Armchair traveller...

One of the main joys of editing a magazine such as Geographical is to play the armchair traveller, journeying to places I would probably never go or, on occasion, have never even heard of before. Such was the case this month with Pietro Romeo and Rocco Volante’s article about the Republic of Kalmykia (page 32), situated in southern Russia. Europe’s only Buddhist region, the people who live there have had it tough. Under Stalin, the entire population of ethnic Kalmyks was transported to Siberia where, shockingly, around half died. Today they are returned to their homeland, but in the wake of disastrous agricultural policies and climate change the steppe is morphing into sand. Survival is once again difficult, though resilience in plentiful supply. I felt that same sense of static adventure on reading Nick Redmayne’s report from Mogadishu (page 46). Once the definitive failed state, interest in the region peaked during Somalia’s terrible civil war of the 1990s and the US-led invasion that followed. Even today, Mogadishu only reaches our screens when outbreaks of violence land it there. It was therefore refreshing and hopeful to hear about Mogadishu’s citizens, some of whom are trying, against the odds, to rebuild the shattered city – in this case, one coffee shop at a time. It is perhaps that which best sums up what we try to do here at Geographical – shine a light on places which find themselves out of the spotlight; the news cycle long gone. In such shaded spots lie thousands of incredible stories.