Explorers like to pretend that they are a select breed of people with iron nerve and an ability to endure terrible hardship.

As a travel writer I've specialized in gritty, fearful destinations, the kind of places that make a reader's hair stick on end.

With an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything.

Where does one go in a tremendous city like Calcutta to find insider information? I recalled India's golden rule: do the opposite of what would be normal anywhere else.

In Morocco, before you even get to the matter of the sale, you have to coax the owner to sell.

Move to a new country and you quickly see that visiting a place as a tourist, and actually moving there for good, are two very different things.

There can be few situations more fearful than breaking down in darkness on the highway leading to Casablanca. I have rarely felt quite so vulnerable or alone.