My goal is to take Pompom International to areas of conflict around the globe, be it arguing neighbours in Ayrshire or rock throwers in the Gaza strip. Dealing with differences is much easier with a stress-busting pompom in your hand. [Read This Article]

Many great Arctic explorers met their demise as they were about to reach their destination. I didn't want to up the numbers but, as I squeezed into the seven-seater Turbo Beaver en route to Canada's 59th parallel, I was convinced mine was inevitable. I needn't have feared. [Read This Article]

Staying at Cameron House, a newly refurbished five-star hotel, travellers might expect a high level of service, comfort and soft furnishings. Smart and friendly staff? Check. Flat screen TV? Check. Posh toiletries? Check. Fine linens? Check. Electronic golf putting machine?... er, check. [Read This Article]

In fourteen days in Malaysia, Amy Lamé enjoyed more than a hundred superb meals that dip into Malay, Chinese and Indian flavours [Read This Article]

I am an ocean-loving gal with a genuine curiosity for the underwater world. I've been snorkelling all over the globe, from Mexico and Thailand to Florida and Sicily, and seen hundreds of species of aquatic life, from angelfish to catfish and jellyfish. I grew up by the sea and love tangling my toes in a bit of wayward algae. I've boogie-boarded up and down the East Coast of America, and there's nothing I enjoy more than munching on a mixed sea-food platter at a beachside bar...[Read This Article]

The Strawberry Blonde and I are seasoned travellers: we have battled Bangkok, cut through Costa Rican rainforests, foraged for wild food in the French Pyrenees, and had an unexpected visit to a prison in Havana. We take cheap flights to unpopular European destinations and stay in quirky B&Bs. We have never booked a package holiday or stayed in an all-inclusive. As long as there's promise of pleasure, we'll try just about anything...[Read This Article]

Food is my joy and my nemesis. I watch TV cookery shows obsessively (and have even appeared on a few). My weighty collection of cookbooks recently snapped a shelf from my kitchen wall, and I follow restaurants like some follow the FTSE index. A stint on Celebrity Fit Club may have helped me to shed 25kg (56lb), but it didn't curb my fascination with food...[Read This Article]

The problems start the moment I settle into my seat on the plane. The armrests are digging into my sides. The man walking down the aisle realises his seat is next to mine and doesn't look pleased. I try and take up as little space as possible, but my avoirdupois is ample. A trolley dolly offers me a seatbelt extender and I flash an angry look: I'm not THAT fat. The tray table will not fold down, I cannot move my arms and I'm facing a nine-hour flight wedged into a seat that constricts my blood flow. Welcome to the world of the larger traveller. Welcome to my world...[Read This Article]

Our capital may not have the impact of Miami or New York, says Amy Lamé , but look closely and you'll see some fine examples of the 1920s style...[Read This Article]

As experts warn obesity levels are spiralling out of control have fears about weight led to an unhealthy obsession with body image? I am fat. I have been fat my entire life.[Read This Article]

When literary types come to Scotland in summer they tend to aim for Edinburgh and its big, flashy annual literary festival. But Glasgow, often referred to as the second city, is catching up fast, with a fresh influence on literature that resonates far beyond the border...[Read This Article]