Blog Posts

The posts are archived. Mainly from my site “Cool Travel Guide” where I wrote about our travels before 2010 when we started Grantourismo Travels.
Due to the age of these posts, some may be missing images…

Sydney Opera House Vivid Festival.

Find Cheap Hotels With Trivago

ByLara DunstonJun 29, 2012

While researching hotel prices for a story on Sydney, I discovered trivago, supposedly the world’s largest hotel comparison site. My first thought was: why had I not been using the…

Are You Ever Too Old For…Youth Hostels?

Are You Ever Too Old For…Youth Hostels?

ByLara DunstonJun 26, 2012

Australia has become a very expensive destination for foreign travellers who aren’t earning the high incomes that Aussies are currently earning. Hotels, flights, public transport, restaurant meals, and entry fees…

How Much Time Is Enough Time In A Place?

How Much Time Is Enough Time In A Place?

ByLara DunstonApr 25, 2012

One of the most infuriating things for a travel writer is being told, “You haven’t stayed long enough” or “you can’t see everything/anything here in a month – you can’t…

To Travellers Who Have Dared To Live Their Dreams

To Travellers Who Have Dared To Live Their Dreams

ByLara DunstonApr 6, 2012

“Did you imagine you would really be travelling the world and earning your living from your travels?” one of my dearest and oldest friends Becky wrote in an email to…

Welcome to the New Cool Travel Guide

Welcome to the New Cool Travel Guide

ByLara DunstonApr 6, 2012

The re-launch of Cool Travel Guide has been a long time coming. And while this is a soft launch of sorts, we still have a few tweaks to make, loads…

An update from the road… we’re on our grand tour and we’re in Montenegro!

An update from the road… we’re on our grand tour and we’re in Montenegro!

ByLara DunstonMay 5, 2010

This is the longest I’ve gone without posting on my poor neglected Cool Travel Guide. You want to know why? Drop by Grantourismo and you’ll see that we’ve been a…

In print and online

In print and online

ByLara DunstonMar 5, 2010

Life has been keeping us busy as usual with our Grantourismo project now well and truly under way; you can keep up with our travels and what we’re doing here.…

Grantourismo & how we came to be going on a grand tour in 2010

Grantourismo & how we came to be going on a grand tour in 2010

ByLara DunstonFeb 6, 2010

Terence and I have been dreaming about doing a grand tour of sorts for a few years – since way back when we wrote the Grantourismo blog for Charles and…

Grantourismo – 12 months, 24 destinations, countless experiences

Grantourismo – 12 months, 24 destinations, countless experiences

ByLara DunstonFeb 6, 2010

Finishing writing projects (books, stories, reviews) and planning our exciting new project called Grantourismo, a contemporary grand tour of sorts, has kept us busy throughout December and January, and once…

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Burj Khalifa and How Bridges, Buildings and other Big Things Unite Nations

ByLara DunstonJan 7, 2010

I’m a fan of Twitter but I was on deadline and only half-following tweets a few nights ago as messages streamed in from people in the UAE at the inauguration…

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Busy in Beirut, Bangkok, Bendigo, and now blogging the globe

ByLara DunstonJan 7, 2010

The posts I will be popping up on my poor neglected travel blog over the next few days have been a long time coming. Some I drafted back in Beirut…

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Where travel writers stay when they go on holidays

ByLara DunstonDec 13, 2009

Which hotels do travel writers check into when they go on holidays? That’s what Mark Hudson, a writer himself for The Sunday Times, among other publications, was keen to know,…