Inspiring Travel Writing from Roger Starkey
After getting an undergraduate degree in Marketing, and floundering around the world of Sports Marketing for a couple of years, Roger moved to the business world. That venture lasted for about seven years. After stints with an American consulting company in Chicago, Ireland and Spain, he began working as a freelance writer/author in the Philippines.
Articles by Roger Starkey
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A Driver's Guide to Manila
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Roger Starkey
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Philippines
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Luzon Islands
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Manila
Driving in Manila is not for the timid or faint of heart. The conglomeration of cars on the streets, where anarchy reigns supreme, more closely resembles the atoms in a heated molecule than typical urban congestion. Cars are facing all directions...
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Castles in the Sky
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Roger Starkey
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Spain
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Catalunya
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Barcelona
A towering mass of humanity stretched towards to the sky. The cherry on the human ice cream cone scampered up the tower with rapidity and precision. Using the quadriceps of one person as a base, she clutched the waist of the person standing on the...
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A T-shirt from Dublin
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Roger Starkey
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Ireland
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East Coast Ireland
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Dublin
'In what college sport did Oscar Wilde participate?' the tour guide asked. The question was directed to a man from Nottingham, England and me. We were the finalists in the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl trivia contest. Whoever answered this question...
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Passion and Pain - Holy Week in Pampanga
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Roger Starkey
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Philippines
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Luzon
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Pampanga
The rhythmic chanting issued forth from a nearby speaker and settled down on our conversation providing the somber atmosphere that the occasion deserved. The discussion, as we sat on a friend’s porch in a tiny village in the Pampanga Province of the...
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The Festival of San Fermín
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Roger Starkey
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Spain
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Navarra
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Pamplona
If you go to Pamplona, Spain, during the Festival of San Fermín (most noted for the daily running of the bulls), be sure to wear all white and tie a red handkerchief about your neck. Get dressed, look at yourself in the mirror and laugh if you must...
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Not So Troubled Northern Ireland
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Roger Starkey
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United Kingdom
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Northern Ireland
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Belfast
A Catholic opponent dribbled the soccer ball past me and delivered a quick pass to his Protestant teammate on the other side of the goal. The Protestant swiped at the still approaching ball and delivered a screaming left-footer past my goalie. I’m...
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Finding My Favorite Beach
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Roger Starkey
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Greece
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Cyclades (south)
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Mykonos
Standing in front of the Hotel Artemis on the Greek island of Mykonos, we breathed a large sigh of relief. We had just stepped out of a van that had shuttled us from the harbor to the hotel (‘Shuttled’ being a word, in this case, used to define...
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Manila Navigating the Chaos
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Roger Starkey
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Philippines
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Luzon Islands
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Manila
Honking, tire screeching, pedestrians dodging cars as they attempt to navigate non-existent crosswalks and cars, jeepneys, buses, tricycles, motorcycles and motor scooters ignoring all existing traffic laws. The only thing absent from Manila traffic...
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There's Something About Madrid
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Roger Starkey
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Spain
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Madrid Region
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Madrid
'There's just something about it.' That uninformative and unimaginative statement is how I had been explaining my love affair with Madrid for more than a year and a half. A more descriptive testimonial was needed if I ever hoped to make friends and...
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A Day in the Cockpit
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Roger Starkey
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Philippines
Low hanging lights illuminated the small, dark arena. The wooden bleachers were full to bursting with unsavory characters yelling a continuous stream of unintelligible words punctuated by intimidating hand gestures. Anyone not carrying a knife, and...