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The Joys of Travel: And Stories That Illuminate Them
"A perceptive, old-school travel writer whose prose brings celebrated and obscure destinations to life." — The New York Times
" The Joys of Travel is itself a joy." —Paul Theroux, New York Times bestselling author of Deep South
In The Joys of And Stories That Illuminate Them , veteran travel writer Thomas Swick reflects on what he has identified as “the seven joys of travel”: anticipation, movement, break from routine, novelty, discovery, emotional connection, and heightened appreciation of home. Coupled with the personal essays are seven true stories that illustrate these joys. Each details the author’s experience visiting destinations across the globe, including Munich, Bangkok, Sicily, Iowa, and Key West.
The Joys of Travel awakens readers to pleasures that, as travelers, they may be taking for granted, and shows non-travelers what they’ve been missing. It offers tips on how people can get the most out of their trips, including strategies for meeting locals, and examines how various modes of transportation affect a traveler’s experience. Throughout this enlightening memoir, Swick also supplies readers with the titles of travel classics that will not only prepare them for the places they visit, but make those places more meaningful once they arrive.
Before your next trip, be it a family vacation or a backpacking tour of Europe, read The Joys of Travel . It will inspire you to get the most out of your time away from home—and to get away more often.
" The Joys of Travel is itself a joy." —Paul Theroux, New York Times bestselling author of Deep South
In The Joys of And Stories That Illuminate Them , veteran travel writer Thomas Swick reflects on what he has identified as “the seven joys of travel”: anticipation, movement, break from routine, novelty, discovery, emotional connection, and heightened appreciation of home. Coupled with the personal essays are seven true stories that illustrate these joys. Each details the author’s experience visiting destinations across the globe, including Munich, Bangkok, Sicily, Iowa, and Key West.
The Joys of Travel awakens readers to pleasures that, as travelers, they may be taking for granted, and shows non-travelers what they’ve been missing. It offers tips on how people can get the most out of their trips, including strategies for meeting locals, and examines how various modes of transportation affect a traveler’s experience. Throughout this enlightening memoir, Swick also supplies readers with the titles of travel classics that will not only prepare them for the places they visit, but make those places more meaningful once they arrive.
Before your next trip, be it a family vacation or a backpacking tour of Europe, read The Joys of Travel . It will inspire you to get the most out of your time away from home—and to get away more often.
- GenresTravelNonfictionEssays
216 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2016
152 people are currently reading
585 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
October 21, 2019
I experienced many moments of joy reading this book by a seasoned fellow traveler. Each time I came back to it, I quickly re-engaged, as the writing had a familiarity that made me feel like I was catching up with a past acquaintance. I would settle back into my chair cushions with a hot cup of tea and enjoy the next installment. Here are my favorite quotes:
The author suggests that when researching possible vacation locations, we network by talking to all our friends and acquaintances, including immigrants to gain useful information. Indeed, "Immigrants may be bitter, homesick, or conflicted, but they're insiders who've seen their country from the outside."
On bringing something familiar with you on your journey: "A magazine you subscribe to helps personalize an alien space; a bit of your house is coming along with you."
On travel as a disruption to our daily routine and the comforts of home: "This is how many people confront change - by bringing along something that is dear."
Regarding hotels, our substitute homes: "Even the lowly ones we cherish, because in a place where all our senses are stretched - a new city, a foreign land - they make it okay to fall unconscious."
I love to walk, so these next two quotes were especially poignant: "The thrill of walking comes not so much from movement - except for the initial turning of a step out the door into a journey - but from its gifts of freedom and nonconformity." And, "In a world built on speed, walking somewhere is an act of rebellion."
Regarding change and when things don't go as planned as they invariably don't: "What doesn't totally freak you out makes you more interesting, tolerant, and sweet."
Finally, the last section of the book includes several travel stories, "Warsaw Redux" is my favorite and genuinely moved me, and then, "The Train to Bagan" made me laugh out loud. Truly, if you pluck up the courage to leave the comfort of your home and perhaps, your country, you will be irrevocably changed.
