The Worldwide Quest Blog

MOST LIVEABLE CITIES is just back from its inaugural trip. To Havana, you say? Why there?Without doubt, daily life in Cuba isn’t easy, even without the recent devastation brought about by the terrible tornado that struck just days after we left. With average salaries around $30 USD per month, and persistent shortages of life’s necessities, which are partially a result of the US trade e...

Our regular readers may recall that I scouted the Gambia in late 2017. I had experienced it as a friendly and ‘birdy’ country where a casual atmosphere provided to those who enjoy walking about and watching for (amazing) bird life on foot that very opportunity. So, it was with great excitement that I set out to the Gambia again in November 2018, this time with a group of Quest travelle...

I first met van Gogh when I was a 14 year old book worm committed to exploring the richness of the local public library’s holdings. I had been making my way through the English literary canon and was already deeply committed to the written word when I found myself casually browsing through the art section and picked up a book with a cover of brilliant yellow sunflowers shouting out such joy ...

One heavy step, then another. Straps across their chests, they pull. It’s Russia, 1869. In Repin’s Barge Haulers on the Volga, you can feel the heat and the workers’ exhaustion. If you look closely, you’ll notice a steamship on the horizon; this back-breaking labour is no longer necessary. Like Dickens and Tolstoy, Repin uses powerful realism to illuminate injustice. He dep...

The Dutch do not use “going Dutch” as an expression, by the way – so you will not hear a Dutch person say: “Laten we Nederlands gaan!” (Let’s go Dutch!).What you do hear the Dutch say a lot is “Gezellig.” Hard to pronounce (“he-sell-ick”, starting and ending with the typically Dutch ‘g’ sound) and virtually untranslatable, gez...

Cities, like books, can be read. The street, the footpath, the square, and the park are the grammar of the city.You may know that, having passed the reins of Classical Pursuits to wonder woman, Melanie Blake, I am returning to a life-long passion – exploring what makes cities places where people love to live. Ever since I noticed vibrant street life on the stoops of my hometown of Philadelph...