Blog archive

929 posts written between 2005 and 2025. For new writing, see the newsletter. Or explore it on the map, the photo wall or in 20 years in numbers, follow a series, or try a random story.

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2025

28 June 2025Happy Friday!
20 June 2025Join Me On Night Shift
13 June 2025I See The Future In My Dreams (And So Do You In Yours)
6 June 2025Not The Right Book
24 May 2025Fluent in Welcome: My Albanian Love Affair
19 March 2025The Scent of a Thousand Miles
28 February 2025A New Kind Of Adventure
18 February 2025Tell Me About Corvids
7 February 2025Vagabond or Tourist?
1 February 2025Stop Judging You: A New Forest Story
5 January 2025Three Tiny Big Things To Do In January

2024

31 December 202424 Tiny Big Things From 2024
7 December 2024Enter 🐈 Phone
1 December 2024Guaranteed For Life
15 November 2024Do It While You Can
27 October 2024A Time Of Unmasking
11 October 2024Everything Is Free*
22 September 2024It’s Okay To Be Cool
15 September 2024Five Minute Fire
7 September 2024Cheep Cheep
26 August 2024A Flaming Match Head
2 February 2024The Last Newsletter (for a bit) 🎲
2 February 20244 Tiny Big Things At The End
26 January 2024The Adventure of Scrape Bottom
26 January 20245 Incredible Things I’ve Learned From 340 Days Of Adventure
19 January 2024You Can’t Do Everything; Stop Trying
19 January 2024Gaping Abundance
12 January 202452 Things I Learned In 2023 (Part 2)
5 January 202452 Things I Learned In 2023 (Part 1)

2023

22 December 2023The Vengeance of King Edward III
22 December 2023Five Tiny Big Things #4
15 December 2023Sundown In The Forest
15 December 2023Five Tiny Big Things #3
8 December 2023Five Tiny Big Things #2
8 December 2023Eudaimonic Adventure
2 December 2023Adventure Mind
26 November 2023‘What the hell have I been doing for the last 20 years?’
17 November 2023Psychedelic Truffles: Are You Experienced?
10 November 2023The Supreme Court Has No Clue If You Have The Right To Build Sandcastles Or Not
3 November 2023The more I see, the more I realise that it’s just fantastic
27 October 2023We All Need Living Room
20 October 2023Taking Adventure Out On The Town
20 October 2023TWo IRritating SHift KEys
13 October 2023The Essential Element Of Naughtiness
9 October 2023Could This Be A Moment?
1 October 2023Merlin in the Temple of Tranquility
1 October 2023C’est La Vie En Rose
24 September 2023Together Through The Flood
10 September 2023A Midpoint
1 September 2023Three Tiny Big Things At The End #1
1 September 2023Don’t Confuse What They Think With What You Know
19 August 2023Not A Miracle
7 July 2023Enter The Packing Room
30 June 2023Andy Murray’s Nice
23 June 2023Proust’s Wrist
23 June 2023Always Take The Doughnut
16 June 2023Round Britain Twice: Graham Eating Chips And Gravy
16 June 2023Indebted to D.G.
9 June 2023Round Britain Twice: From Egremont Castle
2 June 2023‘Hi, I’m Dave.’ No shame.
2 June 2023The Number Twenty-Four (And My Inevitable Mortality)
26 May 202310 Years Of No Borders
19 May 2023The Secret Society Of Lost Hats
19 May 2023Negative Capability ≠ Stable Ambiguity
12 May 2023100% Endurance
5 May 2023Zoom The Fuck Out / Zoom The Fuck In
5 May 2023Struggle-Play
28 April 2023What Would Salah Do?
21 April 2023The Stars Are People-Gazing
21 April 2023Interrupt, Gloriously
7 April 2023An Oxytocin-Fuelled Haze Of Euphoria
31 March 2023Goldeous Kline And The Borrowful Glaxons
31 March 2023Cinq Diamants
24 March 2023Let’s Not Doomspread Loneliness
24 March 2023Antischismogenetic Equifinality
17 March 2023Writing In Public: Memory & Desire
17 March 2023Be The Miracle
10 March 2023Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin & Me
3 March 2023Writing In Public: Coasting
3 March 2023Doomspreading In Saunas
24 February 2023The End Of Doomspreading
17 February 2023Am I The Most Notable David Charles In The Whole Entire Universe?
10 February 2023Remember That Time We Cycled 2,200km Across Britain On A Route That Spelled Out Refugees Welcome? Oh Yeah!
10 February 2023Movemberising Feb’ry
10 February 2023How I … Stretch
3 February 2023Make Space For Others To Shine
3 February 2023How I Learned To Enjoy Wild Squats
27 January 2023Adventure When You Can’t Adventure?
20 January 2023260,000 Year Winning Record For Team Human
13 January 2023Sweating It Out With Strangers
6 January 2023PROOF: I’m Fine
6 January 2023A Short Tour Of The Forgotten Elses

