From Here to There: A Father and Son Roadtrip Adventure from Melbourne to London

by Jon Faine, Jack Faine

An intelligent, humorous travel tale that is also the story of a tender father-son relationship from ABC Local Radio's legendary broadcaster Jon Faine. 'Somehow, I convinced myself it was a good idea. Somehow, I convinced myself that it was do-able. Now I shake my head... We drove through the Gobi desert in Mongolia in a snowstorm, avoided an Iranian sedan doing cartwheels on the freeway near tehran, wove around the shores of the Caspian Sea and navigated the desert in turkmenistan. We learned to say thank you in thirty languages and dispensed fluffy koalas to traumatised small children in obscure mountain pockets from Laos to Kurdistan. We kicked an Aussie Rules footy across borders and taught customs officers how to do a drop-punt from timor Leste to Uzbekistan. We ate bark and ox blood and worms and pigs ears and eel and curries so hot we nearly fell off our chairs. We bribed police in five countries, ignored parking tickets in another six and got lost pretty much everywhere. We squabbled over food and farting, snoring and sneezing. It was total folly and it was the best thing you can ever do. I would do it again and I would not recommend it to anyone.' In April 2008, Jon Faine and his son Jack closed their door on their Melbourne home and leaving jobs, studies, family and friends, took six months and went overland to London in their trusty 4-wheel-drive. this intelligent and funny recount of the countries they visited, people they met and trouble they got into, is also the story of a tender father-son relationship.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Australia

384 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

Reviews

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might not agree at times with his stance on various political issues but this was a good read well worth the effort and really to do all that is worth applauding

[Amy - A Place to Pause Reading Retreats · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to From Here To There as an audiobook, and it’s a fascinating listen overall.

Jon Faine’s chapters are thoughtful, reflective, and genuinely compelling. His perspective is measured and insightful, and I found myself far more engaged during his sections. There’s depth and warmth there that really carries the book.

Jack Faine’s chapters didn’t land as strongly for me. They felt more repetitive and occasionally tedious, and I found my attention drifting compared to how absorbed I was during Jon’s parts.

Even so, the dual perspective is interesting and adds richness to the story as a whole. A strong four stars for the concept and Jon’s contribution, with the audiobook format working particularly well.

[Chris Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the concept, as well as the true adventure of overlanding in an era when it's largely been abandoned.

Not the tightest writing, but worth it for the father-son bonding, and the amazing places, many off the beaten path they manage to get to

[Jonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic story of a great journey that most people wouldn't consider doing. Inspiring!!

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been listening to the audio book version of this book in the car for the past few weeks and I borrowed the real book version from the library yesterday so that I could look at the photos. It was good getting hold of the book and looking at the photos as they refreshed my memory about some of the things that are described in the book. For example, when John fed a bull elephant a banana in Sumatra through the window of the car and realised pretty quickly that what he had done was "monumentally stupid" when the elephant wouldn't move away from the car and seemed to be demanding more bananas.

I really love John Faine after listening to him on the radio for many years. The trip him and his son, Jack, went on a couple of years ago is really interesting to learn about but I feel that John really does need to chillax a bit. A bit too much of the book is about him stressing about the difficulties they have getting visas, and so on.

I really liked the parts of the book that Jack wrote as he writes in a very poetic and beautiful way. I think the best chapter is the one that Jack wrote about spending a night in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, with some drunk people around his own age — late teens, early twenties — while John was sick with a stomach bug. This chapter is really moving and poignant.

Other favourite and very moving parts are the descriptions of their thoughts and feelings when they visited Balibo in Timor-Leste; their comments and thoughts about Iran and their description of how moving it was to visit Gallipoli. Jack writes at the beginning of chapter 40 that "I thought Gallipoli would be a wank. A patriotic and sickening tribute to the soldiers who courageously died for us, a vital moment in the history of Australia and our coming of age and all that crap. Instead, I cried".

[Goldenwattle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read about a road trip that I would like to do, but I would like to do it in company as done in this book; not alone, as done recently by a friend of my niece, who drove from London to Australia, alone. I would also like one in the group to be good with car mechanics. It would likely be the 'trip of the lifetime'.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a regular listener to Jon Faine's radio program in Melbourne Australia, this was particularly interesting to read.