Experience Rwanda's gorillas and Malawi's elephants in two of Africa's stunning national parks. Seeing animals with such depth of emotion living in their natural environment is a touching experience, a glimpse worth experiencing. 

I wrote Searching for Unique to help fellow travellers cut through the myriad of travel guides, blogs and brochures and focus on the best destinations from around the world—those hidden gems that still elude most tourists.

Instead of trying to pick a country and then figure out what to do there, Searching for Unique covers multiple countries and groups each destination by theme. So, as a reader if you feel like an active holiday then you can look at the Wilderness Treks chapter or if you prefer the cultural experience of a local festival, then the Rare Festivals chapter may suit your interest.

​Helping you decide where to go in Greenland: East or West.

After travelling from Tallinn to Vilnius, these are my picks for the best destinations to visit in the Baltics.

Nkwichi Lodge - Mozambique
​Wake up to breakfast served on your private beach, hike to a nearby community where you can chat with the village chief and, above all, experience Nkwichi Lodge’s masterful balance of creating a traveller’s retreat while sustainably developing local communities.

Website Link: Nkwichi Lodger

Mongolia's desert is more than dry sand and endless dunes. This is my adventure in a hidden canyon with stunning colours and a vibrancy all its own.

Saxual trees—the only variety able to grow in such a dry climate—struggle. Remnants of branches tangled low to the ground remained, contorted in their final search for a drop of water. Those plants able to endure sprouted tiny green leaves among the otherwise withered skeletons of trees bleached by the sun.

Has the thrill faded from your latest vacation plan? You may be short on time to sift through a guide book to find what really grabs your interest. Let me help.

Consider adding a getaway adventure, a little nugget to revive your holiday and re-energize your entire trip in the process. Here are three options across three continents:

Thirty years ago, my eyes would have been blinded by the reflection from the Aral Sea’s waters. Today, they stared at sand and saxual bushes that merged into a hazy horizon no matter which direction I turned. Our Landcruiser had been bouncing along a four-wheel-drive track for nearly ninety minutes. We were driving on the seabed, or what remained of it. A rusted-out bus rested upside down and scorched at the side of the road near where we had left the Ustyrt Plateau and entered the Aral Sea’s former seabed. Since then, I had seen little else beyond the occasional gas rig or pipeline marker - the latest business of choice in a fishing region erased of its sea.

These are some of the most unusual festivals from around the world!