2022

30 December 202252 Things I Learned In 2022
23 December 2022Woolly Mammoths & Butterfly Wings
16 December 2022On The Lip Of A Lion
16 December 2022Dave’s 2022 Books Of The Year
9 December 2022Dylan, Eliot, Orwell, Rimbaud + Peterborough
2 December 2022Never Dread The Road Ahead
25 November 2022Yes To Yes-vember!
18 November 2022Your Boat Needs A Crew
11 November 2022Seek And Ye Shall Find… But What?
4 November 2022Intrinsic Adventure
28 October 2022Winter Wins
28 October 2022The Most Wonderful, Or Manifesting The Abstract
21 October 2022Don’t Rush To Press
14 October 2022Happy Eight-And-A-Quarterth Birthday The David Charles Newsletter!
14 October 2022Anxiety Is An Energy
7 October 2022What Bedtime Story Do You Tell Yourself?
7 October 2022Mycelial Contentment
7 October 2022Catching Up On Good News
30 September 2022Lies And The What What Now Now
23 September 2022Not A Charity Auction
9 September 2022More Like Commun-isn’t!
2 September 2022Room Service and the End of the End of History
26 August 2022Boredom & The World Heritage Site
19 August 2022Carpocratian Touring
23 July 2022Philoxenia and the Magic Cobbler
8 July 2022The Opposite Of Control
1 July 2022The Dwelling Place Of The Soul
1 July 2022Nature Loves A Broccoli
24 June 2022Responsibility Is Not Heavy
17 June 2022Squatting
17 June 2022Podcast: Talking Thighs of Steel with Bikepacking Buds
17 June 2022How To Give Me Birthday Presents
10 June 2022The Cataclysmic Event Hypothesis
4 June 2022Arran – Islay – Jura
27 May 2022Dream Architecture
20 May 2022What do your pronouns mean?
20 May 2022Towards A Dictionary Of Scent
13 May 202227 Things I Used To Believe And Now Completely Don’t
6 May 202258 Days In Memory’s Universal Flux
29 April 2022Round Britain IV: Cycling Diaries Kings Lynn to Ravenscar
29 April 2022How To Sleep In A Tent: A Story 11 Years In The Making
29 April 2022Cycling Connections from Kings Lynn to Whitby
22 April 2022The best thing you can do for the planet is be here
22 April 2022Hot Stones, Keystone Habits
22 April 2022100 Days Of Adventure: Tercile Update
15 April 2022Unlocking Your Anxiety Archive
15 April 2022It’s been a week of water and heat
8 April 2022The Man Sloth Mode Diaries
1 April 2022Man Sloth Mode
25 March 2022Surfing And The Blue Mind
18 March 2022The Travel Triangle
11 March 2022Not The Best Medicine
4 March 2022Thought For Food #4: Chocolate Ginger Thighs Flapjack
4 March 2022Rudenoise
25 February 2022Respect The Hormones
18 February 2022Call Me Baby
11 February 2022Writerly Questions With An Obvious Solution Once You Write Them Down
11 February 2022Progress Through Process
4 February 2022The Adventurer’s Journey
28 January 2022Japanese Puffer Fish Teaches Us The Wondrous Value Of Art
28 January 202248.3 Mature Trees
21 January 2022The Beatles: Not As Good As Dylan
14 January 2022Is the answer to this question ‘no’?
7 January 2022Word Of The Week: Rhabdomancy
7 January 2022100 Days of Adventure 2022

2021

31 December 202152 Things I Learned In 2021
24 December 2021How to navigate… in fog… at night
24 December 2021A Sense of Adventure
17 December 2021Seven Superb Books I Read Despite 2021
17 December 2021Drawing Out
10 December 2021The solitude of stars
10 December 2021Fire!
3 December 2021Thought for Food #3: Vegan Dark Chocolate Hobnobs
3 December 2021Litigation not education on Dartmoor
3 December 202188 Percent Perfect
26 November 2021On Sneezing
19 November 2021Bygone Bicycles
13 November 2021Policy Versus Society
13 November 2021Brownsea Island: Gorse Gawping
5 November 2021Reality and the Metaverse
29 October 2021The Bigger Question About Veganism
29 October 2021Coconuts Versus The Climate
22 October 2021That whooshing noise
16 October 2021In Cardiff with Camus
9 October 2021It’s a whortleberry, whortleberry, whortleberry’s world
1 October 2021Self Portrait (1970)
24 September 2021They need us more than we need them
15 September 2021Turkish Delight falls out of the sky
4 September 2021Talking politics with strangers
29 August 2021How to break things: an update
21 August 2021Admin or admiration?
13 August 2021‘We identify ourselves as human beings’
6 August 2021Laughter lines
30 July 2021Stories in the lamplight
23 July 2021Wiener brecwast
16 July 2021Plumb lines and cockpits
9 July 2021Masquerading with Bob Dylan
9 July 2021100 Days of Adventure: Solstice Update
2 July 2021Zero carbon is already here (it’s just not very evenly distributed)
2 July 2021400-year old Bob
25 June 2021April 4th, 1984
18 June 2021What’s your solidarity archetype?
18 June 2021Spell It Out
11 June 2021Bracken bruising and the moth tree
4 June 2021No more ‘hostile environment’
31 May 2021Unexpected tea room
21 May 2021‘The literary equivalent of gold dust’
21 May 2021PPF3: Grey-sky thinking
14 May 2021Head in the clouds
7 May 2021Make the woods your home
30 April 2021Forget the kit list
22 April 2021We need you to trespass
22 April 2021Invisible Women // Caroline Criado Perez
17 April 2021Broken in
17 April 2021A World Without Email?
10 April 2021Abnormalising, adulting and The Corollavirus
2 April 2021Reach Out Party!
26 March 2021100 Days of Adventure: Equinox Update
19 March 2021You don’t get paid for sitting around all day, you get paid for doing dirty work
19 March 2021How Long Does It Take To Write an Entire BBC Radio Sitcom?
11 March 2021The Art of Skateboarding
3 March 2021What me and my body learned from 324 days of isolation veganism—including blood tests
26 February 2021Word of the day: Waldumrauscht
26 February 2021BBC Radio Foiled: 2017-2021
19 February 2021Drawing on the power of nature
12 February 2021How connection with nature beats time in nature for your happiness and wellbeing
11 February 2021Win Google PageSpeed: Score 99% with your WordPress blog in under 15 minutes
5 February 2021Meet your tree mentor
29 January 2021No more indoor species!
26 January 2021Rewild Your Job: Workshop on Nearby Nature for Knowledge Workers
22 January 2021Veganaury: Two flash-in-the-pan breads
22 January 2021Foiled Series 4: On air
18 January 2021The Great Whatsapp Stink: Q&A
15 January 2021The Great Whatsapp Stink
8 January 2021Brutal! Look what happens to a bike after 18,000 miles
1 January 2021VIDEO: Four Quartets
1 January 2021100 Days of Adventure