The author suggests that when researching possible vacation locations, we network by talking to all our friends and acquaintances, including immigrants to gain useful information. Indeed, "Immigrants may be bitter, homesick, or conflicted, but they're insiders who've seen their country from the outside."
On bringing something familiar with you on your journey: "A magazine you subscribe to helps personalize an alien space; a bit of your house is coming along with you."
On travel as a disruption to our daily routine and the comforts of home: "This is how many people confront change - by bringing along something that is dear."
Regarding hotels, our substitute homes: "Even the lowly ones we cherish, because in a place where all our senses are stretched - a new city, a foreign land - they make it okay to fall unconscious."
I love to walk, so these next two quotes were especially poignant: "The thrill of walking comes not so much from movement - except for the initial turning of a step out the door into a journey - but from its gifts of freedom and nonconformity." And, "In a world built on speed, walking somewhere is an act of rebellion."
Regarding change and when things don't go as planned as they invariably don't: "What doesn't totally freak you out makes you more interesting, tolerant, and sweet."
Finally, the last section of the book includes several travel stories, "Warsaw Redux" is my favorite and genuinely moved me, and then, "The Train to Bagan" made me laugh out loud. Truly, if you pluck up the courage to leave the comfort of your home and perhaps, your country, you will be irrevocably changed.
March 18, 2020
I love to travel, but I hate to fly so I had to force myself to get on a plane to see 25 counties. Fortunately, the 50 states were easier, even if some flying was necessary. Unhappily, most of my traveling has come to an end because of finances and a physical disability, but I still like to read about those who do travel.
The author of this book is a professional travel writer who has been to many places. He gives some hints, tells some stories and tries to encourage people to travel too. All well and good, except he is paid to travel, which lessens his impact since he doesn't travel for the same reasons that I did. His base line seems to be meeting people so he has stories to tell. I traveled to see places that had meaning to me. I visited battlefields all over the U.S. and Europe. I would drive miles to see lighthouses, covered bridges and waterfalls. I didn't need people to talk to on my solo trips. Hanging out at bars so I could talk to the locals was just not my thing.
I enjoyed this book somewhat, but his need to publish what he thinks would be interesting to readers colored my thinking about what he wrote, especially his questionable attitude towards some women he met. He also constantly questioned why people wouldn't have a passport. Money might be a good answer, plus you don't need a passport to travel around the U.S.--at least not yet. Being paid to travel is a dream of mine. It's too bad Swick can live that dream, but doesn't do more with it.
The author of this book is a professional travel writer who has been to many places. He gives some hints, tells some stories and tries to encourage people to travel too. All well and good, except he is paid to travel, which lessens his impact since he doesn't travel for the same reasons that I did. His base line seems to be meeting people so he has stories to tell. I traveled to see places that had meaning to me. I visited battlefields all over the U.S. and Europe. I would drive miles to see lighthouses, covered bridges and waterfalls. I didn't need people to talk to on my solo trips. Hanging out at bars so I could talk to the locals was just not my thing.
I enjoyed this book somewhat, but his need to publish what he thinks would be interesting to readers colored my thinking about what he wrote, especially his questionable attitude towards some women he met. He also constantly questioned why people wouldn't have a passport. Money might be a good answer, plus you don't need a passport to travel around the U.S.--at least not yet. Being paid to travel is a dream of mine. It's too bad Swick can live that dream, but doesn't do more with it.
February 23, 2017
Short but great read. The book consists of three sections, The second consisting of actual travel writing, which was quite interesting (although I am really not into short travel stories). The third section consisting of stories of the tribulations of being a travel writer, with book signings etc, and the first section-which was by far the most interesting and which I could relate to-the nuances of travel which seem to be rarely written or talked about. I.e. the feeling of walking out of the airport in a city/country never visited before and being somewhere totally new, the last-minute regrets of leaving the comforts of home, and most touchingly, returning from a long trip to a distant land chock-full of cool stories, and finding that your home-bound friends have little to no interest in hearing about them. As someone who traveled overseas for 8 months, Mr Swick captured my feelings to the tee.
