Philip Cornwel-Smith, Bangkok, Thailand
If you want to reinvent yourself, come to Thailand. For 500 years, my adopted home has been a makeover reality show for adventurers, dealers, hedonists and esca...
Topography
Finding nirvana
Sri Lanka
The sun beams through the grey clouds onto the platform at Badulla station, high in the hills of Sri Lanka’s tea region. Rain is coming, probably the same rain ...
The new guests
Penang, Malaysia
All the best stories involve intrigue – and my own certainly does – worthy of the Chinese TV period dramas that my grandmother is glued to. I have very fond mem...
Secret shopper
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Shopping in Buenos Aires has always come high on my to-do list. That probably goes for every worldly, stylish traveller, I’m sure. From its hipster Palermo Soho...
Grape day out
Hua Hin, Thailand
I’m one of the most open-minded people I know – yet I find the concept of wine production in Thailand somewhat strange. Everything points at the impossible – fr...
Water park
Iguazu, Argentina
An auspicious occasion brought me here and helped me check something off my life bucket list. My visit marked the 82nd birthday of when Iguazú Falls and its sur...
Beating of the wave
Ralf Obergfell
I was out in the Andaman Sea, in the waters just close to the Malaysian maritime border, when the Tsunami struck. I was visiting Koh Lipe as a tourist and had b...
Of Gods, Roosters and Rabbits
Taipei, Taiwan
Today, I returned home to my motherland – like billions of other people of Chinese descent across the world – to celebrate the arrival of the year of the Rooste...
A new dawn
Mandalay, Myanmar
It’s 4:30am. It’s dark but the warmth of the air hugs me like an overbearing aunt who hasn’t seen you for years and still treats you like the little boy she rem...
Howdy cowboy
Graham, Texas, USA
A jagged scar runs through a town called Cool, the trail of destruction left by a twister that touched down here a couple of months back. The town itself is lit...
Seoul food
Seoul, South Korea
It was a meeting of minds, to join Joe McPherson, the award-winning Korean food writer and blogger of Seoul foodie-musings, ZenKimchi, on his local food tour. W...
Greek love
Athens, Greece
The 2006 movie 300 – an explosion of CGI bloodshed and homoeroticism set in ancient Greece – contains a line of dialogue that caused a minor furore at the time....
Time to travel
Venice, Italy
It’s a dark, moonless night, but that doesn’t seem to bother our pilot, as he drives at break-neck speed, across the open stretch of black water towards the twi...
Kings of the road
Manila, The Philippines
In a sprawling metropolis like Manila, where rapid modernisation gives little precedence to heritage, a somewhat humble mode of transportation prevails as the c...
Art and optimism
Athens, Greece
Athens, more than any city I’ve visited, is a patchwork of the old and the new. Walk up any perfectly modern side street and you’ll happen upon a chunk of the O...
The time traveller
Athens, Greece
Photography and Creative Direction by MARTIN PERRY
Styling by UWERN JONG
Grooming by Tzivitzidis Michael
Model Panayiotis Simopoulos at ACE MODELS
Shot on loca...
Dionysian legacy
Athens, Greece
Like almost all Athenian stories, this one inevitably starts with some mythology. The God Dionysis was the son of Zeus and clearly, nepotism was rife on Mount O...
On the road
Jujuy & Cafayate, Argentina
Too often these days, the journey itself is seen as the tedious bit; the no man’s land between where you are and where you want to be. But not in Argentina. Nev...
Amazing race
Salta, Argentina
I’m doing thirty on a moped, weaving through people, cars and market stalls on a narrow road. A Peruvian-American blogger is clutching onto my waist tightly as ...
Kyoto rules
Kyoto, Japan
As we descended from the charming speakeasy in Gion, a quintessentially filmic, Kyoto scene unfurled. Through the mist and drizzle on the lantern-lit, cobbled s...
Ink credible
Hong Kong, China
Sometimes in life you travel to places for a larger reason, unbeknownst to you. It was on one such trip that I finally satisfied a long-held desire to get a tat...
Manila-Namnam
Manila, Philippines
Anu’Man Kitchen & Pub is a cute and relatively new bar and restaurant in Manila’s Kapitolyo, a neighbourhood distinguished in recent years by a hipster dini...
Teraj and Barry Hoy
NYC, USA
T: It was a lifelong goal to move to NYC. I even went to Cornell University because it’s in New York State. I had no idea it was five hours away from NYC by bu...
Patrick Duffy
NYC, USA
Moving to NYC from where I’m from was pretty intense. I felt a bit like a kid in a candy store. At the time, there was an unbridled sense of freedom – at least...
David Lopez
NYC, USA
I flew out to New York for my first-ever visit in September 1998. Immediately, I fell in love with the hustle and bustle. I moved here the following month, jus...