2020

23 December 202052 things I was thankful for in 2020
23 December 202052 things I learned in 2020
18 December 2020Distraction by distraction
18 December 2020Burnt Norton and the Catswold Way
12 December 2020The $3 Stories of Mr Aki Ra
4 December 2020The Solidarity Files
4 December 2020How to write a BBC radio sitcom during a global pandemic
4 December 2020He’s not the messiah, he’s an ethically ambiguous cut of lab-grown meat
27 November 2020What do brains and politics have in common?
18 November 2020Thought for Food #2: Bread of Life
13 November 2020Trespassers Welcome
12 November 2020The Shock and The Reason
6 November 2020Unsponsored Content: Going Rogue
6 November 2020Nowstory to history
31 October 2020Shankly’s Life and Death
30 October 2020Leave no trace: don’t drop banana skins
30 October 2020A message from a refugee stuck in the Napier Barracks
24 October 2020Thought for Food #1: Making an effort
24 October 2020Swallow the rainbow
16 October 2020Falling profits for climbing
15 October 2020Tintin versus the foo fighters
8 October 2020Stroke Values
8 October 2020Britain: Dope Capital of the World
2 October 2020This Means Moor
25 September 2020Happy Global Day of Climate Action!
18 September 2020Make adders count
18 September 2020Feel the Fear… And Give Future Readers a Hard Time By Not Referencing Your Sources Anyway!
10 September 2020Maybe we’re doing okayish
4 September 2020Why do we theorise a conspiracy?
4 September 2020Hair loss
4 September 2020Death of an anarchist
28 August 2020Philoxenia around Britain
28 August 2020Cycling around Britain: Why is this happening?
21 August 2020Cycling around Britain: Detours
14 August 2020Cycling around Britain: Leave no trace
9 August 2020Cycling around Britain: Bikes are horses too!
7 August 2020Vegan update: Ahead of the curve?
7 August 2020Cycling around Britain: A cheese sandwich in a rainstorm
31 July 2020Cycling around Britain: Nine years
24 July 2020Cycling around Britain: Let’s go to Mordor
18 July 2020Cycling around Britain: A proper adventure
10 July 2020What if this is happening not to me, but for me?
10 July 2020This is not a bike ride
3 July 2020Two Georges on art as activism
3 July 2020Love Litter
26 June 2020Stress and the search for the antischedule
19 June 2020Join us for World Refugee Day
12 June 2020Giving what we can
5 June 2020The trees knees
5 June 2020Introducing Questionable Meetings
29 May 2020Are you ready to leave lockdown?
22 May 2020Introducing Your Second Self
15 May 2020Love is nothing special
15 May 2020Are you a hedgehog or a fox?
28 April 2020Rocking rejections: ‘I really admire their chutzpah!’
24 April 2020Isolation Veganism
18 April 2020People pleasing RIP
18 April 2020Fine to flounder
10 April 2020Fascination
3 April 2020Extravagant Enthusiasm
27 March 2020Social Distancing
27 March 2020Habit (re)formation in a time of crisis
20 March 2020Two ways to transcend isolation
17 March 2020The Next Challenge grant winners
13 March 2020What’s the point in bushcraft?
13 March 2020A Kinder wind
6 March 2020Border Breakdown
28 February 2020Be more creative: read a book
21 February 2020The Perils of Perception
14 February 2020The Rule of Three: Sitcom Families
14 February 2020Mulching around on Brownsea Island
7 February 2020Stop: hammock time
7 February 2020First they came for the squatters…
31 January 2020The Men Who Stare At Trees
27 January 2020The Bins on Brownsea
27 January 2020How to play Thighs of Steel
27 January 2020Do we need a belligerent military?
10 January 2020Factfulness
3 January 2020Life should be lived in shorts and sandals

2019

27 December 2019RIP 2010-2019: A New Davecade Begins
27 December 2019Overheard on a train
27 December 2019Merry Thighsmas!
20 December 2019‘Homelessness is a policy choice’
20 December 201952 Things I Learned in 2019
14 December 2019The election that brought us together
13 December 2019Punkt MP02: Second Look
5 December 2019Trust The Process
5 December 2019Sauna Stories: The Millionaire
2 December 2019Foiled IV Commissioned
2 December 2019All Urk and No Play
22 November 2019‘You can’t teach stupid’
22 November 2019The wood for the trees
22 November 2019Official Secrets
15 November 2019My Reading: Summer/Autumn Edition
12 November 2019The Next Challenge Grant: Applications for Adventure Now Open
8 November 2019‘Here is no work; there is war’: Refugees in İzmir
1 November 2019‘Here is nothing special’: Snippets from Samos
1 November 2019The Oldest Warzone
25 October 2019Paris: Love Letter Hunting
25 October 2019From the English Channel
25 October 2019Fire on Samos: Engineered Catastrophe (AYS Special)
25 October 2019Athens to the UK with (not by) a bicycle
19 October 2019Samos: Open Cards and Protests
18 October 2019Audio: Samos Refugee Protest
18 October 2019As Predicted: Fire on Samos
11 October 2019Samos: Tales of Shutdown
4 October 2019Cycling around Ikaría
27 September 2019Athens: Where the baby never stopped crying
15 September 2019Thighs of Steel arrives in Athens, all together
7 September 2019The kindest country in the world?
20 August 2019Why Mahmoud wears cologne
9 August 2019Leave love letters
2 August 2019The 64 Hour Neapolitan Food Tour
1 August 2019Croissants for breakfast: Remagicking the world
25 July 2019The Trials and Tribulations of Van Days
25 July 2019Always take the swim
12 July 2019Foiled is finished
2 July 2019Of The Lime
14 June 2019What can actors can teach us about the good life?
7 June 2019What does it take to write a BBC radio sitcom?
31 May 2019Willow the Wisp
31 May 2019Comedinsanity
24 May 2019What I learned from shadow walking
24 May 2019The Beech Boys
17 May 2019What am I bringing into being that will outlast me?
16 May 2019tl;dr: Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered (NYT)
15 May 2019Lime Leaves Loves
9 May 2019Horse (Chestnut) Play!
8 May 2019Talk Migration: Help Refugees
7 May 2019Talk Migration: The 21st Century Slaves of Indefinite Detention
3 May 2019oh merde it’s a FUNDRAISING LAUNCH!!
3 May 2019No Place Like Holm (Oaks)
3 May 2019Foiled Diaries: On First Drafts and Producer Notes
1 May 2019Audacity is our only option
26 April 2019The best things in life are audacious
26 April 2019Subvertisers for London
19 April 2019Punkt MP02 First Look Review
19 April 2019Get shit for free
12 April 2019Thoreau on Walking
12 April 2019The Meteorological Secret of Comedy
5 April 2019The Next Challenge Grant Winners Announced!
5 April 2019Foiled nominated for Celtic Media Award!
28 March 2019Empathy, society, and a nice cup of tea…
23 March 2019Small is Sociable
15 March 2019The Tomb of the Unknown Arbour
15 March 2019The Hollow Pond: A Run
15 March 2019The Foiled Diaries: Life as a Way of Writing
8 March 2019OK Foiled
8 March 2019Domesday Trees
1 March 2019Digital Minimalism
22 February 2019No Computers
15 February 2019The day after Valentine’s
8 February 2019‘Sylva’
8 February 2019Tame the Mane
1 February 2019This is not the only Universe
1 February 2019I believe in Rejection!
25 January 2019I believe in not taking showers! (Or do I…?)
18 January 201934 Trees, 2 Magpies, and Me
11 January 2019Transcendental Meditation
4 January 2019Absolutely Gutted
3 January 2019Daves of the Year 2018