September 28, 2020
Gorgeous musings on travel that make me nostalgic for international voyages right now. Swick is masterful at illuminating truths about us as a nation, or about travelers. He discourses on eight themes of travel in this reflective book, such as anticipation, novelty, discovery, emotional connection, and heightened appreciation of home.
This is atmospheric writing that extols the benefits of leaving home, even in the age of the Internet. “For those who travel wide-eyed in an age of information overload, the revelations are more potent (if not more numerous) for being unexpected. And still they await, for no amount of images and data can shatter the preeminence of the personal encounters.” It contains a wonderful essay about expeditions when it’s not perfect, or even interesting, when you may be lonely or bored: “Much of a travel writer’s life, I once wrote, is spent watching other people have fun.” The second section contains some very personal stories (he visits the prison where his wife’s mother was incarcerated under the communist regime), as well as some truly unique wanderings (an Anti-Mafia tour of Palermo, Sicily). Swick’s writing makes you long to go there, to experience the adventure yourself. Even though I’ve never wanted to attend Octoberfest in Munich, he made it sound so appealing that now I do.
He writes like an old-time, erudite travel writer, but about recent topics. Like travel, these essays take you out of yourself and elevate you. Includes a Q&A with the author on how to be a travel writer.
-Marjorie
This is atmospheric writing that extols the benefits of leaving home, even in the age of the Internet. “For those who travel wide-eyed in an age of information overload, the revelations are more potent (if not more numerous) for being unexpected. And still they await, for no amount of images and data can shatter the preeminence of the personal encounters.” It contains a wonderful essay about expeditions when it’s not perfect, or even interesting, when you may be lonely or bored: “Much of a travel writer’s life, I once wrote, is spent watching other people have fun.” The second section contains some very personal stories (he visits the prison where his wife’s mother was incarcerated under the communist regime), as well as some truly unique wanderings (an Anti-Mafia tour of Palermo, Sicily). Swick’s writing makes you long to go there, to experience the adventure yourself. Even though I’ve never wanted to attend Octoberfest in Munich, he made it sound so appealing that now I do.
He writes like an old-time, erudite travel writer, but about recent topics. Like travel, these essays take you out of yourself and elevate you. Includes a Q&A with the author on how to be a travel writer.
-Marjorie
August 11, 2016
Travel writer Thomas Swick richly describes seven joys connected to travel-- anticipation, movement, break from routine, novelty, discovery, emotional connection, and heightened appreciation of home-- and then illuminates each with a story from his own journeys. If you're not currently planning a trip, you'll be itching to do so after reading this book. An insightful and highly enjoyable read.
May 14, 2017
A Joy to Read
As a fellow traveler if often only through Books I enjoyed Thomas's perspective on travel. I do hope we American's Fund the joy of travel and reading. What a shame so few do.
As a fellow traveler if often only through Books I enjoyed Thomas's perspective on travel. I do hope we American's Fund the joy of travel and reading. What a shame so few do.
September 23, 2017
First half on travel in general was great and different than anything I've read. The second half of actual travel stories were hit or miss. I'd consider reading his other books in the future to form more of an opinion. Overall a good read.
July 30, 2016
An Inspiration to Travel
Get out of your comfort zone and catch wanderlust. This is what the author has done and explains eloquently. Join him on the road.
Get out of your comfort zone and catch wanderlust. This is what the author has done and explains eloquently. Join him on the road.
September 28, 2020
Gorgeous musings on travel that make me nostalgic for international voyages right now. Swick is masterful at illuminating truths about us as a nation, or about travelers. He discourses on eight themes of travel in this reflective book, such as anticipation, novelty, discovery, emotional connection, and heightened appreciation of home.
This is atmospheric writing that extols the benefits of leaving home, even in the age of the Internet. “For those who travel wide-eyed in an age of information overload, the revelations are more potent (if not more numerous) for being unexpected. And still they await, for no amount of images and data can shatter the preeminence of the personal encounters.” It contains a wonderful essay about expeditions when it’s not perfect, or even interesting, when you may be lonely or bored: “Much of a travel writer’s life, I once wrote, is spent watching other people have fun.” The second section contains some very personal stories (he visits the prison where his wife’s mother was incarcerated under the communist regime), as well as some truly unique wanderings (an Anti-Mafia tour of Palermo, Sicily). Swick’s writing makes you long to go there, to experience the adventure yourself. Even though I’ve never wanted to attend Octoberfest in Munich, he made it sound so appealing that now I do.
