Author: James Handlon

Overseas Traveller, Would-be Mountaineer, Skier, Hiker & Occasional Idiotic Adventurer.

A Ski Adventure to The Italian Alps…the (Kit List Check)!

On By James HandlonIn Ski AdventuresLeave a comment

Ski Kit Check-list.

With less than one week to go until I fly out to Italy all the usual doubts and fears have began to surface around such a venture. I hope to travel safely, to come back in one piece – having avoided any major injuries – I hope everyone will be OK at home while I’m away. I also hope for good snow and good weather conditions in the mountains for my week there, for good trails and pistes and that I perform well while skiing down them. I hope that the accommodation I chose will be close enough to the slopes and be clean and quiet. Most of all though I hope my training has left me fit enough to ski for around eight hours a day, for six days, back to back. Continue reading “A Ski Adventure to The Italian Alps…the (Kit List Check)!” →

Life is a fatal adventure…..

On By James HandlonIn QuotesLeave a comment

Life is a fatal adventure.....

“Life is a fatal adventure. It can only have one end. So why not make it as far-ranging and free as possible.” – Thornton Wilder

Victory awaits him…..

On By James HandlonIn Quotes2 Comments

With some time on my hands until my travels and adventures start in earnest for 2011 I thought it would be a good idea to keep this blog ticking over regularly with some inspirational quotes from the famous and infamous of the adventure and travel sphere.

Sometimes a crazy quote from some crazed obscure person is all the motivation required for a call to arms and action! So with my waffling all finished, and with no further a do, here is the very first quote for the year, I hope you enjoy.

At_the_South_Pole,_December_1911

“Victory awaits him who has everything in order ….. luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck!”
– Roald Amundsen


Mad Dogs and Englishmen!

On By James HandlonIn Destination Hong Kong1 Comment
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The famous Noon Day Gun

I have always been fascinated with tales of the old colonial days and the epic stories from famous 19th Century explorers. Hong Kong was of course once part of the old British Empire and itself under colonial rule for some time. Today you can still see traces from this bygone era around and about old Hong Kong, from the street names, to the architecture, even to the financial and business systems still in place to this very day.

One of the most famous hangovers from colonial rule is the Noon Day Gun. Now I have always had a fascination about the gun and its history and with only a few hours left in Hong Kong I decided to cram in one more trip and search out and find this legendary gun.

Continue reading “Mad Dogs and Englishmen!” →