A photograph of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I took a lion for a walk the other week. I know, read that again - I really did say I took a lion for a walk. Taking lions (and tigers – more about that in another post) for a spot of exercise is just one of the things we did when we pitched up in Kanchanaburi, at the doors of the Safari Volunteer Initiative as two of their more incompetent volunteers.

A photograph of Yangon, Myanmar.

Resident in Chiang Mai, Diana Edelman helped raise awareness about the plight of Asian elephants as the PR and social media coordinator for Save Elephant Foundation. She also writes for her own site, d travels 'round, and supports herself with freelance travel writing jobs.

A photograph of Sai Yok, Thailand.

Ten years ago Jonny Blair left Bangor, Northern Ireland, to travel the world. Since then he has worked in bars, boats, offices, farms, theatres, shops and schools, as well as online, in his efforts to remain on the road. When we spoke to him his odyssey had taken him to Yangon where he was enjoying a cold Myanmar beer and cursing the wifi.

A photograph of the Irrawaddy River, Myanmar.

Kids, who’d ‘ave ’em. Well, you can for £80 a week plus accommodation and meals.

After the mayhem of Songkran I started to look around for another crazy festival to attend and the rocket festival celebrated by Lao peoples in Laos and northeastern Thailand fitted the bill perfectly.

A photograph of Wadi Musa, Jordan.