Vietnam

A former French colony with temples, ports, islands, museums, art and hill tribes. Vietnamese cuisine is diverse and caters for most. Native wildlife includes elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, leopards, black bears, monkeys, crocodiles and turtles.

The country borders Cambodian Laos and China. December to February is meant to be the best time to visit, although the north can still be cold.

The country is tropical, with many people, bustling cities, beaches, rice paddies, and rainforests. Two main cultivated areas are the Red River Delta in the north and the Mekong Delta in the south.

There is also a rich and tragic history. Fortunately, it is a more stable country subject to an explosion of growth. The same can be said of the region as a whole. Expansion of cities and airports is attracting more and more visitors.

Brochures are full of carefully crafted photographs. One in particular caught my attention.

The scenery is dramatic. A grand river delta with rainforest-topped rocks and mountains and boats.

Or should I say river cruise boats? Lots of them. You can tell they must all be independent as no one appears to be travelling in the same direction.

Perhaps not a traffic jam, but ship captains’ navigation skills are put to the test.

There is no doubt that the tourists are all having a lovely time. Just don’t expect to have the place to yourself.

Enhancing second-tier airports

Airlines have been calling for the Thai government to improve secondary airports to facilitate foreigners' visits to Thailand.

One aspect of this uplifting or expansion. Smaller airports, by definition, can only accept a certain number of flights and, therefore, tend to favour domestic flights to the bigger airports, which are better at handling international flights.

Chiangmai is one such airport. They are looking for investment to expand. As it already accepts international flights, an expanded airport will allow for more direct flights.

It may not sound much, but flying to Chiang Mai from the UK means going via Bangkok. This adds a couple of hours to the 14 hours from London.

Direct flights could eliminate the need for second flights. Smaller airports with little demand could offer international flights without expanding.

Of course, from a domestic point of view, a better option is to build or upgrade rail infrastructure. If done right, it can carry more passengers more frequently.

Thailand has 55 secondary cities that will benefit from better connectivity. It sounds like a long job.

Puglia and Calabria Italy

A lesser-known area of Italy, where a recent G7 meeting was held. Puglia is the heel of the boot, with a long coastline dotted with many beaches. The region is known for its crystal-clear water, ‘truly’ traditional white huts with cone-shaped roofs, pretty villages and delicious cuisine.

Calabria is the front of the boot. In 1985, I visited the city of Cosenza, an industrial southern city with only one hotel at the time of my visit. Why here?

I was on a series of rail trips across Italy. A rare trip on a branch line had been arranged. Cosenza is a mainline station linking Rome and Reggio Calabria, the southern port from which the ferry departs for Messina in Sicily.

To say the main railway station was large was an understatement. It was built in a different age when public transport infrastructure was also a monument to the importance of rail transport.

It had only 1 platform, but you couldn’t either end without a substantial walk. There were many empty sidings, perhaps hinting at previously busier times. But cross-country Italian trains can be very long.

However, when a single carriage train entered the station, it looked dwarfed. We were told that the route served a mountain area predominately popular for skiing but, during the summer, was quiet. We were about to find out just how off the beaten track.

It was a slow and windy route with a certain sparseness to it. The summer heat added to this notion. Bare rocks and shrubs seemed to be the only thing clinging on.

When we reached the summit, the line just ran out. It was a dusty, open area with maybe one abandoned-looking building—nothing else except for a welcoming committee from the local village.

These were just men dressed in black and white. Black suits and white shirts. We assumed it was traditional clothing. Their behaviour was interesting. They came up close and touched our clothing and skin. It was as if they hadn’t seen people like us before. The feeling was mutual.

Then, we were taken on a tour of their village. On the edge of the village was a group of women, also dressed in traditional clothing, with lots of black and white.

I recall it being gusty. The dust blowing and the heat just added to the scene. Had we arrived on a film set? Would Clint Eastwood on a horse come around a corner? Would he have a half-smoked cigarette in his mouth and give us a hard stare? Followed by some Erie music.

Then, our tour ended, and we returned to Cosenza on our single-carriage train. It was quite a bizarre experience, and nobody could find any words to describe it.

I’d had a similar experience in Malaysia. I visited a local village north of Kuantan. Eastern Malaysia in the 1980s was not a popular destination, and similarly, the locals had touched my clothing and pinched my skin.

Perhaps if we had swapped Clint Eastwood for David Attenborough, we would have benefited from a deeper explanation.

Now, that’s what I call an unexplored area of Italy.

Does imposing someone else’s idea of efficiency go against your way of thinking?

Do you fight against these things, or will doing it consistently make you the diamond in the rough?

Put it another way: Is it just a load of nonsense pushed by so-called experts online?

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Five things to reshape your day?

So much can go through our heads in a day. What we can do to put ourselves in a clear headspace could make all the difference.

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“This might be a stupid question, but..”

Just ask the question.

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“Does that make sense?”

“Do you have any questions so far?”

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“I’m not an expert, but …”

“From our experience, we recommend …”

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“I’m really sorry to bother you, but …”

"When you get a second, can I get your thoughts on X?"

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“Is that okay?”

“Let me know if you have any questions?”

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Another way to get in a different headspace is morning meditation.

It’s a good way to introduce calmness at the start of the day.

Do you agree or disagree?