2018

27 December 2018More than a crime thriller
26 December 20187 things I’m grateful I did in 2018
20 December 2018Books of the Year 2018
14 December 2018Learning to Walk On Dartmoor
8 December 2018I believe in Psychedelics
30 November 2018I believe in Minimum Viable Technology
23 November 2018The Memory of Adventure
22 November 2018I believe in Running
9 November 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 28
2 November 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 27
2 November 2018Gifts Part 1: Life
26 October 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 26
19 October 2018To Do List Bankruptcy
19 October 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 25
12 October 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 24
11 October 2018Lessons from 10 Years of Hashimoto’s Hypothroidism
5 October 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 23
28 September 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 22
23 September 2018Gandhi was wrong: you already ARE the change
21 September 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 21
21 September 2018The First Stile
21 September 2018Overwhelming Kindness
21 September 2018Black Sheep Backpackers Hostel: A mild review
14 September 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 20
7 September 2018Thighs of Steel: A Community on Wheels
7 September 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 19
31 August 2018Why I travel slow, or “Delays? Really?”
31 August 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 18
27 August 2018Crossing the Border
25 August 2018Thighs of Steel: Ljubljana to Sofia
25 August 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 17
18 August 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 16
18 August 2018A Morning in the Life of a Steely Thighed Cyclist
10 August 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 15
10 August 2018Abu Falafel
6 August 2018Diavata Camp, Thessaloniki
4 August 2018How travel works on the mind
3 August 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 14
27 July 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 13
27 July 2018From Chios to Crisis
27 July 2018A User’s Guide to Cycling in Athens
20 July 2018Things I Have Learnt About Khora
20 July 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 12
20 July 2018Sunset on Strefi
13 July 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 11
12 July 2018Daily Dérive #2: The Museum of Parkaeology
11 July 2018The Limits of Rationalism: The Existential Journey of Levin in Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina
11 July 2018Daily Dérive #1: Agios Panteleimonas ~ Exarcheia
8 July 2018London to Greece via Paris, Milan and Brindisi with (but not by) a bike
6 July 2018Travel from the Heart
6 July 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 10
29 June 2018Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 9
29 June 2018Foiled Diaries: Finito!
22 June 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 8
15 June 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 7
15 June 2018Brilliant Bivvying: The Mother Lode of Wild Camping Advice
8 June 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 6
8 June 2018All News isn’t Good News; Most News is Crappy
1 June 2018Ultimate Medal Hope
1 June 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 5
1 June 2018Foiled Diaries: Writers Rooms
25 May 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-day Book Cult: Day 4
25 May 2018Sunswim
18 May 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-day Book Cult: Day 3
11 May 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-day Book Club: Day 2
11 May 2018The Viktor Frankl 5-a-day Book Club: Day 1
27 April 2018It’s a wonderful life – isn’t it?
27 April 2018Cycling to Syria – Back in the Saddle!
11 April 2018Look after the weirdos and delete everything
11 April 2018Everyone needs an Arcot
10 April 2018The Only Serious Question of Philosophy
30 March 2018Viktor Frankl and Man’s Search for Meaning
23 March 2018Why I sauna
23 March 2018From a log in a quiet noisy place with mud underfoot
9 March 2018Work is the Opposite of Worry
23 February 2018Options for Dealing with Squatting: A Mockumentary Radio Play
17 February 2018No No Aeroplanes: 98 Months and Out
17 February 2018Foiled Series 2: A Sitcom Writer’s Diary
6 February 2018Carpe Diem: Dancing with Death
2 February 2018No Phone (Before Noon)
2 February 2018Bothy Bothering: Cairngorms
18 January 2018Unfinished Animals: A Novel
13 January 2018Your 5 Things
5 January 2018After the Christmas, the Crisis
5 January 20182017: No News is Good News

