Travel Literature Makes My Heart Beat Faster.. discussion
Where did you go inspired by reading about it first?
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Nancy
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May 02, 2009 02:41PM
I read Pierre Deux's "French Country" back in 1985 and was totally awed. I got to go in 1987 for the first time and it was exactly what I had expected and what I had read about. Reality met my fantasy.
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When I was younger I used to dream of visiting China. Whenever I could, I would read non-fiction books about the country, their culture etc and did heaps of school assignments on it. My very first overseas trip was to China and I had the time of my life!! :)
When I was in third grade, I read "Born Free" and used to imagine one day I would live in Kenya and work on a game reserve. When I was twenty I married a Kenyan. We own a sawmill, not a game reserve; we have monkeys and weaver birds, not lions, but it's pretty close.
oh wow, that is amazing!!! So I'm assuming you still live in Kenya?
That is awesome! Much more exciting than Provence, France.
Oooh no way! France is amazing! I live in boring old Australia. I hope to live in France for a little while one day
I don't live in Kenya full time yet, but I think Jess's post says it all. Wherever one lives is quickly "everyday." That's one reason I love travel and travel lit. I can feel almost like a different person when traveling because I'm freed from all the everyday thoughts and experiences. Australia does not seem boring to me! My brother-in-law's house looks out over the Great Rift Valley and when I commented on the fantastic view he said, "Oh, do you think so? The soil around here is much too acidic to grow a good bean crop." Point of view.
Australia boring??? I'd love to visit there. I read Bill Bryson's "In Sunburned Country" and wanted to leave the next day.I live 4 miles from the Pacific Ocean and have a wonderful view of it from my livingroom and don't know when I've been to the beach last. So there you go, Andrea. Maybe we don't appreciate what we do have literally in our backyards.
I read Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and was so excited when I went to Barcelona the next year. In the book the characters do alot of travelling around Barcelona, and so whenever I saw a street name I recognised from it, I always imagined that they had been on those same streets running around trying to solve mysteries decades ago. It made the city quite strangely personal!
No I take it back, Australia is amazing :) I just have the travel bug at the moment so I love going to new places. Nancy I would definitely advise coming to Australia! We have every type of georgraphy and climate you could dream of. And I have to say our beaches are the best :)
I have always wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef. Even tho' I don't do any water sports... the whole place seems to be a fascinating place when I have seen it in films. Mainly the reason I don't go to the beach here is that the water is too cold. We have a current from Alaska that keeps the water temperature around 50 degrees F. most of the time. Have you read Bill Bryson's book about your country? If so, did you think?
The Great Barrier Reef is amazing. I have been up there a few times now and even if you're not into water sports, a boat trip or even a helicopter ride is worth it! The snorkelling is amazing though, so I would really recommend giving it a go.I have never read any of Bill Bryson's books. Should I give them a go? He has written so many!
Bill Bryson is hilarious, I think. I laugh out loud. He has a real odd "take" on people and himself that is great. He's written a lot about the UK since he lived there for awhile. His wife is British. They live in the US now. I really like the book on Australia. Try him out and let me know.
I agree with Nancy. Bill Bryson is laugh-out-loud funny. When I read the first one, I had to run and read the others. I think that the books about Australia and Britain are the funniest and definitely worth your while.
Kari wrote: "I read about Egypt in the Elizabeth George mystery books and traveled there first in the 80s. Alas it was not quite like the novels but it is still one of my favorite places in the world."I'm a big fan of Victorian novels and it is a disappointment that one can't visit places in time as well as location.
Andrea wrote: "Kari wrote: "I read about Egypt in the Elizabeth George mystery books and traveled there first in the 80s. Alas it was not quite like the novels but it is still one of my favorite places in the wor..." How about posing a question on the discussion board about visiting places in time?
When we travel to England, I always make my husband go to places I've been reading about. I took him hunting for Merlin's cave, dragged him to Darwin's House, sought out Julius Ceasar's landing spot in Britannia, and more. We also did some more traditional literary visiting, such as looking for Dickens in Broadstairs, E.F. Benson in Rye, Jane Austen in several places, Beatrix Potter, etc. One year we stayed in Baroness Orczy's Carriage House, though I confess I had not read the Scarlet Pimpernel, just seen the movie. In fact, we did so much my husband wrote a book about our travels, A Yank Back to England The Prodigal Tourist Returns, which is coming out soon.
Now that sounds like a great trip to England! I look forward to the book.I dont know what book first inspired me to travel. I read almost exclusively travel and history when I was a kid. I totally devoured those books and always had the drive. My frist trip abroad was a summer in Peru when I was 17. I saved literally 5 years for that trip and, while supportive, my parents were none too happy that I went. I'm glad they hit that angst and let me do it. Now that I've published my first travel book NOTES FOR THE AURORA SOCIETY I look back on all that moving around I did and hope to still do and see a life full of great travel stories of my own!
So Jim, as reference the other thread where I mentioned friendly versus crochety travel narrators, what type do you think you are? I'm sort of joking, i.e. don't take it too seriously, but did you ever think about how you wanted or hoped your personality would come across in your writing?
