Globalwanderings is the personal photoblog of Richard Cain showcasing some of the amazing places I have experienced while living and working throughout Asia and more recently, Europe. In 2009, me and my wife Jackie left Asia to renovate a farmhouse and live a new life in deepest Portugal. We are now renovating our second house and that story is told on a blog called The House on a Hill. We also run the podcasting site podcastsinenglish.com for learners and teachers of English as a foreign language.

Latest posts:

City break

25 Apr 2026

We’d been wanting to visit our friends in Paris for quite some time and as luck would have it our time had come. Our pet sitter from a few years ago would be happy to stay and look after Betty while we were away. So preparations were made. We’d always wanted to go by train but didn’t realise how difficult, or expensive it would be. I will spare the details but it turned out many times more expensive than flying…

Read More Read More

Posted in spain | Leave a comment

Diu – the end of the line

25 Feb 2026

INDIA 26: Gujarat Stage 7. So I clambered aboard the bus for the final leg on land, the relatively short hop from Sasan Gir to Diu. We passed through a lot of scrubby forest and I kept my eyes peeled for lions, as I knew they were there, but all I saw were a few deer. We did actually stop at one point, in the middle of nowhere, I think it was just for the driver to get some paan…

Read More Read More

Posted in India | Leave a comment

The lions of Gir

23 Feb 2026

INDIA 26: Gujarat. Stage 6. The Gir National Park was another place I visited in 1994 and very different now! I could tell that in my research for the trip. In 1994 the only place to stay was the Government rest house. Now there were hundreds of places. Obviously due to the success of the lions. There were 284 in 1994 and almost 900 today. So, like in 1994, the chances are I would get to see at least one…

Read More Read More

Posted in India | Leave a comment

Junagadh

20 Feb 2026

INDIA 26: Gujarat. Stage 5. Another bus trip. This time more traditional in that we went down old, secondary, tree lined roads with crop fields on either side. An added bonus was that I sat up front with the driver (who was a surprisingly careful pilot) and he dropped me off right in front of my hotel. The Click Hotel (3700Rs/£30 per night) Strange name but I believe part of a chain. Either way it was very comfortable and highly recommended….

Read More Read More

Posted in India | Leave a comment

Jamnagar

17 Feb 2026

INDIA 26: Gujarat. Stage 4 I had been looking back through my India diary from 1994. All the bus trips seemed to be on ancient, packed, uncomfortable, rough old buses, the journeys lasted forever and it was boiling hot. The buses still looked pretty old but the modern journeys were actually quite comfortable, organised (everyone had a seat number) and the highways fairly pot hole free. I was slightly concerned that my next journey – a seven hour trip to…

Read More Read More

Posted in India | Leave a comment

Random posts:

Central Highlands

5 Jan 2002

22 Dec 2001 For our second bike trip in Vietnam, me and Alan decided on the Central Highlands. Like up north we were expecting to meet many ethnic minorities, or Montagnards as they were known here, and although we knew they didn’t wear the flamboyant clothing of those up north they did live in some interesting houses. Also the landscape promised to be impressive and hopefully not as cold. Rather than waste a couple of days driving down the very…

Read More Read More

Posted in vietnam | Leave a comment

Goodbye River Cottage

3 Aug 2021

One of the joys of living in central Portugal is to go up into the hills in the summer and swim in the lakes and rivers. Not just for us but also our dogs Betty and Jussi. Although it was only a half hour drive we sometimes camped on the side of the Cabril Reservoir. Near one of our favourite spots we heard that there was some land for sale so in May 2013, almost on a whim we bought…

Read More Read More

Posted in spain, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Rias Baixas

29 Sep 2019

For us, September is holiday time and it usually means a road trip into Spain. We had an ulterior motive this time – we were also looking for a possible place to live. We had decided to head due north from our house in central Portugal to the Rias Baixas of Galicia. It was motorway most of the way so it only took us 3.5 hours to get to Camping Aldan. As it hadn’t taken us too long we had…

Read More Read More

Posted in spain | Leave a comment