4 out of 5 stars
A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.
I have travelled a little but not a huge amount for a variety of reasons, so have always enjoyed the view of another traveller from the comfort of my own armchair with a glass of something cold to hand. Of course. The stories that I have read over the years have varied from the fairly tame, where someone moves to another country with the grand aim of building a new life to those who live life right on the edge…
Tourists don’t know where they’ve been
Travellers don’t know where they are going – Paul Theroux
Each of those writers have put pen to paper to share those experiences and hopefully some of the things they have learnt they can impart to us. Eland have been scouring the out of print travel books for the past forty years and bringing them back to life in their wonderful editions. In the process of resurrecting these books, they have collected quotes from the very best travel writers and compiled them in this slender volume.
There are no foreign lands
It is only the traveller who is foreign – Robert Louis Stevenson
A wonderful selection of quotes and pearls of travel wisdom from many of the authors that I have read and many that I haven’t quite got to. They have been loosely grouped them into themes such as The Pleasures of the Road and Monotony and Excitement. I really liked them, there are some brilliant quotes in this book, some serious ones as well as others that made me chuckle a lot. If you know someone who loves travel writing, this is an essential book for their collection.
The worst trips make the best reading – Paul Theroux
This sounds good, especially for those of us who may not travel far again.
Exactly that, Jackie.
This sounds delightful! Usually the most remembered part of travelling is the exhausting preparation of leaving home (pets etc..) getting to airport on time (…long lines at security) and then finally flopping onto a bed hopefully in a hotel that is true to its advertisements! Loved the P. Theroux quote. One of the best travel books I read was his book “Deep South (2015). I will try to find “On Travel”l. BTW I was browsing through some of my blogposts and came across one that really impressed me…you might like this book: “The Wild Sea” The History of the Southern Ocean by Australian Joy McCann. I learned so much about that part of the world that we don’t usually see on the TV weather maps…the Southern Ocean!
I love that Theroux quote at the end, also a favourite travel writer!
I have a lot of his books that I have not quite got to read yet!