how to choose hiking boots

How to choose hiking boots: a beginner’s guide

Our guide on how to choose hiking boots will ensure you enjoy every step of the trail. Here’s how to pick the perfect pair

Footwear is a hiker’s most critical piece of gear. Inappropriate or poorly fitted boots or shoes can spoil a day on the trail and have you wincing with every step. But with a dizzying array of choices, from lightweight trail running shoes to double-layered plastic mountaineering boots and everything in between, knowing where to start can be bewildering.

a laptop, camera and bag for how to start a travel blog

How to start a travel blog – a professional guide

A comprehensive but concise guide on how to start a travel blog, covering both technical and editorial aspects of creating, maintaining and growing a blog

At Atlas & Boots, we are periodically approached for advice on how to start a travel blog. To help future bloggers, we have put our knowledge into a comprehensive but concise guide below.

training for mountaineering on island peak in Nepal

How to train for mountaineering: a seven-step plan

Ahead of his next seven summit, Peter shares expert advice on how to train for mountaineering expeditions such as Denali and Everest

I climbed my first high-altitude mountain back in 2010. At 5,895m (19,340ft), Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest peak and while I had some hillwalking behind me, I had no prior experience of trekking at altitude, wasn’t fit enough and didn’t have the right gear. In hindsight, I was fortunate to make the summit considering I was so underprepared.

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10 beauty tips for long-term travellers

After 70 countries and seven continents, Kia shares her tried-and-tested beauty tips for other long-term travellers

When I quit my desk job nearly a decade ago and set off on a trip around the world, I was rightly excited but also naive. I thought that life on the road would free me of the so-called ‘beauty tax’ – the price that women pay merely for being women.

Borobudur in Indonesia, the most multilingual country

77 most inspirational travel quotes ever penned

Our favourite inspirational travel quotes have encouraged us to travel with abandon over the years. Perhaps they will do the same for you…

For us, there is no such thing as luxury travel; travel is, by default, a luxury. It is a privilege provided by the country of our birth, a privilege that many are not as fortunate to enjoy.

Sometimes, we have to pinch ourselves at just how ridiculous our lives have become: an ex-teacher and jobbing writer travelling the world for a living. It is absurd, it is astonishing, it is a luxury.

A hiker in Finland – the world's happiest country

Ranked: happiest countries in the world 2023

For the sixth consecutive year, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world. We take a look at the latest report

Happiness is a nebulous thing; hard to grasp and harder to hold onto. Scientists, economists and philosophers have defined it through the ages as a combination of different things, among them health, wealth, companionship and security.

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22 best hiking apps to download in 2023

We take a look at the best hiking apps currently available and which ones best meet your needs be they trip planning, navigation or first aid

Hiking apps never used to feature in my outdoor adventures, but times have changed. Now, every Ordnance Survey map comes with a digital version available to download onto my smartphone or tablet.

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Most dangerous mountains in the world

We take a look at the most dangerous mountains in the world and what it is that makes them so deadly

Whether it’s the tales of survival that bleed from their treacherous slopes or the visions of bravery mustered in the mind, the most dangerous mountains in the world continue to make headlines around the globe.

japan has the most powerful passport

Ranked: world’s most powerful passports 2023

In 2023, Japan has the world’s most powerful passport. Holders are able to visit 193 destinations without a prior visa

It’s official. Globally, we are on the move again. In 2022, international travel showed significant signs of recovery, with arrivals reaching 57% of pre-pandemic levels. An estimated 474 million tourists travelled internationally during the first seven months of 2022, compared to 175 million in the same period of 2021.

Ama Dablam is a thing of beauty

30 most beautiful mountains in the world

The most beautiful mountains in the world have captivated climbers for centuries. Here, we examine their lethal appeal

“You are not in the mountains. The mountains are in you,” said John Muir, the renowned naturalist, author and environmental philosopher.

If our resident seven-summit hopeful is anything to go by, Muir makes a valid point. Those who spend time in the mountains seem to be driven by a deeper force.