He writes like an old-time, erudite travel writer, but about recent topics. Like travel, these essays take you out of yourself and elevate you. Includes a Q&A with the author on how to be a travel writer.
This is atmospheric writing that extols the benefits of leaving home, even in the age of the Internet. “For those who travel wide-eyed in an age of information overload, the revelations are more potent (if not more numerous) for being unexpected. And still they await, for no amount of images and data can shatter the preeminence of the personal encounters.” It contains a wonderful essay about expeditions when it’s not perfect, or even interesting, when you may be lonely or bored: “Much of a travel writer’s life, I once wrote, is spent watching other people have fun.” The second section contains some very personal stories (he visits the prison where his wife’s mother was incarcerated under the communist regime), as well as some truly unique wanderings (an Anti-Mafia tour of Palermo, Sicily). Swick’s writing makes you long to go there, to experience the adventure yourself. Even though I’ve never wanted to attend Octoberfest in Munich, he made it sound so appealing that now I do.
He writes like an old-time, erudite travel writer, but about recent topics. Like travel, these essays take you out of yourself and elevate you. Includes a Q&A with the author on how to be a travel writer.
January 4, 2020
3.5 stars
In the first half of this book, the author gives insights into immersive traveling and awakens readers to pleasures they’re likely to take for granted during a trip. The section covers the seven joys of travel and offers useful tips to help travelers get the most out of their trips.
The book is peppered with travel titles to help prepare a traveler for places they intend to visit and to make a meaningful connection once there. The second half consists of travel essays by the writer. Overall, a good book. Would recommend
In the first half of this book, the author gives insights into immersive traveling and awakens readers to pleasures they’re likely to take for granted during a trip. The section covers the seven joys of travel and offers useful tips to help travelers get the most out of their trips.
The book is peppered with travel titles to help prepare a traveler for places they intend to visit and to make a meaningful connection once there. The second half consists of travel essays by the writer. Overall, a good book. Would recommend
May 28, 2017
3.5 stars
Thomas Swick is a traveler's writer - if you already enjoy travel, chances are you will feel like he is articulating ideas you had but never had words for. The anticipation before a journey, the way just being somewhere new can heighten the senses and make you feel more alive, the constant drive for novelty. All those ideas really resonated with me. His essays also take us to foreign destinations and explore his own experiences there - Poland, Key West, Germany, Bangkok. Since he is definitely more into meeting strangers than I am, I marveled at how often he ends up in the homes of people he doesn't know. Truthfully, he did inspire me to try and reach out a bit more when I am out, to strike up conversations if for no other reason than to get outside myself and really try to learn about other ways of living.
Sometimes I found our author a bit condescending - he's SUCH a travel, it's SO obvious. Maybe if I just read the essays one at a time in a newspaper or magazine over a long stretch it wouldn't have bothered me, but to read them all at one time felt a bit like he was shoving the awesomeness of his experience in my face. Not all the time, but occasionally. One thing I really liked was how often he would quote other familiar writers and their feelings about wandering.
This short compilation didn't bore me and feel like I did widen my horizons a bit by reading it - I think my next travel experience (which of course can never come soon enough!) will be a bit different because of his perspective, so that's something.
Thomas Swick is a traveler's writer - if you already enjoy travel, chances are you will feel like he is articulating ideas you had but never had words for. The anticipation before a journey, the way just being somewhere new can heighten the senses and make you feel more alive, the constant drive for novelty. All those ideas really resonated with me. His essays also take us to foreign destinations and explore his own experiences there - Poland, Key West, Germany, Bangkok. Since he is definitely more into meeting strangers than I am, I marveled at how often he ends up in the homes of people he doesn't know. Truthfully, he did inspire me to try and reach out a bit more when I am out, to strike up conversations if for no other reason than to get outside myself and really try to learn about other ways of living.
