A photograph of Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Sunsets over the Pacific Ocean, full moon parties, airline upgrades, good food we don't have to shop or cook, lively dive bars and light luggage are just some of the many things we can hope to savour on our travels but some of the pleasures of travel are much simpler or unexpected.

A photograph of Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

GERMANY > Sprachcamp Allgäu and Fokus Camps, two English language summer camps in Germany, are both currently amid their annual roundup of native level English speakers.

A photograph of Diyarbakir, Turkey.

Our initial idea was to journey from Aswan to Luxor by felucca, the traditional wooden sailing boat that has plied its way up and down the Nile for centuries, but so sick of being propositioned by captains every five steps along the Nile-side corniche, we instead looked at the high sides of the cruise ships moored in town and thought: “none of these buggers are going to get near us on that: I want one of them.”

Brandon Fralic emailed from his cave room in Cappadocia to say he had scored a volunteer position we had advertised in the Jobs Abroad Bulletin. We told him how the hotel cat gets into his room and, in exchange, he tells us more about his job.

A photograph of Diyarbakir, Turkey.

FRANCE > Organisers Mainstage Festivals are recruiting a large team of skilful skiers, keen snowboarders or just passionate events people to assist them in the smooth running of the festival held in Avoriaz.

A photograph of Sanliurfa, Turkey.