Is it a book? Is it a laptop? Sneaky ways to disguise your valuables

I had yet another brilliant brainwave the other day: to put a hardback book’s dust sheet over my mini netbook to make it look like a book so that when banditos jump on a nightbus in South America I can have my laptop on my lap and they’ll totally think it’s just a book. After some Googling however I found that someone else has already thought of this and created an expensive laptop book disguise that you can buy.

17 reasons why coming home is great

At some point, for most people anyway, you eventually have to stop travelling and head home, and it can feel like a real come-down. Back to grey skies, 9-5 work, you know what it’s like. But coming home has its upsides too, and sometimes you just need to be...

Backpack not required: exploring in style

Getting off the beaten path doesn’t mean discovering a new country or taking a boat, bus and tractor just to find somewhere unique and unspoiled. It’s simply about venturing off the tourist trail wherever you are, whether you’re on the east coast of...

Secret squats, daytime raves and crazy locals – discover the hidden Berlin

Fancy partying in a bombed-out train depot? Or getting messy with the local street artists? How about getting to know the local crazies a bit better? Then pop along to one of these free city tours, run by local lovers of Berlin, who will give you a unique and personal tour of the wonderful German city – but not the usual tourists sights – there are no big walls, shiny gates or boring museums here. The tours focus on the music, art, shops, skate parks abandoned areas and party spots that only the locals know about.

Get to know the real Turkey in Patara

Set in the foothills of the imposing, thickly forested Taurus mountains, Patara is a small, friendly village, untouched by mass tourism and a place where time stands still. Its unspoilt 18 kilometre sandy beach has won awards for its beauty, and the crumbling ancient city it lies next to tells a story 2,000 years old.

Hiking in Amalfi, Italy

The Amalfi Coast in Italy is an idyllic area and popular with the rich and famous. As such, even a short trip there requires a remortgage on your house – but you don’t need to be Tom Cruise or Oprah to be able to enjoy the region. If you venture further afield (which most people don’t – walking isn’t good for the Jimmy Choos) you’ll come across tiny villages hewn out of craggy cliffs that drop into the clear, turquoise sea, with views that cannot be rivalled and locals who don’t speak English. Bliss.

16 ways to get off the tourist trail

16 ways to get off the tourist trail

  Ever tried to ‘get away from it all’ and then realised with a sinking heart that everyone else had the exact same idea as you? Here’s how to successfully wander off the beaten path. Don’t have too much of a plan. That way you’re...

Tamarama Beach, best beach in Sydney

Like London with a beach, it can be difficult to get a square inch of space to yourself in Sydney, but while Bondi Beach is stuffed fulls of locals and tourists, there is a beach just around the corner that no one seems to realise is there…