Sometimes I found our author a bit condescending - he's SUCH a travel, it's SO obvious. Maybe if I just read the essays one at a time in a newspaper or magazine over a long stretch it wouldn't have bothered me, but to read them all at one time felt a bit like he was shoving the awesomeness of his experience in my face. Not all the time, but occasionally. One thing I really liked was how often he would quote other familiar writers and their feelings about wandering.
This short compilation didn't bore me and feel like I did widen my horizons a bit by reading it - I think my next travel experience (which of course can never come soon enough!) will be a bit different because of his perspective, so that's something.
November 27, 2018
Part a book of essays about traveling and travel writing with some traditional travel essays at the end. Swick is upfront and insightful, and continually quotable about traveling in today's modern world. His essays appealed to me as both a frequent traveler and fellow traveler writer. I enjoyed the essays more than some of the actual stories (though there are some gems there too), but recommend to anyone who wants to think seriously about travel (though not too seriously at the same time) and any new travel writer.
March 16, 2020
This book was okay. The first half was true to
Life. Then the author began adding too many personal stories and acquaintances and kept Mentioning his wife.
Life. Then the author began adding too many personal stories and acquaintances and kept Mentioning his wife.
January 8, 2024
Book #14 of 2023. "The Joys of Travel" by Thomas Swick 2/5 rating.
This was a combination of writings about travel and a few of Thomas's stories from other books of his.
I've got to be honest that the two best things about this book were the cover (which got me to buy the book) and the fact that it was short. I didn't hate the book, but felt like I didn't really get anything out of it. I definitely could have used the few hours spent reading it more productively on nearly anything else.
These were a few quotes that I liked, and probably the only portion of the book that you need to read:
- "Rather, it’s to elevate travel, whose greatest gifts elude the camera."
- "Often, the less glamorous the destination, the more rewarding the journey."
- "In a world built on speed, walking somewhere is an act of rebellion."
- "Ships and planes both carry you away from the world, then surround you with water and sky, so the isolation is total. Trains remove you from the fray while taking you right through it."
- "What you learn from your travels is unquantifiable, and can sometimes seem wasted, because back home it rarely comes up in conversation. It changes who you are, how you see your own country, and how you see the world (sometimes in ways you're not even aware of)."
- "A first-hand familiarity with the world is the one travel joy that has an importance, in a democracy, that goes beyond the personal."
- "From our hours spent in airports we know that most Americans, when presented with large chunks of free time and removed from demanding home entertainment systems, will find almost any excuse - a smartphone, a laptop, another bag of chips - not to pick up a book."
This was a combination of writings about travel and a few of Thomas's stories from other books of his.
I've got to be honest that the two best things about this book were the cover (which got me to buy the book) and the fact that it was short. I didn't hate the book, but felt like I didn't really get anything out of it. I definitely could have used the few hours spent reading it more productively on nearly anything else.
These were a few quotes that I liked, and probably the only portion of the book that you need to read:
- "Rather, it’s to elevate travel, whose greatest gifts elude the camera."
- "Often, the less glamorous the destination, the more rewarding the journey."
- "In a world built on speed, walking somewhere is an act of rebellion."
- "Ships and planes both carry you away from the world, then surround you with water and sky, so the isolation is total. Trains remove you from the fray while taking you right through it."
- "What you learn from your travels is unquantifiable, and can sometimes seem wasted, because back home it rarely comes up in conversation. It changes who you are, how you see your own country, and how you see the world (sometimes in ways you're not even aware of)."
- "A first-hand familiarity with the world is the one travel joy that has an importance, in a democracy, that goes beyond the personal."
- "From our hours spent in airports we know that most Americans, when presented with large chunks of free time and removed from demanding home entertainment systems, will find almost any excuse - a smartphone, a laptop, another bag of chips - not to pick up a book."
