Inspiring Travel Writing from Dea Birkett
Dea Birkett (www.deabirkett.com) is a distinguished travel writer and broadcaster. Her first travel book, Jella: A Woman At Sea, about her voyage as a member of crew on board a West African cargo ship, won the Somerset Maugham award and was shortlisted for Travel Writer of the Year.
She is also author of Spinsters Abroad: Victorian Lady Explorers ('subtle, acute, fascinating' Sunday Times) and a biography of the Victorian lady traveller Mary Kingsley, Imperial Adventuress. Her latest book, Serpent In Paradise, ("a captivating book", say the Telegraph) is about her time on Pitcairn Island, home to the few remaining descendants of the Bounty mutineers and was short-listed for the 1998 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. She is co-editor of the best-selling Amazonian: The Penguin Book of Women's New Travel Writing. Dea was awarded a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship to join an Italian circus.
She is also author of Spinsters Abroad: Victorian Lady Explorers ('subtle, acute, fascinating' Sunday Times) and a biography of the Victorian lady traveller Mary Kingsley, Imperial Adventuress. Her latest book, Serpent In Paradise, ("a captivating book", say the Telegraph) is about her time on Pitcairn Island, home to the few remaining descendants of the Bounty mutineers and was short-listed for the 1998 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. She is co-editor of the best-selling Amazonian: The Penguin Book of Women's New Travel Writing. Dea was awarded a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship to join an Italian circus.
Articles by Dea Birkett
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Before You Die: Soak in a Thermal Pool
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Dea Birkett
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Hungary
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Budapest Region
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Budapest
Soak in a thermal pool at the Gellert baths, Budapest, followed by a foot massage. Dea Birkett
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Before You Die: Hong Kong to Kowloon
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Dea Birkett
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China
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Hong Kong
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Hong Kong City
Hong Kong: Take the Star ferry between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, second class out, first class back.
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Husky Sledging from Finland to Russia
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Dea Birkett
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Finland
The phone conversation with the tour guide began like this. Tour guide: “How many times have you been skiing?” Me: “Well, never, actually.” Tour guide: “But you've had a dog as a pet sometime?” Me: “Well, no...
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A Crocodile Tale
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Dea Birkett
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Costa Rica
'No Se Bane' said the sign - Don't Go Swimming! - above the etched-out silhouette of a crocodile. I was standing on a wide bridge above the mouth of the Rio Grande de Tarcoles, on the central pacific coast of Costa Rica, starring down at a dozen...
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Family Holiday: Thailand
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Dea Birkett
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Thailand
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Bangkok Region
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Bangkok
It was a bad beginning. "Not cul-ture," moaned my 11-year-old, Storme. In her pre-teen drawl, culture sounded like a swear word. "You're always wanting to do that sort of thing. It's so bor-ing. Why can't we hang out on the beach?" We were arguing...
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Family Holiday: Ireland
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Dea Birkett
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Ireland
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Galway, Mayo & Connemara
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Galway
"Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and ..." The kids are sitting in the back of the car, singing. The song, of course, is I Can Sing a Rainbow, and as we work our way along the northwest coast of Ireland, it has become our family...
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The Stockholm Archipelago
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Dea Birkett
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Sweden
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Stockholm Region
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Runo
When we dream of Paradise, it is an island. It is tear-shaped and sea-lapped. It is lonely, remote and utterly free from the anxieties and expectations of modern life. And because it is a tiny island, it is conquerable, it is yours. I have dabbled...
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Finland
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Dea Birkett
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Finland
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Helsinki and the South
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Kuopio
I could think of nowhere more perfect. I wanted the antithesis of my urban life; I wanted fresh air and gentle wilderness; I wanted to go foraging for mushrooms in the forest, not queuing with my ready-made Chicken Madras at the supermarket; I...
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Returning to Croatia
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Dea Birkett
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Croatia
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Dalmatia and the Adriatic Islands
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Dubrovnik
Pete was good looking, although his tongue was covered with crisps. He liked Abba, too, and we danced to Waterloo and drank Coke and hoped our Mums wouldn't come down from the bar and find Pete with his crisp-coated tongue in my ear. Behind us, the...
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Matera
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Dea Birkett
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Italy
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Basilicata
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Matera
If I were a bat, I'd like to live in Matera. I'd hang from the ceilings of the cave dwellings, fly around the labyrinth of light-starved stone passages, and feed on insects. But as I'm human, living in Matera would be like living in Hell.Since the...