In this new occasional section we share some of the travel photos from our archives – when we paid our dues but rarely our way. Times were tough, hitch-hiking was a favoured mode of transport (even through the Sahara, which was surprisingly easy) and luxury hotels were places we tried to sneak into to have a swim.

We’re talking bad hair days galore, I’m sure…

Guilty there I’m afraid. Haircuts were far down the list of priorities when it came to actually spending money, as you will see. Still – all good fun and useful experience – it certainly makes us appreciate Grown-up Travel even more…

Keeping with Africa, here’s a shot from a campsite in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. And yes, I actually did use a tent in Africa, but after this experience trying to get pegs in rock-hard ground and with a night temperature in the thirties I gave up and traded the tent later on my travels.

Pay particular attention to the rather fabulous English translation, especially the bit about ‘inmates’…

All pictures from this era were taken with my very first (non-digital) SLR, a Canon EOS something which I eventually sold to a fellow traveller in Africa. The quality is poor due to the age of the original print when scanned.