December 18, 2020
I was not a fan of Thomas Swick's The Joys of Travel. In fact, I did not finish it. See, Swick's Joys felt more like a laundry list of places he'd been and random experiences he'd had than real, in-depth travel writing. He was a travel editor. I get it. Other people paid for his travel. Nice. He traveled hither and yon. Uh-huh. Also, he likes to read about the places he is traveling, particularly before he travels there. Fine. But at the end of the day, there has to be more than that. I neither laughed (Bill Bryson, Mark Adams), nor learned (David Quammen, Kennedy Warne). Rather, Swick's book has a haphazard quality to it, a first-I-went-here, then-I-went-there that left me scratching my head and wondering if a collection of Swick's articles, columns, and reviews mightn't have been more interesting.
I grant it is possible I'm selling Swick short. According to the Amazon page for this book, The New York Times, says Swick is "a perceptive, old-school travel writer whose prose brings celebrated and obscure destinations to life." Maybe. But I didn't get the feel from the first half of the book and if I'm going to read about obscure destinations (Zimbabwe, say, or even the Caucasus), I'd rather do so from true insiders than from someone who flies in and then out again, no matter how much pre-departure reading they've done.
I grant it is possible I'm selling Swick short. According to the Amazon page for this book, The New York Times, says Swick is "a perceptive, old-school travel writer whose prose brings celebrated and obscure destinations to life." Maybe. But I didn't get the feel from the first half of the book and if I'm going to read about obscure destinations (Zimbabwe, say, or even the Caucasus), I'd rather do so from true insiders than from someone who flies in and then out again, no matter how much pre-departure reading they've done.
June 16, 2019
Thomas Swick is a veteran travel writer who has travelled all around the world. From his experience, he has identified the “Seven Joys of Travel” – Anticipation, Movement, Break from Routine, Novelty, Discovery, Emotional Connection and Heightened Appreciation of Home - which he explains, intertwined with stories of his own travels.
What I loved about this book is that the author is very down to earth. Unlike many other travel writers, he does not have that grand idea of travelling as a long journey off the beaten track, with lots of adventure and life-threatening experiences. Our normal short holidays, visiting monuments and checking out the sites in European or American cities are also meaningful ways of travel. Afterall, travelling is not about the destination – it is about how you feel inside and how you absorb the new surroundings for personal growth. The personal and individual transformation is what makes a journey important.
What I loved about this book is that the author is very down to earth. Unlike many other travel writers, he does not have that grand idea of travelling as a long journey off the beaten track, with lots of adventure and life-threatening experiences. Our normal short holidays, visiting monuments and checking out the sites in European or American cities are also meaningful ways of travel. Afterall, travelling is not about the destination – it is about how you feel inside and how you absorb the new surroundings for personal growth. The personal and individual transformation is what makes a journey important.
April 12, 2022
Not sure this is actually a travel book really, just a kind of stream of consciousness dribble about the authors feelings about his travels.
To the hardcore traveler this might be interesting, but to people who like to be entertained when they read travel books should stick to Bill Bryson.
The author is also not into writing in a funny or fascinating style it seems, and I am not sure they really like people as much as they like the things they prefer to assign to people mentally, people come across as very flat, women in particular are written as awful, boring and/or controlling in some parts.
So if you like travel books about places, not a good example, but if you like dry, sort of dull "thoughts laid out as they occurred" type books where people are 2D and women are unpleasant, this is the book for you.
I found it super dull though. Only read it cos of Covid19 really...
To the hardcore traveler this might be interesting, but to people who like to be entertained when they read travel books should stick to Bill Bryson.
The author is also not into writing in a funny or fascinating style it seems, and I am not sure they really like people as much as they like the things they prefer to assign to people mentally, people come across as very flat, women in particular are written as awful, boring and/or controlling in some parts.
So if you like travel books about places, not a good example, but if you like dry, sort of dull "thoughts laid out as they occurred" type books where people are 2D and women are unpleasant, this is the book for you.
I found it super dull though. Only read it cos of Covid19 really...