2017

15 December 2017Dave’s Books of the Year 2017
11 December 2017How to be a sincere writer
3 December 2017Biking Bournemouth-Bristol
2 December 2017Learning Arabic from a Syrian wanted by ISIS
24 November 2017Meditations on Meditations: Contentment (10.1)
10 November 2017Tomsleibhe, Isle of Mull
31 October 2017Meditations on Meditations: Praise and Service (4.19)
30 October 2017Meditations on Meditations: Core Beliefs (3.5)
27 October 2017Meditations on Meditations: Adversity (4:49)
19 October 2017Meditations on Meditations: Love (2:1)
18 October 2017“No one ever died while breathing.”
17 October 2017Meditations on Meditations: Change (7:18)
16 October 2017Meditations on Meditations: Retreat (4:3)
14 October 2017Meditations on Meditations: Indignation (6:27)
6 October 2017The Most Living: Synopsis
3 October 2017Robert Louis Stevenson at Skerryvore, Dorset
22 September 2017Wim Hof: The Cold is Our Teacher
22 September 2017Stoicism and The Word of God
27 August 2017What are we waiting for? A Box Hill Microadventure
18 August 20172040: Don’t Worry, Be Happy
14 July 2017No Shampoo
7 July 2017Counselling, Meditation and Psychedelics
29 June 2017Foiled Episode 1: Everything’s Kings (BBC Radio)
11 May 2017The Science of Psychedelics and Exceptional Human Experience
28 March 2017Engineering Work Stops Play
10 March 2017How to get a BBC Radio Comedy Commission
24 February 2017No Tabbed Browsing
17 February 2017We Meat Again!
10 February 2017From Syria to Switzerland: Hossam’s Journey
3 February 2017A Really Good Day
30 January 2017No Bike Stand, No Problem: Dave’s Bike Lock Stand
27 January 2017No Mobile Phone Revisited
13 January 2017#21: Everything we know about psychedelics is wrong
13 January 2017#20: Three Lessons from a Vipassana Meditation Retreat
13 January 2017#19: Who, what, where or why is my Ego?
6 January 2017#18: We are all the same
6 January 2017#17: No Borders is “the efficient way to double world GDP”
6 January 2017#16: National borders were supposed to be temporary

2016

30 December 2016#15: We all live moneyless
30 December 2016#14: Money is Waste
30 December 2016#13: Money is not Generosity
23 December 2016#12: Supermarket choice is terrible!
23 December 2016#11: Supermarkets aren’t cheap
23 December 2016#10: Supermarkets aren’t convenient
16 December 2016#9: Phones make you dumb, dissatisfied and dangerous
16 December 2016#8: Getting your phone out makes your conversations shit
16 December 2016#7: Energy needed for a year’s supply of smartphones = 3,700 Hiroshima atomic bombs
9 December 2016#6: TV adverts are awesome
9 December 2016#5: 1 in 10 cars stop to pick up hitch-hikers…
9 December 2016#4: Irishmen walk faster than Indonesians – but are they happier?
2 December 2016#3 Constraints are Creativity
2 December 2016#2 Do Something Different / Become Someone Different
2 December 2016#1 Dancing Makes You Happy
9 September 2016Are you experienced?
15 June 2016On the walls of Zollamtsstrasse refugee camp
9 June 2016From containers to computers: the challenges of refugee integration in Germany
3 June 2016#34: Grandhotel Cosmopolis
2 June 2016#27: Refugees Like It’s 1699
31 May 2016#25 Heidelberg Helps
29 May 2016They Want Me to Fly Like a Bird: Travels in the Belgian Asylum System
28 May 2016Story of the Day #28: Refugee Hospitality
25 May 2016Story of the Day #24: Industrial Germany
24 May 2016Story of the Day #23: An Unexpected Hill
10 May 2016The School Bus Project, Calais
8 May 2016Grande-Synthe & Calais: Compare and Contrast
6 May 2016Conversations in Calais
4 May 2016Cycling Towards Syria: Days 1-3
13 April 2016The Tech Setup
29 March 2016Seacycles III: London to Brighton Night Ride
28 March 2016The Magic of Midnight
25 March 2016Experiments in Publishing: Unbound Crowdfunding
16 March 2016Cycling to(wards) Syria
14 March 2016Brighton night ride: details
1 March 2016Whitstable Ride
14 February 2016Riding to Shoeburyness
13 February 2016February ride: Whitstable
18 January 201610 reasons to cycle to Shoeburyness
11 January 2016“We would like to breathe the air that you breathe” – Nabeel Taha, Iraq
11 January 2016Shoeburyness ride details
7 January 2016Calais: From Crisis to Community
4 January 2016What Makes a Person Do a Thing?

