Did you know that Laos is the most bombed country in the world? If Jo Carroll had spent more time with her guidebooks and less with a physiotherapist preparing her creaking knees for squat toilets she’d have been better prepared when she crossed the Mekong in a long boat and stepped into the chaos of Huay Xai. But bombs still lie hidden in Laos’ jungles, in the rice paddies, and in the playgrounds. While young people open their doors to new ideas and possibilities, memories of war are etch...

JO CARROLL hesitated before returning to Nepal after the earthquake. Arriving as a tourist when local people were in such need felt an intrusion. Not at all, Tika told her. We want you to come. We need you to come. Within hours of arriving she saw just how right he was. Nepal, it seems, has been forgotten since the journalists left with their pictures of destruction. But the welcome is as warm as it has ever been. Even from the crocodiles … All profits from ...

JO CARROLL decided it was time to pack her rucksack and get back to the mountains. Little things like a pension and bus pass were not enough to put her off. Besides, after her gap year, she knew all about travelling now.But Nepal had other ideas. Storms raged in the mountains; strikes made transport impossible. And then there was the tiger …

There must be something between the retirement party and buying a zimmer frame. JO CARROLL decided this was the time to revive her teenage dreams and go round the world. So she packed her rucksack, a round-the-world ticket, and a notebook. Not prepared, then, for being marooned on a beach in Australia with the tide rising and nothing but cliffs behind her; nor negotiating with a gunman who wanted to marry her in Lucknow. Let’s not think about the snakes and leeches in the jungles of Malays...

Three years ago, during a chance encounter in Cuba, I was asked why I'd never been to Ecuador. I mumbled, for I could think of no good reason. And so thought I'd better find out more for myself. But I had no idea what an astonishing country it is, with its mountains and beaches and Inca treasures. And poisonous frogs!

Africa. The only continent I’ve not explored on my own. Which seemed a good enough reason to go.   So off I went, full of ignorance and good intentions, to explore the wilds of Malawi. But not alone – for Everlasting was by my side from the moment I stepped off the plane in Lilongwe until the day I returned to the airport. We looked for leopards together, took on termites together, survived storms together.   And he told stories. 

Did you know that Laos is the most bombed country in the world? If Jo Carroll had spent more time with her guidebooks and less with a physiotherapist preparing her creaking knees for squat toilets she'd have been better prepared when she crossed the Mekong in a long boat and stepped into the chaos of Huay Xai. But bombs still lie hidden in Laos' jungles, in the rice paddies, and in the playgrounds. While young people open their doors to new ideas and possibilities, memories of war are etch...

Three years ago, during a chance encounter in Cuba, I was asked why I'd never been to Ecuador. I mumbled, for I could think of no good reason. And so thought I'd better find out more for myself. What treasures I discovered! From ancient Inca sites constructed on top of settlements build by indigenous people centuries ago, to tortoises with supercilious smiles, to volcanoes, to amorous frigate birds and poisonous frogs!

There must be something between the retirement party and buying a zimmer frame. Jo Carroll decided this was the time to revive her teenage dreams and go round the world. So she packed her rucksack, a round-the-world ticket, and a notebook. Not prepared, then, for being marooned on a beach in Australia with the tide rising and nothing but cliffs behind her; nor negotiating with a gunman who wanted to marry her in Lucknow. Let's not think about the snakes and leeches in the jungles of Malays...

JO CARROLL hesitated before returning to Nepal after the earthquake. Arriving as a tourist when local people were in such need felt an intrusion.Not at all, Tika told her. We want you to come. We need you to come.Within hours of arriving she saw just how right he was. Nepal, it seems, has been forgotten since the journalists left with their pictures of destruction. But the welcome is as warm as it has ever been.Even from the crocodiles …All profits from this boo...

It’s time for JO CARROLL to pack her rucksack again, and this time she’s heading west, to Cuba.Everyone, it seems, has been to Cuba, or wants to go to Cuba, or knows about it. Cuba, they insist, is on the brink of change. A market economy will finally see off the old cars and rationing. They’ve been saying that for decades. But what face does Cuba present to a tourist in 2014?She finds salsa, of course, and cigars, and wonderful coffee. But what surprises wait for her when ...

It's time for JO CARROLL to pack her rucksack again, and this time she's heading west, to Cuba.Everyone, it seems, has been to Cuba, or wants to go to Cuba, or knows about it. Cuba, they insist, is on the brink of change. A market economy will finally see off the old cars and rationing. They've been saying that for decades. But what face does Cuba present to a tourist in 2014?She finds salsa, of course, and cigars, and wonderful coffee. But what surprises wait for her when th...