A Journey Through Oman - Article by Article

I travelled to Oman as a guest of Oman Tourism.

As a freelancer I write for a variety of publications, with articles appearing at random intervals.

Because of this, the pieces I write about a particular trip will be published over a stretch of time in various places, so there's no connection between them for the casual reader.

I know how the jigsaw pieces fit together, though. And with a bit of luck, the resulting articles end up as a fairly complete document of a particular trip.

Here's an example, from a May 2014 media tour I joined in Oman.

1. I reached the capital, Muscat, via an Omanair flight from Bangkok, which I reviewed for Fairfax Media's Traveller section: http://www.traveller.com.au/flight-test-oman-air-economy-39i3f.

2. The backbone of the itinerary was a journey by 4WD vehicle from the capital Muscat through the Al Hajar mountains to Jabal Akhdar, then down again via desert terrain to a turtle-watching location on the Indian Ocean coast.

You can read about that journey here, in Issimo Magazine: http://m.issimomag.com/a/161/omans-road-less-travelled-tim-richards.

3. The highlight in the mountains was the brand-new Alila Jabal Akhdar resort, which had just opened the weekend we arrived. Here's what it was like, via my review for Traveller: http://www.traveller.com.au/alila-jabal-akhdar-review-oman-an-environmentally-sustainable-mountain-resort-for-the-discerning-11ays4.

4. The Issimo article ended with me about to encounter sea turtles laying their eggs by moonlight. Here's what happened next, as recounted for Fairfax's Sun-Herald newspaper: http://www.traveller.com.au/postcard-turtles-hatching-in-oman-3euu8.

5. When we arrived back in Muscat after the turtle-watching, we stayed at the posh Shangri-La resort, which I reviewed in this blog: http://aerohaveno.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/the-bed-report-8-shangri-la-muscat-oman.html.

6. One night in Muscat I attended a noisy percussion-based concert at the glamorous Royal Opera House Muscat, a pet project of Oman's ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. I wrote about it for the Sun-Herald: http://www.traveller.com.au/royal-opera-house-muscat-in-the-heat-of-the-night-12z3b1.

7. Finally, after my colleagues had left I spent a day getting lost in the souq and narrow streets of Muttrah, the atmospheric old port of Muscat. My explorations ended up in Melbourne's Sunday Age newspaper: http://www.traveller.com.au/lost-in-the-old-port-of-muscat-13jlsj.

And that was basically the entire trip, put into words! I love it when a plan comes together.