2015

28 December 2015“It’s time to do something” Austrian Migrant Supporter
24 December 2015Cycling Home for Christmas
21 December 2015“I always believe in humanity” Mazin Abu Khaled, Migrant from Syria
17 December 2015I’m a voyeur, a do-gooder, a megalomaniac!
4 December 2015Christmas Bonanza: £5 off, Xmas cards & free books!
5 November 2015Refugee Crisis: Which Side Are You On?
27 October 2015The Elevate Awards
24 October 2015You Are What You Don’t at Elevate Festival
24 October 2015Elevate: Lightful! Yes! Workshop
23 October 2015Elevate: The Politics of Data in a Quantified Society
23 October 2015Elevate Creative Response/Ability
22 October 2015Elevate Creative Response: Opening Speech
19 October 2015No Multitasking
16 October 2015You Are What You Don’t: LAUNCH!
14 October 2015No Stuff
12 October 2015Positive Constraints: A Round Up
9 October 2015No Television
7 October 2015Positive Constraints in Literature
5 October 2015No Plastic Bags
2 October 2015No Meat: Meaty Moths & 3 Observations
30 September 2015No Clothes
28 September 2015Productivity Positive Constraints
25 September 2015Minimum Viable Technology
23 September 2015No Facebook
21 September 2015No Toilet Paper
18 September 2015No Meat
16 September 2015No Pressing the Open Door Button on Public Transportation
14 September 2015No Hot Showers
6 September 2015Thoughts on Saving the World
2 September 2015Understanding the Calais Critical Mass
6 August 2015Critical Mass to Calais: Bikes Beyond Borders
17 July 2015Advice for Media, Journalists & Film-makers in Calais
9 July 2015Battles with bicycle maintenance (and a ghost)
1 July 2015Bicycles, Freedom and Migration
24 June 2015Charity or Solidarity?
23 June 2015The History of John and Henry and of Frederick
22 June 2015Very Short Film: “The Wind is Free” – Calais June 2015
20 June 2015The Open Air Prison of Calais
16 June 2015The Ghetto of Calais
10 June 2015The Betrayal of All Humanity
9 June 2015I hate crisps
8 June 2015Why are polyglots so damn nice?
8 June 2015An Anatomy of Rambling, or Why Walk?
6 June 2015Krakadorn Revisited
4 May 2015Migrant Mythbusting!
3 May 2015Adventures in Approach and Avoidant Motivation
25 April 2015Advice for People Visiting Calais Migrants
7 February 2015No Mobile Phone
1 February 2015Elevate Outroduction
31 January 2015The 2014 Elevate Awards
30 January 2015Amy Goodman: The Journalist Connection
29 January 2015Dean Puckett & Sengwer: Conservation vs Communities
28 January 2015The Commons Connection
27 January 2015Thank-You Letter to the Daily Mail
27 January 2015Everything is Connected
26 January 2015Reality is the Next Big Thing Debate: Can Capitalism and Democracy Co-Exist?
25 January 2015Reality is the Next Big Thing Debate: Data Disasters
24 January 2015Reality is the Next Big Thing Debate: Power and “Social Gravity”
23 January 2015Reality is the Next Big Thing Debate: Participation or Privacy?
22 January 2015Reality is the Next Big Thing Debate: Who Will Cook Capitalism?
21 January 2015Reality is the Next Big Thing: Keynote
20 January 2015Fair and Open IT
19 January 2015Research for Transition
18 January 2015Let Fury Have the Hour: Antonino D’Ambrosio
17 January 2015New Media and Creative-Response
16 January 2015Creative Response / Ability
15 January 2015Elevate Media and Technology
14 January 2015Elevate Socio-Ecological Transformation
13 January 2015Elevate Democracy
12 January 2015Elevate the Commons
11 January 2015Question Time with John Holloway
10 January 2015Think Crisis, Think Hope
9 January 2015Mimu: Instant Choir
8 January 2015Dr Vandana Shiva: We Need to Elevate
7 January 2015Patrick Wurzwallner: Head Cleaner
6 January 2015John Holloway: Opening Speech
5 January 2015Why does society need people who go on crazy, stupid, arduous adventures?
5 January 2015Deanna Rodger: Read My Lips
4 January 2015Humanity is Easy: Supporting Migrants in Calais

2014

17 December 2014Creative-Response, Urban Exploration and Twitter
27 October 2014Me interviewed by Documentally
26 October 2014Shoshana Zuboff: Reality is the Next Big Thing
25 October 2014What the Woop Woop is Creative Response?
25 October 2014Think Hope, Think Crisis
24 October 2014Elevate Festival Opening Speech: John Holloway
25 September 2014Calais Migrant Factgasm: Episode 1
22 September 2014Essential Security Feature When Travelling
26 August 2014Do We Need Borders?
26 August 2014David Charles: English Arms Dealer
22 August 2014The Literary Consultancy Manuscript Assessment Review
23 July 2014HELP! Cycling Around Britain Book Title Poll
22 July 2014Most Living and the Meaning of Life: Sailing 3,500 Miles for Syria
17 July 2014The Complete History of the Moon in Sixteen and a Half Verses
28 March 2014Them and Us: Evolutionary Politics and The Philosopher Kings (and Queens)
25 March 2014City to Coast; Midnight to Dawn
1 February 2014Pedestal (a poem)
1 January 2014Update: Canterbury Retales

2013

10 December 2013Update: 58 Days
1 December 2013Update: A New Website
21 August 201310 things you learn when you cycle 4,110 miles around Britain
20 August 2013The Death of Elmore Leonard: 10 Rules of Writing
17 August 2013The start of the Not Just Watching Football Season
14 August 201310 things NOT to take on an epic bike ride
6 August 2013Tiny Tips for Writers: Emotional description
5 August 201310 great excuses to avoid making your dreams come true
30 July 2013Tiny Tips for Writing: Reality in Failure
28 July 2013The Most Interesting Country in the World: Part 1
1 April 2013Experiments in Productivity: CompuTen
7 March 2013Sounds Unseen: The Work of Libero Colimberti
25 January 2013Having Hair

2012

24 December 2012David Varela, Goldeous Kline and Me
6 November 2012“My name is David Charles and I’m Britain’s funniest qualified Egyptologist.”
7 October 2012Gravel Beach, Lac de Saint-Cassien
24 September 2012How to Make a Good First Impression: The Scientific Way
3 September 2012No Money Mondays
27 August 2012Experiments in Publishing: Success?
24 July 2012Straw Bale Building at Braziers Park
5 July 2012Facebook Zen
22 May 2012Amazing isn’t enough: Cycling 4,110 miles around Britain*
18 May 2012Consume Skills, Not Stuff
2 May 2012What a to do! Suggestions for list-makers
27 April 2012Refuelling: The Food of Tunisia
11 April 2012Tunis Martyrs’ Day Violence: Why and What Next?
9 April 2012Tunis: Police Attack Peaceful Martyrs March
4 April 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Tunisia after the revolution
3 April 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Cemeteries of Civilisation
2 April 2012Cycling to the Sahara: On Speed*
1 April 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Freewheelin’ Jerba to Tozeur
31 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Dinosaurs in the Rain
30 March 2012Cycling and the Sahara: Ksar Hallouf
29 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Ksar Ghilane (Happy)
28 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Ksar Ghilane (Moany)
27 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: The Road to Ksar Ghilane
26 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: To MP3 or not to MP3?
25 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Matmata Motobylette Man
20 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: On Killer Guard Dogs and Courage
19 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: The Vanishings of Kasr el-Jem
18 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Farmyard Animals
15 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Two Coffee Cups
14 March 2012Cycling to the Sahara: Beards and the Shabaab
13 March 2012(Finally) Cycling to the Sahara!
12 March 2012(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Marseille 2
12 March 2012(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Boats
8 March 2012(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Marseille
7 March 2012(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Trains
6 March 2012(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Hamburg
3 March 2012(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Paris
29 February 2012Seen Seine Scene
26 February 2012Cycling to the Sahara: London (ish) to Paris (ish)
23 February 2012Cycling to the Sahara
22 January 2012A massacre you haven’t heard of yet: Camp Ashraf, Iraq