Andrea...I have to say...I didnt really. I focused on what I hoped to be a beautiful writing style and hoped also to remain somewhat 'distant' from the people and places I encountered. Of course that is impossible but I wanted to leave as much of ME out of it as possible so that the reader would focus on the people and the places and the information. Did it work? If I've heard one major criticism over and over on my book its that there is not enough of ME in it. That it comes off as a bit cold, a bit aloof and a bit...wait for it...wait for it...yes...crotchety. Damn. I'm curious what you think..?
whatever a writer/person's true persoanlity is should be the one to come across whether in his/her writing or in a face to face meetingthat way the reader/meeter can decide whether they like the "real personality" or not and go from there
Jim wrote: "Now that sounds like a great trip to England! I look forward to the book.I dont know what book first inspired me to travel. I read almost exclusively travel and history when I was a kid. I t..."
Thanks Jim! Will check out yours and see where you've been...
No, Jim, you are not "crotchety" in your book. I would say you are more "slightly irritated, but intrigued":).
For many years, I have been a fan of the "America's Best Travel Writing" series. I get many of my travel ideas from this series, especially since, with each successive edition, the featured locales become more and more eclectic. Thanks to this series, in 2003, I traveled to the kingdom of Bhutan, and high on my list is the island of Pantelleria.
Paris! It was the destination of choice for my generation. The sources are too numerous and eclectic to mention but they include Hemingway, Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London" to name a few. I remember reading in a bookstore in Paris called "Shakespeare and Company" on the left bank. I visited there back in the 70s and you could sit and read and they sometimes had a pot of tea going.
Hope you weren't afraid to eat out after reading "Down and Out in Paris and London." Some pretty unpleasant restaurant stuff in there! Of course, that was before contemporary sanitation.
Andrea wrote: "Hope you weren't afraid to eat out after reading "Down and Out in Paris and London." Some pretty unpleasant restaurant stuff in there! Of course, that was before contemporary sanitation."Yeah, you're right. Orwell's experiences were pretty raw. I take a peverse delight in books that reveal the dark underbelly underneath the pretty surface.
Tracy wrote: "For many years, I have been a fan of the "America's Best Travel Writing" series. I get many of my travel ideas from this series, especially since, with each successive edition, the featured locale..."
I too like the Best Travel Writing series. I read the essays with an eye to looking at the writing itself, for inspiration as a writer. But you can get some inspriration on places to visit as well.
I have been an avid reader since elementary school, so I have dreamed of visiting numerous places that I have read about for a long time. Hemingways's The Sun Also Rises made me long to visit Paris. When I finally got a chance to go there (I did my student teaching at the American School in Paris) I read A Moveable Feast and wrote down the name and address of every place he mentioned in Paris. When I got there, I went to every address, including where Shakespeare and Company used to be. I still love Paris above every other place I have been and return to it often. I would love to live there.
Glad to be friends, Babette.That must have been a great adventure to check out all the places in Paris. That's the kind of stuff I love to do too. Just finished "The Sweet Life in Paris" by David Lebovitz. He's a pastry chef who moved to Paris. It's part cookbook/commentary on the French customs, etc. It was a light read and I liked it as one who is a Francophile.
Babette, maybe if my student teaching had been in Paris, instead of grungy little blue collar, cash strapped rural school in the midwest U.S. I might have stayed in public school teaching! What an adventure!
Babette wrote: "I have been an avid reader since elementary school, so I have dreamed of visiting numerous places that I have read about for a long time. Hemingways's The Sun Also Rises made me long to visit Pari..."HI Babette, I was an au pair and studied at the Alliance Francais long ago and far away. I also took a summer course at the Sorbonne (anybody could for a minimal fee). Oddly, I didn't have much money but as a student you could hang out at the Louvre, visit Hemingway's haunts and wander the streets. To be young and in Paris and learning/living the language was a dream come true.
Kathryn wrote: "Prince Edward Island -- after reading L.M. Montgomery's works. Anne of Green Gables, etc."Hi Kathryn, did it meet your expections? I have always wanted to go to the Isle of Mull after seeing "The Eye of the Needle".
I'm reading some of Paul Theroux's books lately and am having the reverse response. Places I thought I would like to go before I now have changed my mind. After his description of travel thru the "stans", Viet Nam, Russia, and his trek thru Africa, I totally have changed my mind. He does seem to have a rather cynical outlook at times tho'. Maybe he's presenting reality which is flying in the face of my fantasy. Has anyone else had this happen?
I can't remember specific examples, but I really wanted to visit Thailand, but after reading some writers who described rampant "sex tourism," I really wondered if I wanted to support that. "Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven" was a fun read, but definitely didn't inspire one with confidence. I love reading about travel in the Sahara, but I can tell it's not the kind of thing I'm likely to enjoy in real life. Interesting ideas, places I love to read about but have no desire to see. BTW, Theroux is emphasizing the negative, at least of Kenya, which is the only part of Africa I know personally. It's a wonderful place.
