Author Mark Johnston

Britnee and I managed to trek for 20 days on the Annapurna Circuit—drinking water from questionable kitchen sinks and random hoses around villages, all purified with a SteriPEN—and not get sick. Yet when...

Despite being pretty worn out by our time on the Annapurna Circuit, we couldn't leave Nepal without more up-close views of the amazing Himalayan peaks. So after some rest in Pokhara we found ourselves back on...

1. TREKKING THE ANNAPURNA CIRCUIT IS WORTH IT — Although the new road may have ruined the Annapurna Circuit for many purists, the trek is still an awesome experience with the same great views and variety it...

Our trek on the Annapurna Circuit continued (see Part 1 here) to the village of Manang and then up over Thurong La to Muktinath. Trekking in the Nepal's beautiful Himalaya proved to be the most challenging but...

Trekking in Nepal was something both of us were excited to experience on this trip and it didn't disappoint. Mark shot over 2,900 photos on the Annapurna Circuit alone and was then faced with the daunting task...

After a bumpy start to our stay in Istanbul—our hostel was shut down by police due to a burglary and rioting right outside—we settled down with new friends and got to sightseeing. This historic city, a...

The closer we got to visiting Istanbul the more we read and worried about the continuing conflict in Syria, which by that point had reached the Turkish border. Our initial plans to travel east to visit such...

After a few days exploring Athens we took caught a nine-hour ferry ride to the island of Santorini where we finally found the rest and relaxation we were in great need of. Four months into this trip we happily...

I can't sit still for more than five minutes if it's a glorious day outside and there's trails to hike, walls to climb, bikes to ride, etc. So all that laying-around-in-sand nonsense that happens on beaches...

With a little bit of good luck we ended up spending our first day in Italy at holy mass with Pope Francis and Andrea Bocelli in St. Peter's Square! We followed that with a busy few days visiting all the...

Hoping to reduce weight I chose the Eagle Creek Pack-It Specter Quick Trip toiletry bag to pack my hygiene kit for the year. But for the remainder of this review I'll refer to it as the Quick Rip!...

A somewhat unplanned visit to Barcelona, thanks to a £1 Megabus ticket, left us madly in love with the Spanish city. During our stay—made possible by our friend Vita who put us up in her apartment—we...

I really like that my Osprey Farpoint 55 backpack is panel loading with a single, locking zipper. Unfortunately that’s all I like about it and it failed to make my revised round-the-world packing list. A...