2011

4 November 2011The Mundane and the Sublime
21 July 20119 Precious Ps of Long Distance Bike Rides (and other expeditions)
19 July 2011Cycling around Britain: #1 …ha ha ha!
10 July 2011Sleep Long: Be Awesome
10 July 2011Lies, damned lies and real unemployment statistics
9 July 2011How to Write a Real Novel in 30 days: Part 3
5 July 2011Not so bad after all: British sport on the world stage
1 July 2011Gourmet-a-tron Mexican Spice Mix
28 June 2011How to Hitch-hike
27 June 2011Money
24 June 2011Grow your own charitable donation
20 June 2011How to Write a Real Novel in 30 Days: Part 2
19 June 2011Bob Dylan live at London Feis 18 June 2011
16 June 2011David Charles: Vanity Project
15 June 2011MacAulay & Co: The Programme
14 June 2011Me & Hitch-hiking on BBC Radio Scotland – Tomorrow!
8 June 2011How to Write a Real Novel in 30 Days: Part 1
4 June 2011Get More Sex #3: Politics
3 June 2011Get More Sex #2: Religion
2 June 2011Get More Sex #1: Wealth
25 May 201136: A thought experiment to kick your ass
12 May 2011Smile or Die Trying
11 May 2011Why I am an anarchist (and why you are too)
11 May 2011Palestinian Jokes: No Laughing Matter
29 April 2011The Royal Wedding
21 April 2011A Tribute to Juliano Mer-Khamis
20 April 2011Recipe for the-only-thing-easier-than-making-it-is-eating-it hot salsa
15 April 2011Wikipedia, Egypt and the mystery of the Stoke Poges Naked Bicycle Angel
8 April 2011The Secret to a Proper Holiday
2 April 2011Seize the Weekend!
1 April 2011Is this the Secret to a Bigger Life?
23 March 2011Population density: Escape the statistic
21 March 2011Cycling Home: London to Cholsey
15 March 2011Another London: Stamford Hill and the West Bank
10 March 2011The Remarkable Productivity of Georges Simenon
9 March 2011Things To Do When You Don’t Have A Computer #1: Get Chicken Pox
28 February 2011How to Live With No Computers
27 February 2011A Disturbing Night
26 February 2011The Truth About the Feeding of the Five Thousand
25 February 2011Death of a Snail – RIP 22nd July 2006
24 February 2011The Mowing of the Lawns: A Study in Green, Gordon Square
22 February 2011Too Much
20 February 2011Cairo: Selected Parks of Zamelek
19 February 2011Haute Cuisine in Sarajevo
18 February 2011Sarajevo gives thanks to the UN
17 February 2011How to Impress the Future
16 February 2011Love Letter Litter
15 February 2011Underground Demographics
14 February 2011Have Fiction Publishers Got It Wrong?
13 February 2011The End of the Era of the Dictators: Who’s Next?
12 February 2011How to Write a Play
11 February 2011The Revolt in Egypt: Causes and Consequences, a brief review
10 February 2011Anatomy of a Novel: The Quiet American by Graham Greene
9 February 2011The Ministry of Stories
8 February 2011The Superlative Death of Gerund Clause
7 February 2011Repose
6 February 2011Fancy a Butcher’s?
5 February 2011Bad Romance: Changes in Pop Lyrics, 1960 – 2010
4 February 2011Review of Shirin Ebadi: The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East
3 February 2011Why Not Here?
2 February 2011Personality, Physique, Sex and Fingers
1 February 201111 Tips on How to Eat and Drink Less, in 59 Seconds
31 January 2011No Supermarket: Week 4 – The End!
30 January 2011Progression
29 January 2011How to Persuade, in 59 Seconds
28 January 2011How to Beat Stress, in 59 Seconds
27 January 2011How to Achieve Your Goals, in 59 Seconds
26 January 2011How to Decide, In 59 Seconds
25 January 2011Review: Infernos Nightclub, Clapham
24 January 2011How to Attract the Opposite Sex, in 59 Seconds
23 January 2011No Supermarket: Week 3
22 January 2011How to be Creative, in 59 Seconds
21 January 2011How to be Happy, in 59 Seconds
20 January 2011No Supermarket: Air Miles and Bursting Aisles
19 January 2011Good ideas without action are just bad excuses
18 January 2011Death on a Sofa
17 January 2011The Age of Plastic
16 January 2011No Supermarket: Week 2
15 January 2011An Alcoholic in a Country Village
14 January 2011The Hostage
13 January 2011Facing Disaster In the Middle East: Do We Have Only Bad Options?
12 January 2011How to Prevent Jet Lag
11 January 2011Secular Jews, Religious Jews and Arabs: The Zero-Sum Game of Israeli Multiculturalism
10 January 2011The Making of Modern English Anti-Semitism
9 January 2011No Supermarket: Week 1
8 January 2011Sleep, Meditation and Dreaming
7 January 2011No Supermarket: Suma Co-operative
6 January 2011The Lamp
5 January 2011Technology in Sport: Justice vs Drama
4 January 2011No Supermarket: Deptford High Street
3 January 2011No Supermarket January
2 January 2011The Country Game: Official Rules
1 January 2011How to beat Hormonal Changes with Exercise

