This blog was inspired by Dan Kieran’s The Idle Traveller. Dan is an advocate of ‘slow travel’, the idea that a trip shouldn’t be just about arriving somewhere, doing the ‘must-see’ things and then getting on the plane back home, having ‘done’ another country on your bucket list. Instead, he talks about going to fewer places, by slower means of transport, and really getting to grips with them, taking your time to absorb the strangeness of new places.
In planning my own trip, I have completely failed to follow his advice on many counts (see ridiculous itinerary below), but I was really enthused by his idea that you can gain deeper insight into a strange country by putting down the Lonely Planet – with its “boxes for you to tick and to-do lists that you already know you won’t get around to” - and using novels and biographies as your travel guides.
This appealed to me for two reasons. One, as those of you who know me well will have realised, I love a project. The romantic ideal of aimless wandering in wide-open spaces for four months makes me nervous. Turning the trip into a project with goals and an end product is much more appealing. I’m sure my inner free-wheeling, no-plan-making hippie will be released the moment I touch down in Borneo, but for now I’m going armed with a reading list and that makes me pretty happy.
The second reason is that this trip marks the end of my three-year career in publishing. I got into publishing in the first place when a fit of pre-Finals, ‘what am I going to do with my life’ fear led to applying for an publishing MA, and sheer good luck led to being offered my first job soon after, when I hadn’t really had a chance to think it through. My reasons for leaving publishing - in what I like to tell myself is a ‘strategic career switch’ - are many and difficult to articulate. But a byproduct of the last three years is that my love of books has been slightly dented. While it’s amazing to love what you do, and do what you love, there’s something to be said for not knowing what goes on behind the scenes. So I’m going to read my way around South-East Asia, and some of the Indian subcontinent and Australia, and attempt to piece my experiences and the books together in this blog. And hopefully remember why I loved books in the first place in the process.
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The Plan
For those of you interested in where I might be at any given time, the current plan is this:
16th March – 13th April: Borneo, Singapore and pensinsular Malaysia
13th April – 3rd May: Nepal
3rd May – 18th May: India
18th May – 28th June: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam
28th June – 20th July: Australia, via Hong Kong
21st July: back in London town
If you’ve read any books set in any of these places (and that are available on Kindle!) send them my way.
Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy!
PS. If my blog turns into a complete disaster, feel free to divert your attention to Freckles from Foreign Lands by the wonderful Tamara Dyer, which is well worth a read.
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Kieran, Dan The Idle Traveller: The Art of Slow Travel (2012)
That looks like a top notch plan & you get to do some of it with a super companion too! :-)
ReplyDeleteHere is some of my advice:
1. Make sure you drink lots of wine, taste lots of different foods (I hear Tammie is partial to food like buffalo & dog)
2. I'd advise you do not get your passport mugged off you, it complicates the journey a little bit. Though it may be a good way to get into a top notch hotel
3. Don't get arrested in a foreign country - Tam's a great lawyer but I'm not sure she's experienced in that field.
4. Sleep with one eye open - I hear the spiders in that part of the world are about as big as the palm of your hand!!
5. Don't take too many clothes - You'll end up buying custom made suits etc. and throwing away your normal clothes
6. Watch all episodes of top gear where they are in these countries - this is vital, as it will teach you what not to do!!
7. Get accustom to talking to a computer screen and 2D people- Facetime & Skype will be your only means of decent communication!
8. Take some camping "snap and heat" meals (Very cheap from "Go Outdoors") - Just incase you're faced with a dinner that looks very questionable and you'd prefer your life to eating what is on the plate.
9. OHHH Give a copy of your insurance documents to people in England - Just in case - but it makes it easier for them to sort out any claims whilst you're in a foreign land!
10. Buy very very decent walking boots - They'll become your best friend and you'll grow to love them almost as much as you love Tammie.
Oh & from my personal experience, learn what the word "marriage" is in the various languages you'll encounter. Learning that you've sold yourself for a number of cows/goats/sheep/wildebeest (delete as appropriate) is not a good situation to find yourself in!
Other than that - Have an amazing time! Take too many photos (you'll regret it if you don't) Laugh too much (always good to release happy hormones) drink too much (but make sure you know what you're drinking) and make memories that will last a life time.... (helped by the blog as you're bound to forget things as you get old!)
Look after that sister of mine!
Have a super duper time!
B. Dyer!