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Why don’t men like travelling alone?
While more women are travelling solo than ever before, it seems men are less inclined to take the plunge. We asked some men to find out why… Men: we’re letting the side down. According to a 2015 study in the US, 58.3 per cent of solo travellers were female. In September of this year, a…
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Turning 40 and embracing a midlife crisis changed my life
For Andrew Dickens, turning 40 was a wake-up call. He thinks we should all embrace the midlife crisis Life begins at 40! Try telling that to someone from the 15th century. If they hit 40, they’d be looking over their shoulder for an unearthly scythe held by a guy who always looks slim in black.…
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17 jaw-dropping photos of Iceland to make you want to visit now
From vast glacial tundras to thundering waterfalls and horizons ablaze with purple gloaming, Iceland is home to some of the most striking landscapes on earth. The perfect muse, then, for adventure photographer Simon Buxton, who joined Flash Pack on a whirlwind trip to the Great Unknown. Here’s his photo diary in a land of natural splendour…
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This is how to be the perfect group travel companion
Worried about the etiquette of group holidays? Fear not, from snoring to boring, we give expert tips on being the perfect travel companion Thinking of going on a group holiday with a bunch of people you don’t know? Got a slightly uncomfortable feeling in your bowels? As someone with a doctorate in nerves from the…
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Ageism begins at 40 – and I’m mad as hell
You associate ageism with discrimination against the elderly, but Andrew Dickens thinks turning 40 is when the prejudice kicks in Hello. My name is Andrew and I’m 44 years old. This is not only a fact, but one that it would be literally impossible to avoid unless I’d met with an unfortunate fate before last…
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Meet the Flashpacker: Simon’s adventure to Chile
Simon Thompson, 32, is an architect from Birmingham, UK. He joined us on our action-packed getaway to Chile in 2017 I had never been to South America before and Flash Pack’s itinerary for Chile seemed like it covered a lot of interesting places. I liked the fact that you could go from running down sand dunes in the…
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A love letter to Australia: wild, inspiring and forever friendly
“When the sun comes out, it bats its eyelids, it’s glamorous, beautiful, attractive, smart, and it’s very hard to get away from its magnetic pull,” said Baz Luhrmann about Sydney. Except, as anyone who’s been to Australia will attest, that applies to the whole country, not just its showstopping harbour-side city. Australia is a place…
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This is why travelling alone doesn’t mean lonely travel
One of the biggest fears about solo travel is being lonely, but loneliness isn’t caused by independence. Sarah Freeman explains why travelling alone doesn’t need to be lonely. Lonely: the one L-word we never want to hear or admit to. “It is the psychological equivalent of being a loser in life, or a weak person,”…
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Meet Donald, Flash Pack’s guide in Sri Lanka
One of Flash Pack’s most trusted guides, Donald has run trips to Sri Lanka for the past four years. He lives in Kandy and in his spare time, he loves to read up on the history and culture of the island. To be a good guide, you have to be kind, honest and humble. You…
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My 30s life: welcome to the age of self-confidence (finally!)
Every week, Flash Pack operations director and resident columnist Jenni Shaw discusses a different aspect of her life as a 30-something adventurer. This week: finding confidence. There seems to be a common theme amongst my musings that reaching 30 opens the door to some sort of nirvana and everything falls beautifully in to place. On…
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7 reasons to go running every time you travel abroad
However lightly you pack, there is always room for a pair of running trainers. Why on earth, many people might ask, would you want to take running shoes on holiday with you? By its very definition, this is time off the rigours of daily exercise. I take my trainers with me wherever I travel to,…
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A tool for action: how the 5 Second Rule can change your life
It is a truth universally acknowledged that we wait to be “ready” before doing things in life. But, says motivational speaker Mel Robbins, this hesitation is “the kiss of death”. A few years ago, Robbins, a US-based entrepreneur, found herself in a rut. Things in her life were going wrong, and she couldn’t seem to…
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My 30s life: it’s never too late to find your happy
Every week, Flash Pack operations director and resident columnist Jenni Shaw discusses a different aspect of her life as a 30-something adventurer. This week: how to be happy. There is a lot of talk these days about happiness and what this actually means. With the rise of social media and the ability to broadcast our…
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One-bag wonder: why I’ll never travel with checked luggage again
For the past four years, I’ve travelled without checked baggage. Granted, I haven’t tackled anything mammoth – an expedition to the Poles, say, or a year-long sail around the Galapagos. But my rovings have included a two-week trip to India, 10 days in the Bahamas (tough life), and action-packed escapes in Jordan and Brazil, as…
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Plastic isn’t fantastic: how to be a more eco-friendly traveller
2019 is about responsible travel: here are 5 ways to reduce the amount of plastic you use on holiday Plastic has become Public Enemy No. 1. And no wonder. According to Surfers Against Sewage, “In 1950, the world’s population of 2.5 billion produced 1.5 million tons of plastic; in 2016, a global population of more than 7…
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10 ways to develop your life skills with adventure travel
Adventure travel can broaden your horizons literally, but it’s also a great way to brush up the old CV. Here’s 10 brilliant life skills you can pick up while on the road, to tap the happiness habit of learning: Learn how to cook The skill: dinner party prowess From the famous Penang hawker to the…
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“Why I camped out at the top of Ben Nevis alone on Christmas Eve”
Adventurer Phoebe Smith explains why she traded mince pies for an icy night alone in the Scottish peaks last Christmas; with a repeat feat planned for this year… It was Christmas Eve – well, technically speaking, it was Christmas Day, being that it was 3am – and I couldn’t sleep. Not because I was excited…
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4 myths about true love from our favourite Christmas movies
fWe love Christmas movies as much as the next wide-eyed believer. But boy, do they peddle some dodgy myths about romance. Even the gritter end of festive flicks (hello, Die Hard and Long Kiss Goodnight) find happiness in a finale kiss, as if Christmas were one long competition with coupledom the prize. Not only that,…
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Why Japanese men are choosing the single life
Andrew Dickens meets Japan’s ‘herbivore men’ to find out why they’re saying “I don’t” A quick glance at the British press recently and you’d be forgiven for thinking that we can’t have too many people in our romantic relationships. So popular are stories of polyamorous pansexuality that it feels like being in a couple is…
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My 30s life: why I’ve stopped looking for perfection
Every week, Flash Pack operations director and resident columnist Jenni Shaw discusses a different aspect of her life as a 30-something Londoner. This week: how and why her priorities have changed, for a more carefree, spontaneous life. I am the eldest of three sisters and currently the only one of the three of us who…