Travel C.V. Paul Bloomfield

The world according to Paul Bloomfield

Mountain/Desert/Ocean/Jungle... which one are you?
Mountain – but if it can be near the coast, perfect (New Zealand does coastal mountains spectacularly well: try Kaikoura).

What was your first great travel experience?
Visiting the Exmoor coast in North Devon. My parents took us to the same spot every year till I was about 12, and I still think it’s one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

What has been your favourite journey?
Taking a 4WD drive along the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley in Western Australia. Hot, dusty, jarring, uncomfortable – true Outback adventure: camping down in swags, leaping naked into pools in deserted gorges, delving into the bizarre beehive domes of the Bungle Bungles

What are your Top 5 places worldwide?
Nepal – medieval cities, great trekking, tigers and rhinos / Blue Mountains, New South Wales / South Luangwa National Park, Zambia – your first walking safari is unforgettable / Fès, Morocco – take a step back in time 800 years / 18m below the surface on Australia's Barrier Reef

Recommend a special place to stay
Hosteria Papagayo (www.hosteria-papagayo.com), about an hour south of Quito. An hacienda converted into a homely budget guesthouse by Israeli Eran, it’s the perfect spot from which to explore the region. And it dishes up the world's best hummus.

Which three items do you always pack?
Shorts. That feeling of freedom (well, airflow around the knees) is the essence of travel Water-free hand hygiene gel (Cuticura) Notebook and map. I’m a bit of a map obsessive

Which passport stamp are you proudest of?
The Galápagos National Park stamp – it’s a giant tortoise, showing you’ve paid your park entrance fee. Though it’s not so much pride as nostalgia and amusement.

Which passport stamp would you most like to have?
Bhutan. I’ve been dreaming of trekking there for 15 years

Where or what is your guilty travel pleasure?
Burma. The people I met were the warmest, kindest, most fun-loving on the planet. I don’t regret going; I do feel ashamed at not being able to do more to change the situation there.

Window or aisle?
Depends on where we'll be landing or flying over...

Member experiences

• Sunscreen in Galapagos: a useful tip

  
  
  The sun's hot on the equator. Seems obvious, but it's easy to forget, like it's easy to forget that your feet spend most of their time safe inside shoes and are very, very sensitive to sunlight.
  

• Badminton in Xi'an

  
  
  In April, I found myself ambling along one of the main thoroughfares in Xi’an’s ancient walled city. Old it may be, but old-fashioned it’s not; even inside the walls, many buildings

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