Travel Books

For me travel books always conjured up either Lonely Planet or coffee table picture books. But all that has just changed after reading two books my daughter Helen gave me for Christmas. The first, "The Art of Travel" by Alain de Botton was orientated towards the philosophy of travel rather than travel itself. He immediatly struck me as a deep thinker and a powerful writer. I had not previously come across de Botton but liked his style right from the start and determined to read more of his stuff. I have since discovered that his work is quite popular now. He even has at least one other blogger among his fans.
In the book he doesn't try to be a one man band. He introduced a number of other writers from the classics and gave their perspective on matters related to travel. I particulary liked Ruskin, who in his day promoted drawing as a skill everyone should acquire. Not just to could create nice pictures, but so that they would learn to really see what is in front of them. Reminds me of the great Krishnamurti whose philosophy is encapsuled in the phrase, "See what is."
Wordsworth's contribution also appealed to me. I visited the Lakes District many years ago, but at the time it was all covered in ice and snow. A great novelty for a West Aussie, but not very Wordsworthian. I may get a chance to go again with renewed interest later this year.
The other book, "The Rats of Ravenna" by Michael Guppy, is totally different. It is a day-to-day account of his work and travels in Europe and Africa. Although not my style of travel, I nevertheless enjoyed seeing it through his eyes. I also enjoyed learning something about his work as a biological scientist. Not so different from Helen who is a neuroscientist. I felt that I could write a book like that - maybe! I have been a wannerbe writer for years. After starting to read some blogs it occurred to me his book was rather like a blog. Perhaps this helped to influence me to start a blog of my own.