March 15, 2020
This was a surprise “find” the past few weeks. Popped up as one of the special offer e-books and felt like an easy risk to take. Best part of the book are the chapters about the various joys of travel. Less so, the travel articles at the end - though I found some very engaging. This book was especially appreciated right now because I’m in a phase of my life when travel is not a key focus. Even more so, I’m currently home-bound because of a leg fracture - so needed this book to give my mind and imagination a delightful break! Along with coming to appreciate Thomas Swick, I also appreciated all the many travel authors he shared and wrote about. Next up, is exploring the writing of Paul Theroux. Nice, enjoyable, easy read for anyone who’s a travel lover like I am. Enjoy!
September 1, 2018
The first half of the book is made up of things that are very true about travel, but are the things you don’t write about! Like the realization that travel shows you just how inessential you are to life at home. It goes on without you while you’re gone. Or that trains carry you through life, but apart from it.
The second half of the book is travel stories. This half was a faster read than the first half. It was an interesting read, but didn’t exactly keep me wanting to pick up the book.
I liked the beginning best where the author talked about traveling because of books.
The second half of the book is travel stories. This half was a faster read than the first half. It was an interesting read, but didn’t exactly keep me wanting to pick up the book.
I liked the beginning best where the author talked about traveling because of books.
September 25, 2022
Loved the first section of the book about travel itself. Having a future trip on the books gives me happiness today in pleasant anticipation. He talks about breaking your routine but I've tried to change my daily life to be like vacation life. Mostly that means calming down vacation life from staying at a resort to wandering about a town.
He talks about discovery and novelty and those are great things about visiting a new place. This leads to actual stories from his travels and book tour which were short and enjoyable. I also liked the perspective on the mob in Sicily.
He talks about discovery and novelty and those are great things about visiting a new place. This leads to actual stories from his travels and book tour which were short and enjoyable. I also liked the perspective on the mob in Sicily.
February 6, 2023
Off to a AMAZING start. I thought this would be a life changing book. I’d never felt so seen or understood about my thoughts as a traveller but that was just for the first few pages. Then it spiralled down to travel stories I didn’t relate or interested me at all. Even having I done the exact same trip as Thomas - the Anti-Mafia trip to Sicily AND inclusive met the same people and went to the same places he did!!!!!
From where I stand this book could’ve been an essay
From where I stand this book could’ve been an essay
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2024
A series of vignettes from his personal perspective which is filtered by his marriage to a Polish woman and other history/facts. Always interesting, though some are so etranger (unusual) that they prick lots of thoughts and emotions. I particularly like the one about his stay at the most unusual hotel I've ever known or read about in Thailand. His last chapter on book tours was also insightful and heartfelt. As an inveterate traveller, I'm glad I read it.
December 30, 2017
An unusual format... First a series of (insightful and enjoyable) essays on aspects of travel and the joys to be found. Not just in the travel itself, but in the anticipation, the change in language, food and culture. And the changed view of home.
And then a series of travel stories illustrating these points.
Very well done.
And then a series of travel stories illustrating these points.
Very well done.
June 13, 2024
This book was not what I was expecting it to be but a pleasant surprise. I love traveling and try to do so often but Swick has encouraged me to do more homework before my next trip and more importantly to put myself out there and talk to locals as well. I enjoyed his unique point of view and hope to visit his other works.
February 12, 2019
Made me want to go out into the world and see things in a new way. I loved the style (broken up into essays about why we travel and then 7 stories that highlight those essays). Captures all of the magic of travel.
March 1, 2020
Simply wonderful travel writing
Such insightful observations on the feelings and experiences of solitary travel that will leave readers who have travelled alone shaking their heads in agreement.
Such insightful observations on the feelings and experiences of solitary travel that will leave readers who have travelled alone shaking their heads in agreement.
July 3, 2023
As an armchair traveller I really enjoyed this. The author describes locations with little details that enable you to visualise what it is like. This would be a good book for physical travellers too, a different perspective on appreciating your current travel destination.
November 8, 2025
Interesting thoughts on travel writing at the beginning, great travel stories at the end. I would not mind being on a long train journey with this writer. Plus, he shares some great quotes from other writers. I heard about A Waiter in Paris from this book, and that was a great tip.
October 22, 2017
Thoughtful essays about travel and experiencing different cultures. A fun read.
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