Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Wander.
'Ghillies': Scotland's little-known Highlanders
On Scotland’s formidably wild Isle of Skye, there were hoof trails everywhere at first light. Trails in the mud, trails curving across the moorland, trails on the far side of the burn where they vanished into the murk of the pine forest. To the east, the land swooped uphill onto the ruggedly beautiful shoulder of Sgùrr a' Mhadaidh Ruaidh, with a vantage point over the Trotternish peninsula. West, and downhill from where Mitchell Partridge was standing, the loose contours of Glenhinnisdal valley dropped to Loch Snizort and the Isle of Skye’s coastline. There was a feeling of waiting for the stag rut to begin.
By Copperchaleu3 years ago in Wander
Quilting: An Irish tradition fit for pandemic times
When Sarah Harris moved from her home of 20 years in Ireland back to her native Colorado, she brought the quilting business she’d started in County Wicklow with her, making commissions of "memory quilts", patchwork designs composed of baby blankets, graduation gowns or old clothes from deceased loved ones. Before she’d turned it into a business, quilting was something she did for herself – a way of connecting with her mother and grandmother, both quilters in the US, in spirit and in practice.
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Wander
Khasis: India's indigenous matrilineal society
During my travels across mainland India, especially in small towns and villages in the north, I hardly saw any women-run shops or marketplaces. In a sit-down eatery in Uttar Pradesh, I watched men make flatbreads and mash vegetables for curries while male customers gobbled them up. Between Kolkata and Gorakhpur, I sat sandwiched between men in passenger trains passing through the rural countryside. On most occasions, women were absent from public spaces.
By Copperchaleu3 years ago in Wander
Singapore's endless pursuit of cleanliness
It hits me every time I step off the plane: the sudden chill of full-blast air con and the distinct scent of orchid-tea fragrance diffuser. Airports can feel nondescript, but arriving at Changi – both today and long before the Covid-19 pandemic – is a uniquely Singaporean experience. On the way to passport control, walking through the perfumed air, you'll see immaculately kempt green walls and tidy water features, teams of janitorial staff (in both human and robot form) and high-tech washrooms with interactive feedback screens.
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Wander
Asia's isle of five separate genders
The Indonesian island of Sulawesi sprawls like a drunken starfish in the western Pacific Ocean, its four emerald limbs reaching into the Celebes, Molucca and Flores seas. On its south-western tip sits the smog-choked port city of Makassar, long an important trading post and Indonesia's eastern gateway to the world.
By Copperchaleu3 years ago in Wander
The Swedish law of wanderlust
Swedish ice-climbing instructor Markus Nyman warms up his students with an off-piste ski tour, snaking past pine trees so thick with powder that locals describe them as "snow ghosts". They're only a few minutes' slalom from the main chair lift that takes alpine adventurers to the top of the slopes of Duved, a 17th-Century village 640km north of Stockholm. But soon they're swapping skis for crampons and poles for pickaxes as they prepare to scale a frozen waterfall in the middle of the forest.
By Copperchaleu3 years ago in Wander
