We Do Adventure

On the 5 th March 2012 I took my newly purchased first snowboard up our nearest mountain for its first run out on snow. Why do I remember this? Well, partly, it was one of those moments I never imagined that would happen; such moments have a habit of sticking in the memory. Yes, I was excited, and that could be part of it, but the more prosaic explanation is that as I sat on the snow, strapping my boots into the bindings, I noticed the board length: 153cm. To English eyes that was clearly code for 1 st used on the 5 th of the 3 rd . I knew then I wouldn't forget the date. Whatever I did that day it's certain it was not epic snowboarding. I had hunted around Youtube trying to find tutorial videos that made sense. Good ones seemed few and far between. I tried to remember what I'd watched and practise things in some kind of logical order. Fast forward ten months and I was on a slope in Sarajevo getting logical, structured instruction. I'd like to say that in a few d...

I’m sure I’ve written about Dubrovnik Airport before, but I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t going to wade back through over a hundred posts to check. I know I run the risk of telling the same story twice but here goes. A little over 22 years ago I was on what was probably even then an aging 737 making its decent to Dubrovnik Airport. I clearly remember staring out of the window wondering when I was going to see sign of civilisation. Beyond TITO written in rocks and a few goats there were none. The airplane touched down in this seeming wilderness and juddered to a noisy halt. We climbed down the old-fashioned steps onto the tarmac, or it might have been concrete, and head on foot to what, at least in my memory, was little more than a hut that served as an arrivals hall. This was my introduction to the Balkans. Today, as we returned Rowan’s family to the same airport, after their introduction to the Balkans, the picture is very different. An extension to the terminal buildings is underway....