9 August 1958...and a group of architectural students, including Steuart Campbell, set off on a grand tour of Europe in unconventional style.

We needed an old vehicle for the journey. We found a hearse and bought it for £40 from a Birmingham undertaker. It had been in use up to six months beforehand and the undertaker was rather sorry to see it go; he urged us to look after it...more

Kris Anderson explores the deserts and diving of Egypt's Red Sea coast.

Headlights off in the shadow-stripping moonlight, my taxi sped south through the pre-dawn Eastern Egyptian desert. Enjoying even the driver's Marlboro Red habit, I sat contented as the stones and silhouetted acacias flicked past and a Joy Division cassette infused the sedan with pleasurable melancholy...more

Some 800 years after the Native Americans constructed the Medicine Circle, Susan K. Smith retraced the pilgrimage to their sacred spot.

Our mile and half hike followed the same trail which the Ancient Americans had used to access their sacred spot. At 10,000 feet, pilgrims are exposed to the naked forces of nature...more

Lisa Maruna hopes for a glimpse of a Kyoto geisha and tries out couchsurfing in Japan's oldest capital, Nara.

Immediately, Kyoto has a different feel than the rest of Japan. Bicycles and scooters zip past women head-to-toe in the latest fashions, while swarms of foreign tourists stand around looking confused. Elegantly dressed shop owners throw buckets of water onto the pavement...more