12 Christmas gifts for travellers

Our tried-and-tested list of Christmas gifts for travellers be they hikers, shutterbugs, adrenaline junkies or culture vultures

This year has been a life-changing one for us. Three-and-a-half years after we moved to the country, we took the decision to move back to London. We missed our friends and family too much and, after two years under the pandemic, knew it was important to be close to them. And, so, in February, we sold our house and moved 240 miles across the country.

Asunción, Paraguay

20 interesting facts about Paraguay

The most interesting facts about Paraguay, from a double-sided national flag to the ‘Heart of South America’

American essayist P.J. O’Rourke once quipped that Paraguay was “nowhere and famous for nothing.” He then took a business trip there, fell in love with the country and promptly moved there.

While we can’t say we felt the same striking attraction, we certainly appreciated Paraguay’s history and authenticity. The small and struggling country is a steamy subtropical land of remarkable contrasts with a tragic and torrid history filled with violence and loss.

most stressed countries in the world cracked dry earth

Ranked: the world’s most stressed countries 2022

The world’s most stressed countries have been announced with Afghanistan named the most stressed nation

How did you feel yesterday? Did you feel physical pain? Experience enjoyment? Worry? Anger? What about stress?

These are the questions put to 127,000 interviews with adults in 121 countries and territories as part of the Gallup Global Emotions Report, which measures life’s intangibles – feelings and emotions – that traditional economic indicators such as GDP were never intended to capture.

luxury travel suitcases

6 luxury travel gifts we love

From stunning hand-made luggage to the perfect gift for your yacht-owner friends, we look at some lust-worthy luxury travel gifts

Sometimes, my siblings joke that our late father’s most lasting legacy will be our unrelenting concern about the gas bill.

In a household of eight children, there were restrictions on how long we could keep the boiler on to heat water, how long our baths could be, and how long we could drain rice in the sink without turning off the corresponding hob (about five seconds) and so on.

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12 maps that changed our worldview

From ancient Greece to Silicon Valley, we look at the maps that changed our worldview

There are few things that evoke the romanticism of adventure quite like a map – especially old maps. Full of exotic names (Persia, Abyssinia, Rhodesia!) and olde worlde lettering, they are reminiscent of a time when men and women sacrificed their lives for adventure and exploration.

A complete travel photography gear guide

A complete travel photography gear guide

We’re often asked about the gear we take on our travels. In response, we have written a detailed and complete travel photography gear guide

I have been involved in film or photography throughout the course of my career: initially as a camera operator, video editor and AV engineer, later as a teacher in digital media, and now as a travel writer.

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Under the midnight sun: a surreal trip to Svalbard

In the land of the midnight sun, Kia finds a place of raw nature, rare wildlife and one of her most memorable moments of travel

It is said that you can’t die in Svalbard, the remote archipelago that lies midway between Norway and the North Pole. The permafrost here not only preserves corpses, it sometimes pushes them to the surface. The truth is that authorities would prefer you didn’t die on Svalbard. Coffin burials are not allowed due to the permafrost, so critically-ill patients are usually flown to mainland Norway. 

A car in Cuba, which requires visitors to have travel insurance

The countries that won’t let you in without travel insurance

As entry rules continue to evolve at pace, we take a look at the countries that require travel insurance as standard

Travel has had a turbulent few years to say the least. Following the stasis of the pandemic, this summer has seen a sharp rise in passenger numbers thanks to easing restrictions and increased traveller confidence.

Travel insurance kayakers

10 tips for buying annual travel insurance

A comprehensive guide to buying annual travel insurance including what to look out for, the pitfalls to avoid and the questions to ask

Back in 2014, British adrenaline junkie Ben Cornick jumped out of a plane in Fiji at 12,000 feet. There was no way to know at the moment he leapt out of the aircraft that his parachute wouldn’t work properly and that he would plummet to Earth, breaking his leg in three places and shattering his elbow.