I traveled to Thailand for about 2 weeks and found the people to be wonderfully warm and friendly. I went to Kanchanaburi to see the bridge over the river Kwai and the cemetery there. It was very touching to see a Thai woman with a broom sweeping all the headstones of the fallen.I hear what you are saying about not wanting to support the sex tourism segment, but there are other people to be considered too who would benefit from tourism.
P.S. I have never been so hot in my life there :)
I love this stream. I've been getting the updates via email but have had no time to join in. It's a difficult question since I read so much travel lit and travel a fair bit, too. It's chicken and egg, but I do start reading a lot about a place if I find out I am going to go there, especially local authors (I tend to read traveller's tales outside of the country I'm in). I've recently written a review of Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven and I'm a huge fan of Shantaram.I have to chime in on the Thailand thing to Andrea. Thailand is the most wonderful place and probably my favourite country that I've visited. You just ignore the sex tourism the way you do in the States (Have you been to Las vegas?). I'm sure you're used to people making sweeping generalisations about Africa (as if it's only one country!) that aren't the reality, so just apply the same logic you would to that situation. I don't mean to offend but I'd be sad to think that someone missed out on Thailand for something that does not show the whole truth.
P.S. Nancy, yes I agree, it's very hot! Go in the cool season around Christmas:-)
Shanti,I love the Traveler's Tales series also.
Ha, ha! I just realise that my comment made no sense at all. I meant that I like to read books by travellers when I'm at home, and books by locals in a country I'm travelling in when I am there. Wait, I'm not sure that made any sense either. I give up. I do, however, also like the Traveler's Tales series:-)
I greatly disliked Theroux's book on Africa, though to his credit I found him to be "fair" (objective) in his latest work. Thailand is a wonderful place, tied for 1st place in my experience for "greatest overseas experience". However, I was there in July -- H O T!
I cannot think of a place I visited because of a book - Glasgow for the "Taggart" TV series comes closest (even if I did miss out on haggis pakoras!).
Thanks for the comments on Thailand. I have to admit it is more of a "dream" destination for me than a likely real one anyway. My problem with travel is those pesky airlines, lodgings etc. expect me to PAY for everything. What a nuisance!Shanti, you are cracking me up. I did think at first you like to read expat writers when you are actually in a country, but now I understand what you mean.
That's so true, why should we pay for everything, stupid airlines;-) Maybe there should be at least one set of funds for every citizen of the world to go forth and learn about other cultures, for free! Maybe the world would be a better place.It' OK. You can laugh at me. I can take it:-)
I visted Stonington, Maine on Deer Isle after reading Travels With Charlie by John Steinbeck. In fact, we planned a whole vacation around it. Deer Isle is near the more visited Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor, but has a tenth of the tourist traffic. We also visited Criccieth Castle in Wales after reading "Here Be Dragons" by Sharon Kay Penman. Though this was a book of historical fiction and not travel writing, we actually met two American visitors at the castle (we were the only four visitors there at the time). They also discovered the castle through the same book and were compelled to visit... strange coincidence.
Lastly, I visited the Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT and plan to make a trip to Alaska for the Iditarod this March because I read 1000 Places to See Before You Die in the US and Canada. Twain's House was fabulous. I'm expecting much the same from the Iditarod.
I just remembered a time when I went to Ireland and was dying to see the Dingle Peninsula where "Ryan's Daughter" was filmed which is one of my all time favorite movies. It didn't look a thing like any place in the movie altho' the B&B lady bragged about it having been filmed there. Alas, some places just have to remain an illusion, I guess.
Isn't Bar Harbor the setting for "One Morning in Maine"? I hadn't thought of children's books before, but when my family was on vacation in Wisconsin, I made my parents stop at Lake Pepin so I could imagine Laura Ingalls Wilder's family crossing the frozen lake in their wagon.
Back in the 70s I organized a trip to New York around the magazine The New Yorker. We stayed at the Algonquin hotel, visted the lounge where the famous round table existed. The staff and literati lunched there and the magazine was born there. We visited the New Yorker offices (nothing much to see really), and visited places frequently mentioned in "Going on About Town" section. We still subscribe to the New Yorker . . .
Wales...although at the time I wanted to go to Scotland, once I got to Wales it quickly worked its way into my heart, green hills and red dragon and Cymraeg, the Welsh language itself.
I had previously read a lot of arthurian based lit and this made the time in Wales especially entrancing.
Strongest influences for my time in Wales were Susan Cooper's and Stephen R. Lawhead's books, which led me to read a version of the Mabinogion (Welsh mythology)
When I got there I had a small sense of the language and what Welsh culture meant to the modern Welsh.
Going back to our comments earlier about the everyday versus the "interesting," as of last week we welcomed a foreign exchange student into our home. She has lived all her life in Paris, although she has traveled to DRC to visit her grandparents. She told me that she is enjoying her time in Michigan, USA because it is so "different" and "interesting." I guess after Paris and the Congo, the boring might seem exotic?
Travel Literature Makes My Heart Beat Faster..
Books mentioned in this topic
Anne of Green Gables (other topics)Anne of Green Gables (other topics)
A Yank Back to England: The Prodigal Tourist Returns (other topics)
