With the tailgate open, the breath-taking beauty of snowbound Afghanistan unfolded beneath us, the landscape stark, brittle and largely empty.

BBC: Afghanistan's security prospects after Nato withdrawal

The less back-to-nature of the camping set say they want their natural beauty, their marshmallows over an open fire and their Wi-Fi, too.

CNN: Camping: Horror or bliss?

Sending her camera gliding languidly into the noonday shadows of a rotting shack, darting dangerously through heavy marshland foliage, or jaunting past city lights from the back of an open-air bus, Akerman embraces the rapturous but desperate beauty of the countryside and the chill of the metropolis.

NEWYORKER: Almayer's Folly

"This was a very tall structure, bigger than Big Ben, in open countryside against the Chiltern Hills, an area of outstanding natural beauty, surrounded by small villages and conservation areas with a lot of cultural heritage and listed buildings, " he said.

BBC: Aylesbury Vale council rejects Ford turbine plan

He had the good fortune to be a premier client at HSBC, and when he needed to set up accounts in Costa Rica to open Kalon, he was introduced to San Jose, Cost Rica native beauty Silene Vega Delgado, a fast-track MBA-minted executive at the bank.

FORBES: Want to Climb the Corporate Ladder or Jump Off: Learn to Surf