized Native oysters as well as perfectly crispy fish tacos and fresh, raw, spicy Tuna tostadas.

B.O.B.’s Lobster

 

Just as the industrial warehouse was classed up, B.O.B’s Lobster refined their ordering process by including servers and not asking customers to queue up. I liked the attentive touch and was motivated to spend £11 on a Lobster Mac-n-Cheese; this turned out to be a great investment as in the bottom of the bowl I discovered a perfectly poached lobster claw of epic dimensions.

Then there was Whiskey Roulette! Yes, gambling and booze, the perfect combination non? But seriously, this was a fun idea. The board included 37 Whiskeys from around the world, ranging from £7 to (I believe) £22 a glass. A spin costs £8 and the drink you get corresponds with the number you spin, note that odds are good as 75% of the Whiskeys were priced over £8.

I of course couldn’t resist and tried my hand. As luck would have it my spin resulted in a ration of Hudson Four Grain, a Whiskey I have tasted before. I was hoping to try something new, and noticing my disappointment the nice roulette girl let me pick the Whiskey of my choice (of equal value of course, my best smile wouldn’t convince her). I chose Suntory Hibiki, a 12 year old Japanese Whiskey that was surprisingly smooth, but had a youthful bite neither me nor my co-taster cared too much for.

Whisky Bar

 

In all it was a great evening, leather couches, DJ’s on every floor, tasty bites, craft drinks and good friends. A perfect end would have been a sweet snack, but as there were no dessert options we chose to wash it all down with a warm apple cider.

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Street Feast runs until April 4th, is open every Friday and Saturday from 5pm-12am and is located at 260-264 Kingsland Rd, E8 4DG. Admission is £4 but is free before 7pm, so get there early, that way you can also snag a seat before it fills up.

Note there are no food shots as it turns out I am a terrible food photographer.

Brick Lane Market

Today was a beautiful day in London and I took the opportunity to check out a Poutine stall at Brick Lane Market that I have heard a lot about. Although the poutine was alright, I think I found my new happy place! Brick Lane Market is everything I love bottled up in a few blocks of pure creative awesomeness. Set on a backdrop of rotating graffiti murals, there are hundreds of food stalls ranging from Lithuanian to sushi to Venezuelan, dabbled with vintage stores to make you rethink your wardrobe, local crafties with art and jewellery and a different musician around every corner. I highly recommend a visit from anyone who happens to find themselves in London on a Sunday. Bring a friend, an appetite and a canvas bag.

Brick Lane Market
13 Brick Lane
E1 6PU

 

York Trip

I have been incredibly negligent of this blog. So here is a much delayed first trip post, should have posted this over a month ago.

This week I went on a wonderful road trip with an old friend from boarding school. We visited our old campus at Queen Ethelburgas which has changed immensely from when I lived there way back in 1997.

After a lovely day on campus, we took a drive up to the North Yorkshire Moors. What a place! Vast and stunning, rolling hills, deep valleys and barely any greenery over a few feet tall. Very much like Tundra the vegetation was dwarfed, however for a very different reason. The area known as the Yorkshire Moors was once a low lying sea, which means the area is characterized with a top layer of Corallian Limestone. As this particular kind of limestone erodes, it produces a highly acidic environment which does not lend itself well to growing conditions. The area is mostly covered in heather, which thrives well in these geologic and climatic conditions, and has a beautiful purple colour.

I stayed in an adorable Bed and Breakfast in Goathland called the Heatherdene Hotel. Affordable and an amazing breakfast in the morning.

Aside from an apparent 100 to 1 ratio of sheep to people, Goathland is mostly known for it’s steam train and station which made a cameo in the first of the Harry Potter movie as Hogsmeade.

The trip then took us east to Whitby on the coast of the North Sea. We visited the ruins of St. Hilda, and enjoyed the coast where Bram Stocker based his famous novel, Dracula.

Here we enjoyed the freshest and most delicious fish and chips at Mister Chips, a must eat if you ever find yourself in Whitby.

After a decent sunday roast with real yorkshire pudding, and a drive back to the train, we took a quick stroll through York and visited the largest gothic cathedral in Europe, York Minster.

The narrow streets of York were featured on the Tour de France 2014.

Stay tuned for more adventures. I have been eating my way through London, looking for the best pizza and pho, feel free to share if you have any tips!

First 12 Hours in London

I don’t have wireless at the moment and I am still learning the lay of the land so this will be a short post. I arrived this morning and was settled in by 9am GMT. It was an uneventful move and flight, things went smoothly. Watched three good movies on the plane and of course could not sleep.

Here is a short list of the things I observed today as I walked around for about 7 hours –

The city is endless and easily navigable (says the cartographer). Around every corner is a stop in your tracks, jaw dropping piece of architecture.

Comfortable walking shoes are a dead giveaway that you are a tourist. Time to invest in some platform sneakers.

If your bar doesn’t have a patio, feel free to simply drink in the streets right outside of it, no rules.

Oysters and free wireless are available everywhere.

Borough Market will be a frequent destination for me.

I don’t think a year will be enough time to cover the food here…

 

Evil and Delicious

Three years ago I discovered a deep interest in Geography, and this fall have been granted an opportunity to study Risk Analysis at Kings College, located in the heart of London, England. This is exciting to me in two ways, first, I get to study alongside an international crew of exceptional peers and mentors. Second, I get to discover all the culinary delights that London, and the rest of Europe, have to offer.

Food is my first passion. This passion expands my waistline more than it does my mind, however, as many times as I have tried to turn my back on it, food is necessary, evil and delicious. I am of the thinking that one should never deprive themselves of the things they love, and with that being said, I am exceptionally happy with who I am and what I do.

The goal of this blog is to not only document my epicurean finds and adventures, but as I eat my way through the travels to come, comment on the Geography of Food. Human migration, soil structure, fluvial processes, climate and altitude all have primitive influences on local fare, and I plan to explore all these facets of the dishes I happen to stumble upon.

Feel free to comment, disagree and recommend.