Speaking on Saturday, April 13, 2024 (on the 2nd Saturday) we have:

1st: Jacqui Trotter – Homegoing: Part 3.

Jacqui will be talking about travelling in 2019 back to Australia through pre-COVID Tibet, eastern China, Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand. From -20’C in Harbin to 38’C in Ayutthaya, I wanted the trip to go on and on.

Independent travel through China was much easier than I expected and Vietnam was a delight. Cambodia was fascinating and visiting Angkor Wat was a long-held dream! Thailand was a great place to take stock, play tourist and still visit places I had not been before.

Going home was something I had done many times before but this time was different – it would be my home for the next five years (and still is) and the world of travel would not be quite the same for any of us ever again.

2nd: Lucy Lethbridge – Tourists: How the British Went Abroad to find themselves

Lucy Lethbridge, author of Tourists: How the British Went Abroad to find themselves, will look at the rise of popular tourism in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. It is a story of business titans, new technologies, commerce, invention, snobbery, vision and nostalgia – and, with its apotheosis in the self-contained world of the beach resort, even a search for Eden.

Find Lucy on Twitter – @LucyLethbridge

Date & Time: Saturday 13th April 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

• £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
• £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
• a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets:

Speaking on Saturday, May 11, 2024 (on the 2nd Saturday) we have :

1st: Marco Carnovale – Maldives

Marco has travelled to the Maldives a dozen times over the last twenty years. As always, he preferred going off the beaten path, which in this case meant off the beaten island… He mostly sailed around the archipelago on small boats and while island hopping he stepped down and visited remote villages and deserted sand banks where few tourists ever venture.

He stayed with local families and ate their food, always curious about the culture of this small and proud nation. Drawing on his background as a political scientist, his presentation will touch on the society, politics and economics of the islands, as well as on the inescapable religious dimension of Maldivian life.

An avid SCUBA diver, he logged hundreds of dives and in his presentation, he will share photos of the underwater wonders of the Maldivian coral reefs, a fragile environment that is threatened by climate change and uncontrolled pollution.

Marco has written a book on his Maldivian travels: “Journeys through the Maldives” published on Amazon.co.uk in paperback, hardcover and e-book format. He will be happy to sign your copy after delivering his talk. An Italian version is available as well.

2nd: Simon Banks – Avoiding the Cold, Wet, Miserable and S.A.D. People of Britain” – Travel Lessons & Recent Life Adventures in NZ, Oz & Malawi.

Simon will be talking about travelling in Australia, New Zealand Malawi.

Date & Time: Saturday 11th May 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

• £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
• £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
• a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.

For in person Tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets: