Indonesia 2012: Batik Painting in Java

Traveling through Stellenbosch when driving to Cape Town. We stopped for lunch at this vineyard and winery. Whilst my travel companions sampled the wares, I went for a little wander. I don't know if I was really allowed to poke my nose in the places I did, but it was fascinating to see all the machinery used to produce the wines.

This spectacular complex is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and 2nd largest in South East Asia after Angkor Wat although it predates it by nearly 3 centuries. It was one of so many incredible locations throughout Java that I had no idea existed prior to arriving in Indonesia and why that part of my backpacking days are so fondly remembered, with every day including a new discovery.

Late afternoon we arrived in the city of Rabat and our destination The Mausoleum of Mohammed V, which shares the ground with Hassan Tower. The changing colours of the polished surfaces due to the reflected light from the overhead clouds and a sun that was now lowering in the sky brought to mind the Taj Mahal in Agra where I had watched the same phenomena

Sometimes you make a mistake, and sometimes that mistake is utterly avoidable. The day before this trip I got the then new iPhone 7 took a couple of shots in nice light and thought, 'this is good'. I'd taken some online comments to heart. Something along the lines of 'only 'cause you've got an expensive camera'. Rather than dismissing it, I thought I'd challenge myself and set off to Amsterdam with only the iPhone. As it turned out, I fell in love with Amsterdam that weekend and wished I'd had my X-T1 with me. The iPhone looked alright in good daylight and on a phone screen, but quality simply fell apart as soon as the light dimmed and seen on a laptop or larger. In December in a city filled with beautiful illuminations the good light fell away quickly and what was left on the sensor did not do the city justice. The next time I went, I did not make the same mistake twice.

By day the Jemaa el-Fnaa is a bustling market with traders, and entertainers seeing a coin or two from the visitors. By night it transforms into a huge open air food court. Brightly lit against the night, with a myriad of scents from the cooking meats and spices.

I went to Valencia in for the conclusion of the 2017 MotoGP World Champions, but got a little time the day after the race before my evening flight home. It's a city I'm going to have to return to in order to see more of the city itself. The Museu de les Ciències is where I spent most of my time. As well as being an outstanding museum, it is a photographers paradise. Full of leading lines and abstract angles.

A clogmaker in Zaandam, Netherlands demonstrates how he crafts the famous wooden shoes.

The description of Aït Benhaddou and in particular it's ksar features many words that are magic to my ears; "UNESCO World Heritage Site", "Indiana Jones shooting location"

When travelling, there are places you visit not for beauty or culture, but to educate and remind yourself of our capacity for intolerable cruelty to one another - and to reaffirm why it must never be allowed to happen again. Robben Island, home to many political prisoners under the Apartheid government, is one such place.

The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is a world wonder that truly lives up to its reputation. A set of memories rather than a great set of photos. I'd not slept in around 72 hours, was struggling a bit physically and once I set foot on the wall was suddenly hit by the realisation that I no longer had a job, was actually at a place I'd dreamt of since I was a kid and at the start of a grand adventure. What a place to start it.