Eric Jennings
NYC, USA
The fashion scene in New York is a bit grittier and darker in colour than in other cities I visit. Here, there’s a willingness to experiment with your look – w...
Aurelio Giordano
NYC, USA
New York has completely shaped me into the person I am today. Even though the area I grew up in was predominantly Italian, I had a mix of friends: Puerto Rican...
Dalmatia 101
Dalmatian Coast, Croatia
It was an invasion-by-sea, when I first set my eyes on Dubrovnik. Having sailed stealthily overnight, we anchored our ship as the sun rose slowly over the azure...
It’s the climb
Railay, Thailand
Stepping off the plane into the midday heat of Krabi was like a kick in the chest. By the time my feet hit tarmac, my previously crisp shirt look...
How green is my valley?
Slovenia
I’m chagrined to admit that at first I found it a challenge to locate Slovenia on a map. In my somewhat limited experience of Central Europe, Slovenia was one o...
Writing’s on the wall
Buenos Aires, Argentina
It really is a small world.
I travel all the way to Latin America's southern-most capital city, Buenos Aires – the "Paris of South America" – and end up on a...
Food for thought
Toronto, Canada
What exactly is Canadian food? It’s hard to get past the stereotypes of crispy bacon and maple syrup – after that I’m stumped when it comes to deciphering Canuc...
Take a hike
Bariloche, Argentina
I blinked hard and rubbed my eyes. I had just woken from a cat nap in the car just as we pulled into the Patagonian town of Bariloche. Had I somehow teleported ...
Skye’s the limit
Isle of Skye, Scotland
“European railways were built for the war effort, you see. So they’re straight, efficient, orderly. Whereas, ours were built by a hodgepodge of Victorian indust...
Water boy
Stockholm, Sweden
Water, water everywhere. Not much of a surprise as central Stockholm is built on fifteen islands. So you’ll see why life on the water is pretty integral to the ...
The journey
Cesar Cigliutti
Thirty-two years ago, I met a great man: Carlos Jáuregui, then the President of the newly created Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA). We became friends and be...
Where’s Dorothy?
West Hollywood, USA
Yes, I’m a friend of Dorothy. I learnt the true meaning of this phrase on my recent visit to West Hollywood. Nothing to do with the Wizard of Oz it seems – but ...
Best kept secret
Tasmania, Australia
Clear across the other side of the world lies a destination we have often longed to venture to – Tasmania. There’s a thrilling sense of adventure when one think...
Ahead of the couve
Vancouver, Canada
As the patchwork of small islands that form the coast surrounding Vancouver slowly dissolve behind the clouds, my heart grows a little heavy with sadness. Just ...
Good God
Bali, Indonesia
I’ve come to know Bali as a land of many aliases – and they’re all somewhat spiritual – ‘Island of the Gods’, ‘Land of a Thousand Temples’, ‘Morning of the Worl...
O Jeintinho Paulistano
Sao Paulo, Brazil
At the very mention of Brazil, you’d be excused if your mind is suddenly filled with vividly stereotypic images of tanned, chiselled, ripped-torsoed male-models...
Beneath the surface
Stockholm, Sweden
I’m stood on the platform at Stadion TBana (metro) station, beneath a giant mural of a rainbow. For a split second I felt the gayest I ever have – and proudly s...
Wade in Japan
Tokyo, Japan
On a recent trip to Tokyo, I found myself navigating the city's South Western shrines to retail enlightenment. Quite possibly the most eclectic and hip parts of...
The art of the city
Taipei, Taiwan
There is nothing more tragic than being born a natural flâneur in the wild west of the UK. It is a dismal world of corrugated iron and cow shit. I looked at the...
The big dream
Chiang Mai, Thailand
“A proper elephant skincare routine is an important part in ensuring its well being. It relieves the animal of distressing skin ailments and allo...
Whole lotta love
Las Vegas, USA
It’s like a dream come true. What better backdrop for indulging your most insane celebrity fantasies than Las Vegas? The concept: play on stage with your rock ’...
Streets of London
London, United Kingdom
I love London. Come on, I left one of the world’s most thriving cities, Madrid, to come here. Well OK, saying I ‘left’ Madrid is underselling the story of my pa...
Taking Pride
Montreal, Canada
About a decade ago, a friend handed me a DVD of a Canadian gay movie, 'Mambo Italiano', charting the adventures of a young gay Italian man trying to break tradi...
Queen of the bush
Kruger, South Africa
Singita Lebombo came highly recommended by a dear friend. His words ring through my head as I transit in JoBurg, not sure what to expect. All would come cl...
Come to light
Swedish Lapland, Sweden
Swedish Lapland is one of the planet’s most magical destinations – and it is beautiful all year round. It is easily the most gay-welcoming place in the world to...