Stories

You can’t go to Chiang Mai in Thailand and not have a massage – the city is famous for them. But having a Thai massage in a prison will do …

Travellers are only just starting to discover the tiny village of Maly Turysh, where they can experience what life in the community is really like.

There’s not much to see out here. Rice paddies, villages, a few roadside stands selling fruit and eggs. You certainly wouldn’t expect a tourism project; a village-run community of homestays …

“Please don’t walk around after dark,” Mohan, the village chief, tells us as he shows us around in the late afternoon sun. “We had an elephant come through last night.”

“I love seeing the world through my daughter’s eyes, and I appreciate her curiosity and reserved sense of adventure. Travelling as a solo mum doesn’t come without its challenges, but …

“In the time we spent in Costa Rica, I saw my kids grow and discover things about themselves that I’m not sure I would have seen had we stayed at …