World Reviewer blog

Luckily people have different tastes when it comes to travel, otherwise we’d all be crowding out the same few spots, but today I received two very different sets of recommendations.  From one of our contributing editors, Zhern Majoe, an article about why he’s inspired by visits to thumping city hearts and urban spaces and from Kenneth Hope, our newest sailing expert, the first of his top sailing recommendations, which will imagine you through journeys along the Dalmatian Coast, the Nile, the Lycian Coast, through the Panama Canal and round the ’sporadic’ Sporades.

Hopefully something to inspire everyone’s daydreams today then?

We’ve had quite a few Americans though our door so we thought we should take advantage of some of their location expertise and find out a bit more about the best of the big ol’ U S of A… Enthusiastic, outdoor-type, Jordan seemed like the right person to ask for her opinion on America’s Best Beaches and she was more than happy to oblige, providing us with just that bit more, her top recommendations for nine different kinds of beach experience:

Nightlife: South Beach – Miami, FL

Families: Ocracoke Island, Outer Banks, NC

People-watching: Venice Beach, Los Angeles, CA

Romance/Honeymoon: Poipu Beach, Kawai HI

Seclusion: Papakolea Beach, Water sports: Hanauma Bay, Oahu, HI

Relaxation: Catalina Island, CA

Luxury: Main Beach, East Hampton, NY

Wildcard: Siesta Beach, FL

Wildcard: Moshup Beach, Martha’s Vineyard, MA

London’s light and non-too-balmy summer evenings are perfect for outdoor theatre and I’ve been lucky enough to get a few invites to one of the best spots for it, Shakespeare’s Globe. So far I’ve seen the powerfully dramatic King Lear and a new work about London life in 2008 called The Frontline – both definitely experiences. In fact I enjoyed my trips there so much I made a little video documentary about the Globe, in case you can’t get there for yourself. I’d definitely recommend it.

Seems to be that most of my friends are taking their summer break on an island. Even the one going to New York is technically going to a land mass “girt (as the Australian national anthem says) by sea”.

Most of them had an idea of the kind of holiday they were looking for, be it experiencing a new culture, catching up on some water sports, cheap shopping, relaxation, sun, sun, sun… And most of them hung around our Worldreviewer list of Island Paradises looking for just the right destination. I’m not sure what it is about being on a land mass cut off from other landmasses, but something about it does imply holiday… So to help them, and anyone else who is still looking for a vacation destination here is a guide to potential island paradises: Imagine yourself on your own island…

Many of us are interested in finding out about our bloodlines, what have your predecessors been getting up to and was it something you can be proud of?

Soldiers were told to fight for the future, so any of your relatives who died on the battlefield died in part so that you could live, which is an even greater reason to pay your respects to them and their fallen colleagues. I went on my own journey to find out about the experience one of my relatives had in Gallipoli and it was a trip that changed my perspective more than any other, so I can appreciate the passion experts like Dr. Andrew Thomson, who leads battlefield tours, have for the past. Dr. Thomson has just joined us as an expert, his first review for us is of The Battle of the Bulge, but we have quite a few of the most famous fields reviewed already if you have a relative who died in battle you’d like to pay your respects to.

Just to prove that I really do love kids I put some research in and did some polling around the office to find out what makes a really great family holiday - one worth a whole chapter in the book of family lore.  I think I came up with a pretty good and varied list and I challenge all kids not to find something on there that looks worth leaving their bedroom to go see.  I’ve called it ‘It’s My Holiday Too’ after my Mum and Dad who used to utter those words under their breath as us kids fought in the back seat of the car on long drives.

I have four days left in Europe, three days left in London, and a little less than an hour left as a WR intern. I could try to sum up the last eight weeks I’ve spent here in a few sentences, but I would just ramble until I couldn’t stand to look at the computer screen.

And that would be horrible, because one of the best parts of my job has been able to not only read about, but view pictures and watch videos of amazing experiences from all over the world, most from places I’ve never even heard of. My wishlist on the site grew bigger every day; I’m almost to the point where I could travel for the rest of my life and not even be able to check everything off the list. But judging from the brilliant photos I’ve seen on WR, it’s worth a try.

I came here not knowing what I was going to do when I graduated from university in two years, and I still don’t really, but I do know that I’d like to work for a website or publication that inspires people to attempt the new, take in something foreign, and become better from life-changing experiences as WR does. But until then, I’ll be reading everyone else’s reviews of the world, and maybe adding a few of my own.

I like kids, they’re often funny and wise, but as my Dad used to tell me when I was a kid “Children should be seen and not heard”.  If you feel the same way you may want to holiday away from the cries of “Are we there yet?” and “Muuummmm, I’m bored, can we go home?”.  In which case have a look at my list of places to Holiday Sans Kids.

In weather wet enough to dive in but really only fit for ducks I met up with our newest World Reviewer expert Nick Shaw who from the intro you have probably already guessed is a diving expert - who actually examines diving examiners. Nick has been to some fantastic places around the globe but in some places has seen more of the underwater topography than the topside, he says he could recognise some countries better by their fish and coral than by their landscape. I told him to have a look at WR next time he’s away and to at least try and see some of the highlights and in return I said I’d try and get under the waves (but only if the water is going to be warm.).

Nick’s first couple of reviews are for some of his favourite dives. Check out the S.S. President Coolidge off the coast of Vanuatu the wreck of the Thistlegorm in the Red Sea and Barracuda Point in Malaysia which top his list… but it stretches on from there impressively. And like a lot of our experts he has trouble comparing his favourite favourites so he says don’t hold him to the order.