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Why Pheasant Island Changes Nationalities Every Six Months

Why Pheasant Island Changes Nationalities Every Six Months

by Richard Collett | Jul 29, 2025 | Borders, France, Spain, Stories

Discover the curious story of Pheasant Island, a 200-metre-long island in the middle of the Bidasoa River between France and Spain, which changes nationalities every six months. On a quiet stretch of the Bidasoa River between the Basque towns of Irun and Hendaye lies...
Tskaltubo: The Refugees Living In Georgia’s ‘Abandoned’ Soviet Sanatoriums

Tskaltubo: The Refugees Living In Georgia’s ‘Abandoned’ Soviet Sanatoriums

by Richard Collett | Jul 29, 2025 | ABANDONED PLACES, Abkhazia, Georgia, Stories

I travelled to Tskaltubo, a former Soviet spa town, to hear the stories of Georgia’s Abkhazian refugees, who still reside inside ‘abandoned’ sanatoriums intended as temporary homes. “Hope is the last thing to die,” Lasha told me, standing in the...
Azraq Wetlands: Eastern Jordan’s Vanishing Desert Oasis

Azraq Wetlands: Eastern Jordan’s Vanishing Desert Oasis

by Richard Collett | Jul 4, 2025 | Jordan, Stories

I travelled into the remote deserts of eastern Jordan in search of a vanishing oasis that once teemed with life. And to learn how conservationists are clawing this wetland back from the engulfing sands. Driving east from Amman, the sun beating down on the dark tarmac,...
Jordan’s Forgotten Panhandle (A Cartographical Curiosity in the Eastern Desert)

Jordan’s Forgotten Panhandle (A Cartographical Curiosity in the Eastern Desert)

by Richard Collett | Jun 30, 2025 | Borders, Jordan

Discover the unusual story of Jordan’s ‘panhandle’, a cartographical curiosity in the far eastern desert borderlands between Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The empty highway led northeast from Azraq. Leaving behind the sparse palms and military...
Winston’s Hiccup: How a Cartographical Mishap Defined the Saudi-Jordanian border

Winston’s Hiccup: How a Cartographical Mishap Defined the Saudi-Jordanian border

by Richard Collett | Jun 27, 2025 | Borders, Jordan

I travelled deep into Jordan’s eastern deserts in search of Winston’s Hiccup, a cartographical anomaly supposedly drawn by drunken statesmen which defined the Middle East’s modern borders. The road was long. The tarmac was scorching hot. And the...
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Hello there, traveller!

I'm Richard. Penguin author. World traveller. History lover. Border nerd and travel journalist.

My latest book

Along the Borders chronicles my multi-year journey along Britain's borders, boundaries and frontiers. Published by Penguin Random House, and available now!

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Recent Posts

  • How to Travel from Jeddah Airport to Jeddah City (Including Al Balad and the Corniche)
  • How I Visited Mileștii Mici Winery, Moldova’s Underground Wine City (Complete Guide 2026)
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  • I rode the Soviet-style sleeper train from Chisinau to Bucharest (Updated guide for 2026). 
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