Author: Maarten Van Den Driessche
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The Greatest Footballer Who Ever Lived May Be Someone You’ve Never Heard Of
Football celebrates the stars it finds. But what about the millions it never sees? We like to believe that greatness eventually reveals itself. That extraordinary talent cannot remain hidden forever. That if someone is truly good enough, a scout will notice, a club will call, and the world will eventually know their name. Football certainly…
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Nakhodka: Russia’s Pacific Port at the Edge of Asia
Far from Moscow and the familiar tourist routes of European Russia lies Nakhodka, a port city on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Surrounded by forest-covered hills, sheltered bays and the waters of the Pacific, Nakhodka feels geographically and culturally much closer to Northeast Asia than to Russia’s western heartland. Located in Primorsky Krai,…
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The Places Starlink Still Can’t Reach — And Why
Starlink has changed the meaning of being offline. A traveller can now sit in the middle of a desert, camp far from the nearest town, cross an ocean or stay somewhere deep in the mountains and still potentially connect to high-speed internet. But there is an interesting contradiction. Thousands of Starlink satellites orbit almost the…
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Ibn Battuta’s Route and a Modern Flight Log: What History Teaches
Ibn Battuta left Tangier on 14 June 1325 with no particular plan to become history’s most travelled explorer. He simply wanted to complete the Hajj to Mecca, a religious obligation for any Muslim with the means to do so. What began as a straightforward pilgrimage would stretch across three decades and reshape his entire understanding…
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Things More Likely to Happen Than Winning EuroMillions
There’s a peculiar kind of optimism that comes with buying a lottery ticket. You hand over your cash, check your numbers a few hours later, and for a brief moment, anything feels possible. You could be the one. You could win. The odds say you won’t, of course. But maybe this time, you think. The…
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Why Travel Can Change You More Than You Expect
We often talk about travel as an escape. A break from work. A holiday. A chance to see somewhere new, eat different food, take photographs and collect another stamp in the passport. But anyone who has travelled extensively knows that something deeper can happen. Sometimes you return home and nothing has changed except you. There…
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Countries With Cardinal Directions in Their Names: North, South, East and West
Have you ever noticed how some countries literally point you in a direction? Among the nearly 200 countries in the world, only a handful have North, South, East or West in their commonly used English names. From North Korea to South Africa, these geographical words often tell a much bigger story about history, division, identity…
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Why Most Countries Don’t Have a Metro
It’s easy to assume that any reasonably developed country should have an underground railway. Tokyo has the Ginza Line. London has the Tube. Paris Why Most Countries Don’t Have a Metro It’s easy to assume that any reasonably developed country should have an underground railway. Tokyo has the Ginza Line. London has the Tube. Paris…