By and large, I’m a solo traveller and I think it’s time I started emphasising that a bit more.
Back in the days when I could solo travel, I gravitated towards Iceland, Scandinavia and the Arctic, with occasional visits to places like the Baltic states and eastern Europe but you’ll find plenty of Paris and Switzerland and western Europe here too. Actually, my non-Wessex UK travels are here as well, so come with me to Scotland, London and a few other places around my own country.
Here are 10 things you need to know about Iceland before you go: tips for surviving the climate, making the most of your holiday and most importantly, not being an inconsiderate tourist leaving permanent damage behind. 1) Do not tread on the moss. No, never. Especially not for that Insta-perfect shot. That moss will take… More 10 Things You Need To Know About Iceland Before You Go
You may have seen the imminent Katla eruption in the news lately, a huge & deadly volcano about to blow Iceland – and European air travel – to kingdom come. Or is it? Well, we don’t really know. As a species, we still don’t know much about volcanoes and we certainly can’t predict with any… More Is Katla about to erupt?
The year was 2012 and I was in Mayrhofen, at the Altitude Comedy Festival. The idea is to ski or snowboard all day and then watch comedy all night. A winning combination – except that I’m not very good at snowboarding and I can’t ski to save my life. I opted for snowboarding lessons –… More My first high-altitude paraglide
Iceland is a country where travel can be difficult – only 11% of the land is habitable, another 11% is covered in glaciers, snow coats everything more than a couple of miles inland for up to ten months of every year, mountain roads frequently have glacial rivers running through them, a lot of roads are… More Photoset: Large Icelandic vehicles
I have a confession to make. I, at the age of too-old-to-care, have discovered fashion & beauty bloggers, vloggers and influencers – and I find myself starting to care. When I went to Paris in January, I conscientiously looked up “what to wear in Paris”. A lot of striped woolly jumpers, black heeled boots and… More Travel blogger style
The first time I jumped off a mountain was my twenty-first birthday. I was in Austria, in the village where my parents have spent their summer holiday every single summer since 2005 or 2006, and I’d been watching people soar through the sky for years. I’d always thought it looked magical. And now I was… More My first paraglide
Back in the summer of 2014, I rented a car and based myself in and around Borgarnes, on Iceland’s west coast and spent one of the days driving around Snæfellsnes. You can do it in a day but I find it’s such a long way and there are so many things to stop for that by… More The Volcano Adventures: Climbing Saxhóll
At the moment, it seems like I add another place I just need to go to my to-go list – wow that’s a messed-up sentence! – every other week. So I thought I’d write them down. 1) Russia View this post on Instagram A post shared by Topaz Hooper (@topaztravelstheworld) Yes, let’s be specific with the… More 10 Places I Want to Go To in the Next Five Years
Sundhöllin is Reykjavik’s oldest public pool. Designed by Guðjón Samúelsson, who also designed Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik’s Catholic cathedral and the big church in Akureyri, it’s a Art Deco style building and was opened in 1937. Unusually for an Icelandic pool, it’s freezing. I visited a couple of years ago. It’s right in the centre of downtown… More I visited the new Sundhöllin extension
I know, I only did “My apartment in Glasgow!” the other day and now I’m already showing you around my room in Edinburgh. For the last three visits, I’ve stayed in Euro Hostels. It’s based in Kincaid’s Court, which is a student block just off Cowgate. Last summer it was having work done and the… More My room in Edinburgh