Dear Fellow Adventurers,
I trust you are safe and well.
I will refrain from a general commentary on the current war in the Middle East as we are all watching the news. All I will say is that we of course hope for a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible. I have many close personal friends in Iran, Lebanon, Dubai and across the wider region and pray for all those who are affected at this time.
We had our last group of 11 clients in Oman last month who had a most wonderful time (you can see their reviews HERE) and fortunately finished their adventure before the unrest began. This has concluded our trips in the region until after the summertime.
In more general travel news, Georgia, Uganda & Bhutan are particularly popular and booking well this year, with our new Tibet 'Place of Gods' Lhasa & Potala Palace add-on trip for the latter making some waves also. We have also recently launched some group adventures over Christmas in both Patagonia & Costa Rica.
All of our World Nomad Games adventures are now SOLD OUT for 2026! We will be returning in 2028 although the destination for this is as of yet undisclosed. In the meantime it's still not too late to witness some amazing nomadic culture this year:
Mongolia's Naadam Festival at Lake Khovsgol
Tue 7 Jul - Mon, 20 Jul 2026: Mongolia's biggest national holiday featuring horse racing, archery and wrestling set against the backdrop of the stunning Lake Khovsgol.
Mongolia Sagsai Eagle Festival
Fri 11 Sept - Sun, 20 Sept 2026: Visit a smaller, privately arranged eagle hunting festival to avoid the crowds, watch 30 mounted hunters gallop towards you with eagles high!
After a very busy start to the year I managed to escape to the Canary Islands to get in some much needed surf, R&R and reading time. And as such I have no less than four book reviews to share with you today:
I have recently been reading...
Ice & Fire art book (2023) by Emma Jamison
Some of you may have read our recent popular Iceland article Why female travellers are flocking to the land of fire and ice by Sarah Marshall. My wife Emma Jamison did just this (before we met) in search of inspiration for her landscape paintings.
Her plan was a bold one; to hike across the centre of the island on foot carrying all her equipment and 25 days-worth of food in May of 2022, after a record annual winter snowfall.
The adventure brought to life an astounding collection of Icelandic paintings inspired by the expedition, which ultimately ended in disaster and a helicopter rescue. The book is a genuinely gripping account of the entire experience, beautifully laid out with the accompanying artwork and formative sketches.
The journey led Emma to contact YellowWood afterwards which allowed us to meet, so it certainly has a happy ending! Emma’s work can be viewed at our Family Farm Westerlands which is also available for stays in the South Downs National Park of the UK.
A Ride Across America: A 4,000-Mile Adventure Through the Small Towns and Big Issues of the USA (2024) by Simon Parker, British travel writer and broadcast journalist.
Given the often polarised nature of politics and life in the United States at present, this book is an incredibly well-balanced, well thought-through account of a remarkable journey that incorporates so much of the geographical, cultural and political diversity of this enormous country.
As always with travel writing it is often through the small personal asides of the author that make this such a rewarding read. We are very fortunate to have Simon working with YellowWood on some filming projects later this year.
Victorian Lady Travellers (1982) by Dorothy Middleton
This book is a rather humorous introduction to seven intrepid women explorers, retelling the adventures of Isabella Bird Bishop, first woman to be elected as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Marianne North, a botanist who painted in Brazil, Fanny Bullock Workman the photographer and mountaineer, Annie Taylor, May French Sheldon, Kate Marsden, and Mary Kingsley.
Written with a great amount of honesty about the women themselves and the times in which they lived; all of them are incredibly strong characters that seem to jump off the page at you with the force which undoubtedly propelled them to the four corners or the earth.
Somehow inspiring, amusing, sad and humbling all at the same time, this makes you want to learn more about these incredible women, and has certainly extended my reading list.
Plain Tales from the Hills (1888) by Rudyard Kipling.
Kipling was just 22 years old when this first volume of stories was published, centred around the British Raj in the Indian hill town of Shimla, where colonials and their families would escape the boiling disease-ridden summers on the plains.
This first outing already demonstrates the unbridled mastery which would lead him to be considered the unofficial "bard of empire", and eventually to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. Whilst many of his colonial views are outdated today, it is hard to deny the beauty of his writing, his love for Indian culture and a keen perception and insight into the myriad contradictions, fallibility and grace of human nature. His writing is a warm blanket.
Until next time,
Sam McManus, MD
‘Ice and Fire IV’, oil on canvas, & Icelandic volcano ‘Askja’, oil on canvas,by Emma Jamison
