John-Paul Moloney

2 months ago | exploretravel.com.au | John-Paul Moloney

Before dawn on a late December morning, Mum and Dad would rustle me up in my PJs, herd me and my three siblings out to an already jam-packed van and we'd start our summer road trip. Create a free account to read this article or signup to continue reading All articles from our websiteThe digital version of Today's PaperBreaking news alerts direct to your inboxAll articles from the other in your areaThe writer (third from left) on a road trip with his family.

Sep 21, 2024 | exploretravel.com.au | John-Paul Moloney

The Antarctic explorers could not have imagined life aboard a luxury cruise ship. Create a free account to read this article or signup to continue readingOur ship gives a shudder as it noses into the thick sheet of ice separating us from the frozen continent somewhere out in the distance, all concealed in white. We've come as far south as a ship can take us and we are, at this moment, among the few hundred southernmost people on the planet. Heading for Cape Evans.

Feb 17, 2024 | exploretravel.com.au | John-Paul Moloney

Plus, cinematic scenery at every turn, from Istanbul to Athens. I can see it on my wife's face. These ancient walls of Istanbul are not doing for her what they're doing for me. I've been enthusiastically striding between massive stone gates, reading aloud from my phone descriptions of the siege of Constantinople in 1453. The spot where the walls were breached. The place where the last emperor of Rome fell fighting against Ottoman Turks. Where the course of history turned.

Sep 11, 2023 | exploretravel.com.au | John-Paul Moloney

A cruising novice approaches his first voyage with caution but finds his doubts falling away. Until recently, the probability of me taking a cruise was about the same as doing a luxury coach tour of Tuscany or catching a glass-roofed train in the Rockies. Sure, that sounds pleasant enough for a much older, more cautious version of me, but it didn't seem where I'd be likely to sink my travel time and money any time soon.

Aug 30, 2023 | exploretravel.com.au | John-Paul Moloney

Witnessing a centuries-old jousting festival in the Tuscan town of Arezzo is a great way to go back in time. What? $450 for jousting sticks? Tell him he's dreamin'," I say to myself as horse-mounted knights parade past us, each holding a jousting stick that couldn't be worth more than $250. Let the jousting begin in Arezzo. I keep this amusing aside to myself.