The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

From the jungles of Colombia to sailing in Croatia, our readers reflect on the life lessons travel has taught them • Send us a tip on a museum or gallery – the best wins a £200 holiday voucher I did a circuit of the Old Man of Coniston in the Lake District on a grey, drizzly weekday in October and it quietly rewired my head. I’d been running on always-on mode, and that climb forces you to slow down and breathe properly.

From the Coppermines valley up to the ridge, then along the rocky summit and back via Goat’s Water, it’s rugged without being showy. The weather kept the crowds away, and the low cloud made the tarn feel like a secret.

I came home muddy, soaked and weirdly calm, and started making space for long walks again. Brandon Kindell Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

The process of learning to catch a wave is an all-consuming activity that can prove to be a powerful therapeutic tool I can’t remember when my terror of waves began in earnest. Maybe it was a singular incident that triggered it, like that monster wave in Biarritz, France, almost 20 years ago that body-slammed me on to the seabed, taking all the skin off my chin.

More likely is that my transition from fearless to frightened had been more of a slow creep, and a perfectly rational one when you consider the danger of riptides, hidden rocks, sharks and concussion. But for me, I feel it goes deeper.

Almost inevitably my job will have had something to do with this.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Change your life – or just kick back and relax – by connecting with nature, trying a creative workshop, or taking a yoga course somewhere beautiful Playfulness is at the heart of the Art and Play holiday , based on a farm outside the Bay of Kotor. A family-friendly retreat designed to reignite joy and reconnect with the inner child, it’s one for solo travellers and couples as well as parents with kids.

There are creative sessions on everything from dance to painting, as well as time to enjoy the farm – feeding the animals, collecting eggs or helping harvest vegetables for farm-fresh meals. Excursions include hikes to hidden beaches, kayaking and trips to Kotor and Budva, but there’s time to chill by the pool too; evenings are for board games, music and campfires.

Accommodation ranges from camping and glamping to cabins, a treehouse and restored farmhouse.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Share a tip on a romantic spot – whether city, hotel or mountain top – the best wins £200 towards a Coolstays break Valentine’s Day may be coming up, but we think romance should be year round! We want to hear about a favourite romantic place you’ve discovered on your travels in Europe (including the UK), whether it was a fairytale city, a remote mountain refuge, a beautiful hotel or a romantic restaurant.

The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear in the Guardian Travel section and website.

Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Lana and Jake didn’t talk about sex for years, but since they opened up their love life has been transformed • How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously I had some messed up ideas around a woman’s role and the influence of porn on that Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Toby, a data analyst, meets Liam, a civil servant. Both are 29 What were you hoping for?

I wanted to go in with no expectations. Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Used in healing practices for centuries, modern versions of these spiky mats are increasingly popular, and many people find them invaluable. Here’s what the science says Ever since Keith, 39, from Kansas, was in a car accident in 2023, he has lived with “pretty much constant mid-back and shoulder pain”.

Over-the-counter treatments didn’t touch the sides and he didn’t want to resort to opiates. “Having exhausted everything there was solid science for with no satisfaction, I delved into acupressure,” he says.

He bought an acupressure mat made of lightly padded fabric, studded all over with tiny plastic spikes, to lay his back on, and was surprised to find that it actually helped. Acupressure mats, also known as Shakti mats, are inspired by the beds of nails that Indian gurus used for meditation and healing more than 1,000 years ago.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

There’s a ton of winter comfort in the rich, golden and indulgent cake with its appealing orangey edge A Breton butter cake is a proud product of Brittany’s butter-rich baking tradition: dense, golden and unapologetically indulgent. True to its origins, my version uses salted butter, with an added pinch of flaky salt to sharpen the flavour.

It also takes a small detour from tradition: a slick of marmalade brings a fragrant bitterness, while a handful of ground almonds softens the overall richness and lends a tender crumb. The result is still buttery and luxurious, but with a brighter, more aromatic edge.

Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Single malt prices soar, but scotch should be fun and affordable We have Robert Burns to thank for perhaps the greatest poem about any dish ever – a poem so good that it inspires an entire nation to dedicate an evening of each year to eating haggis, even though most people find it kind of gross. No?

If the “Great Chieftan o’ the Puddin-race” were that delicious, we’d all be eating it all the time, surely? And yet Burns’ Address to a Haggis is enticing enough to dispel any such doubts just once a year.

I especially like the bit about slitting it open so the bright entrails spill out: “And then, O what a glorious sight / Warm-reekin, rich!” Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 26, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

Soft leeks and crisped tempeh drizzled in a sticky, spicy sweet soy sauce and liberally sprinkled with salted peanuts Tempeh is a gift to all home cooks from Indonesia. Made from fermented compressed soy beans, it’s an intelligent ingredient equivalent to meat in terms of protein, subtle and nutty in flavour and chewy in texture.

Happily, it is also now widely available in most large UK supermarkets. Here, the tempeh is cooked in a typical Indonesian way – that is, fried until crisp, then coated in a sticky, spicy sweet soy sauce and liberally sprinkled with salted peanuts.

In fact, the only anomaly is the leeks, making this dish mostly Indonesian but via a field in Lincolnshire. Continue reading...

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