Travel
24 Mar 2026
EVA Travel
Updated: Nov 29, 2025 I have been fascinated with Laos for many years and for a pretty unusual reason. I grew up in the County of Laois in Ireland- c...
Travel
24 Mar 2026
EVA Travel
Updated: Sep 16, 2025 Some of you will have joined me from our very successful Facebook group and community, but others may just stumble upon this wh...
Travel
24 Mar 2026
EVA Travel
Updated: Sep 12, 2025 This is a question I get asked all the time. What country, which project, wildlife or community- which do I like best. I gener...
Travel
24 Mar 2026
EVA Travel
Updated: Aug 22, 2025 This post is not an instruction manual on packing- more of a cry of despair. I started packing weeks ago, gathering everything ...
Travel
24 Mar 2026
EVA Travel
Updated: Dec 4, 2025 Someone jokingly suggested this as a blog title to me a few months ago and while I thought it was funny I didn’t really take it ...
Travel
24 Mar 2026
EVA Travel
Updated: Oct 9, 2025 PLAY IT AGAIN SAM- probably the most misremembered movie quote in history. But as we drive away from Casablanca today, I feel as...
Travel
24 Mar 2026
EVA Travel
I wrote recently that I didn’t want to pick a favourite tour destination as each one shines in it’s own way. In addition to that, what makes all EVA t...
Travel
17 Jan 2026
Leaving Africa- For Now
I know that many members of the EVA Community are very seasoned travellers so my recent stint may not seem like much to everyone. But I’ve been away from home now since the middle of August and while there’s been so much excitement, you do long for a hot bath and a walk with the dogs occasionally. Actually I said I would mention the girls at Hunt Solicitors while I was away, so hello everyone. I think though that I have definitely left work this time! So where can I start? I’ve been to Rwanda,
Travel
20 Dec 2025
A funny thing happened on the way to Ethiopia
This blog title wins the prize for the things I never imagined I would be saying. But as it happened, I took the long way round to Ethiopia stopping off in Tanzania for a few days to visit our team working on their project in Moshi. Air Kenya offered me an upgrade to Business class in exchange for my points so I took it and looked forward to shorter queues and a seat in the Lounge. Once on the plane I was seated alone in Row 2 until just before takeoff when a man bustled into the seat beside me.
Travel
6 Dec 2025
Celebrating a year of EVA Volunteer Travel
I don't exactly know how old EVA Travel is. I feel like I've been doing this for at least 100 years, but today marks one year since we first took at tour group to Morocco. And here we are in Marrakech one year later doing what was originally planned to be the last tour. And oh my goodness me, what a year it has been. So the first tour to Morocco was a steep learning curve for me. The girls who travelled on that tour nearly all tell me how much they enjoyed it but it was quite the adventure. We w
Travel
22 Nov 2025
IS CULTURE SHOCK A THING?
Like riding a bike- cow milking once learned is never forgottenMy experience of culture shock started at an early age. When I was 9 years old my family moved from New York City to a very rural part of Ireland. As a New York kid in the 60’s we had TV, running water, electricity, a car- do you see where this is going?My parents, 4 siblings and I moved in with an ancient spinster aunt of my fathers. She lived in what had been a 4-room thatched cottage now with tin roof, pump in the yard for water,
Travel
8 Nov 2025
Aston Villa meets the Batwa 'Pygmies'
When I was innocently asked a few months ago if I would bring football kit to Uganda, I willingly agreed. I had been to visit the Batwa (pygmies) in Bwindi in March and was very taken by their story and plight. This tribe of indigenous people who were mainly hunter gatherers had been removed abruptly from the Impenetrable Forest as a result of government led conservation efforts and to protect the biodiversity and gorillas in the area. From what they told us, there was no plan to manage their re
Travel
12 Sept 2025
Becoming unretired
I keep telling people that I can't believe this is happening to me, but all best plans are sometimes laid to rest. I have accidentally set up a global travel business at the ripe old age of 65. In fact, I considered myself retired about 2 years ago and I was getting all the pieces in place. Joining a local class, reducing my outgoings, getting an armchair and knitting needles- you know the drill.But many of you will know that from late 2022 I had been helping people who had been impacted by the
Travel
29 Aug 2025
Rats, landmines and heroes
So someone asked me the other day if I was going to talk about landmines while here in Cambodia. I didn't want to say too much until I...
Travel
15 Aug 2025
Marrakech to Manila!
I'm currently in the skies above China, not something I ever thought I would be saying. I should be landing in Hong Kong in about 2 hours and from there heading to meet Elisha and the Chasin' Clean Coasts team for 10 days in the Philippines. If you've followed me on Facebook, you'll know that my last trip was to Morocco and it was the first trip I led as EVA Travel. So kudos to the brave souls who came with me on my new venture and faced quite a few challenges with good humour and great teamwork
Travel
18 Jul 2025
Traveling with Purpose How Boomers Can Make a Positive Impact on Our Planet
When I started this journey with EVA Travel, the decision on our brand came after long debate in our Facebook group. We wanted to encapsulate as much information as possible in our name and 'ethical travel adventures' or EVA seemed to capture the essence of what we wanted to do. So now, 18 months later with a dozen or so successful tours completed it might be time to see if we are sticking to the promise of the name. 'Travel' and 'Adventure' are easy as you are all travelling and each of us sees
Travel
4 Jul 2025
The Truth About Booking International Flights: Timing, Tools, and Myths Debunked
This is another perennial controversy. In the past and before online booking was available, booking months in advance was seen as a good way to save money and in most cases that was true. However with the many changes in air travel over the past decade, those old rules no longer apply. I put some information together here for consideration. I already know people will disagree, but that's ok. I just know that I booked a record number of flights for myself last year and many of them within a week
Travel
20 Jun 2025
Group or solo travel
I'm in a lot of travel groups, many of them for over 50s but plenty of general groups as well. One of the most constant and recurring issues that arises in conversations is the relative merits or otherwise of group versus solo travel. And it's a fascinating subject with no right or wrong answers. But I definitely have some opinions about who suits what kind of travel and the occasions when group travel is definitely for or not for you. When I think of solo travel, I think of it as making my own
Travel
6 Jun 2025
Feel the Fear and Travel Anyway
No matter what your persuasion may be, I think most people would agree that the world feels a little unpredictable at the moment. Sometimes, I wonder if it's my fault. because every time I pick a new tour destination a conflict breaks out. And of course those conflicts generate fear, but over the past few days radio commentators here in Northern Ireland at least seem to be mentioning fear in a whole host of ways, both public and personal. And of course that got me thinking: what are the barrier
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