2010

31 December 2010200 Years of Conflict: A Very British Century 1910-2010
30 December 2010Touring with Dinosaurs
29 December 2010Why Diets Don’t Work (or How to Stop Judging Obese People)
27 December 2010Walking Home for Christmas: Maps & Pictures
26 December 2010Walking Home for Christmas: The Updates
25 December 2010How to beat Addiction and Quit Smoking with Exercise
24 December 2010Walking Home for Christmas: Heathrow to Cholsey
21 December 2010Tetris Life
20 December 2010The Taps
19 December 2010She Was a Pianist
18 December 2010How to beat Depression with Exercise
17 December 2010UCL Friends of Palestine: Why Am I An Activist?
17 December 2010Bryanology: The Semantics of Seduction in the Lyrics of Bryan Adams
16 December 2010Recycling
15 December 2010The Light of My Life
14 December 2010Hide Dad
13 December 2010How to Grow Your Brain with Exercise
11 December 2010How to beat Anxiety and Fear with Exercise
4 December 2010How to beat Stress with Exercise
2 December 2010Bob Dylan and William Shakespeare: A Reference Guide Part I
1 December 2010Norman Finkelstein on Gaza and Israel’s Sinister Conspiracy
30 November 2010How to Live Longer
29 November 2010A Writer’s Manifesto
28 November 2010How to be Amazingly Happy!
27 November 2010Bryanology: An Analysis of Bryan Adams’ There Will Never Be Another Tonight
26 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms XIII: Birds
24 November 2010How to Succeed in Business (Or How to Become a Writer)
21 November 2010Hypnagogia: How to Dream like Thomas Edison
20 November 2010How to Sleep
18 November 2010UK Jewish Film Festival Review
18 November 2010Global Social Media Use Statistics: FIFA.com Goal of the Year Case Study
17 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms XII: Numbers
17 November 2010A Whole World of Hug: Amma 2010
15 November 2010How to Avoid Regret
14 November 2010The Nine Best Books Ever Written in the English Language
13 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms XI: Bulls
12 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms X: Wolves and Sheep
11 November 2010It’s just a question of careful editing
11 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms IX: Medicine
11 November 2010How to Make Happy Memories
10 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms VIII: Time
9 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms VII: Tools
8 November 2010Vipassana Meditation at Dhamma Dipa: A Philosophical Consideration
7 November 2010How to travel anywhere without disappointment
6 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms V: Trojans
5 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms IV: Carts
4 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms III: Apples
3 November 2010Vipassana Meditation at Dhamma Dipa: What I didn’t do
3 November 2010Vipassana Meditation at Dhamma Dipa: What I did do
2 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms II: Cats
1 November 2010Idiots’ Idioms I: Camels, Needles and Straw
18 October 2010Bicycle Film Festival: Program 9, 10 & 11
16 October 2010Bicycle Film Festival: Program 4,5 & 7
15 October 2010Bicycle Film Festival: Program 1 & 2
15 October 2010A Meeting of Activists for Palestine
5 October 2010Ezekiel is not an Idiot
4 October 2010Slave for Hire
3 October 2010What is travelling?
28 September 2010Hitchhiking: London to Oxfordshire (and Back)
23 September 2010The Little Red Fiat
20 September 2010Hitchhiking: London to Winchester and Back
8 September 2010Ephraim
29 August 2010Hitchhiking: London to Scotland and Back
22 August 2010She must be French
22 August 2010London Bridge, Riverside
8 August 2010Surrey Quays Exterior
8 August 2010Canada Water: A vista
8 August 2010Canada Water
5 August 2010Waterloo Station
5 August 2010The Millennium Bridge
5 August 2010Paternoster Square
5 August 2010HMS Belfast
5 August 2010From the steps of St. Paul’s
5 August 2010Bankside
9 July 2010Black Magic
26 June 2010Cholera
8 June 201024th of June: Birkbeck University
11 April 2010Productivity and the Art of Sacrifice
11 April 201017th of April: The Windmill, Brixton
3 April 2010The facts on the ground (A love story)
2 April 201022 Tips for 100 Push Ups
27 March 2010Murakami on Writing and Running
8 March 2010How to make a free and easy documentary video
5 March 2010How to Write: The Tools
24 February 20102nd of March: NUJ, London
24 January 2010I’m looking at the floor because there’s nowhere else to look anymore
24 January 20104th of Feb: Braziers Park
18 January 2010The Bus Ride
18 January 2010Quarter Farthing, Half Peasant
18 January 2010Butterfly Home
18 January 2010Apricots
1 January 2010The Gaza Freedom March report

2009

24 November 2009The Genie of January
25 October 2009What I learnt about writing from Bob Dylan
25 October 2009How to win the Nobel Prize for Literature
11 October 2009Braziers Park Community
13 August 2009The Ideas Secret
13 August 2009Snowcat
12 August 2009Chemistry
11 August 2009How long is a short story?
10 August 2009Perched
19 July 2009Poem of Triumph for Maya
8 July 2009Office Haiku
8 July 2009Doctor’s Surgery Haiku
30 April 2009Bike to Bordeaux Route
11 April 2009Living expenses: Egypt 2009
24 March 2009Online Polyphasic Resources
23 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: Conclusions
22 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: Day 6
21 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: Day 5
20 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: Day 4
19 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: Day 3
18 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: Day 2
17 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: Day 1
15 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: Testing, testing
14 March 2009Polyphasing Experiment: The Challenge
2 March 2009Grande Ecole
19 February 20096th October
12 February 2009City of Dust

2008

18 May 2008How to enjoy waking up at dawn
18 May 200840 Photos of the Krakadorn

2007

16 August 2007Outside Mornington Crescent Tube Station
1 April 2007Russell Square
27 March 2007Spring in the City
13 March 2007Orion, DC

2006

28 July 2006Don’t Feed the Human
16 July 2006The Man on the Train

2005

5 May 2005Travel expenses: Spain & Morocco 2005
5 May 2005Carmen in Seville