The results are in! These are the TOP Posts from Road Less Travelled. This page highlights the Best of Blog as decided by the readers and curated by Ben Farrell. The below articles the most popular posts. Please browse around through some of these thought-provoking and diverse topics and feel free to share your feedback in the comments below.
Thanks so much for reading, Ben Farrell.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience in the Philippine Islands
A slender wooden walkway leads to the cove, carefully suspended above the tangled mangrove roots that twist into the damp sand like elongated fingers, clinging to the shore. It leads to a private jetty where the dive boats bob and clack, slapping against the gentle swell and tugging at their buoys, waiting for our next island-hopping adventure.
My Top 100 Travel Photos from Around the World
For me, I think it’s important to capture these moments. To freeze time and light of a moment and make it immortal. Travel photography is powerful and serves as not just a reminder of our travels and the vastness of the globe but also inspires us to wander profoundly, travel deeply and surrender wholly… to take the Road Less Travelled. I did, and that has made all the difference.
Madras Meanderings
I stand and gaze through the misty and steamy condensation on my hotel window, looking down at the street scene below. My air-conditioner rages against the Indian summer heat and I begin to mentally brace myself to step outside on to the dry dusty streets below. I prepare for the assault on my senses as colour, sound, smells and heat blur and dance to the sound of a Sanskrit Indian tune that wafts and echoes from the local temple walls.
The Magical, Mystical Island That Actually Exists: Coron
Our boat pushes out from the pier and we begin to ride gentle deep blue waves as we head towards the giant limestone cliffs of Coron island. Our first destination is Kayangan Lake and it’s not long before we slip in between the dark grooved rocks of a headland. The engine’s cut and we glide silently into a bay of vivid emerald. It’s like a hidden lagoon in a place you only dream about. A place you thought couldn’t exist anymore in this over-populated commercial world. Well, it does and it’s Coron Island.
Are we still sentimental?
What happened to my physical world? My study room was full of the things I love. Records with their scratchy sound, followed by CDs that I could stack in towers of musical categorisation. I had photos on the wall and in albums that reflect my life. My walls were lined with dog-eared and well-worn pages from thumbing through moments of insight, inspiration and captivating narratives…
Is Creativity Dangerous?
Do you need to be messed up to be creative? Do you need to endure some form of suffering before you can really express yourself ‘creatively?’ Look at some of the great artists and you will find they were all nutters. Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gough, Picasso… Just to name a few.
The Light & Dark of Memory: A journey to my childhood home
The mustiness of old emotions mixes with present-day retrospect bending space-time as old emotions clash with the context of current, daily life. It’s a rude awakening of dormant neural pathways belching up submerged memories. Suddenly I’m finding myself on a deep, untrodden path long since buried by the noise of the present-day overgrowth.
What’s Wrong With Escapism?
Reality is unpredictable… It’s abrasive yet smooth and intangible. It’s real-time and fluid yet stagnant. It’s an experience that’s raw yet refined produced out of some deliberate design to slap you in the face and kick you when you’re down, then lift you up with incredible experiences at other times.
Social Media: The New Mob Mentality
There’s a new mob mentality forming. An anonymous, negative, collective consciousness that greys and smudges the crisp horizons between actions and personal accountability. Now, cowards sit behind illuminated screens, their beady eyes dark and spiteful as they clack at keyboards with numb, fat fingers. They incite hate as they comment, troll and bully through careless words and ignorant opinions.