I first went travelling when I was 17. Over the six years that followed I spent time in 28 countries on four continents. In those days travelling was generally easier, cheaper and less dangerous than it is today. Here are some stories from those journeys.
1. How it began In 1967, my last year at school, I discovered that there was a bursary for classicists to travel to Greece. It was one of those things that no one told you about but I got wind of it somehow and applied. I was duly awarded £50 and with help from my parents planned a summer trip with a school friend. Read more …
2. Falling in love ‘Grecia no!’ A border policemen lifts his chin in that peculiarly dismissive way the Greeks have of signifying a negative – in this case that there is something wrong with the bewildered Italian backpacker’s passport and he’s not going to be allowed in. A great deal of shouting and gesticulating ensues. Read more …
3. Waking up Last year at the Edinburgh International Book Festival I chaired Michael Ondaatje as he talked about his latest novel, The Cat’s Table, a fictionalised account of the journey he had made as an 11-year-old in a passenger liner, from Ceylon to England. The book vividly recalled my own voyage, from Southampton to Cape Town, in late February 1968 – although with none of the shipboard intrigue Ondaatje conjured up in his novel, at least none that I was aware of. Read more …
4. Treetops I was three years old in 1952 when young Princess Elizabeth learnt of the death of her father, George VI. She was staying at Treetops Hotel in Kenya’s Aberdare National Park. Read more …
5. Treetops continued The word trumpeting doesn’t begin to do justice to the sound made by an anxious or angry elephant. It’s closer to a scream, ear-splittingly, nerve-shatteringly loud and high pitched. By the time our guide had led about half the party from the hide to the hotel, the elephants were becoming anxious and angry. Read more …
