My previous two books, Go Away and Mostly Fun have described the pleasures and pitfalls of travelling solo, travel with a partner, and group travel. In my latest effort Quicker Than Walking, I've added a fourth option – travels with imaginary friends. But these aren't just any old invented souls, dragged from the dark recesses of my mind. I was accompanied, in my head, by some of the greats of literature.I checked in for my flight to Bangkok with non-other than Henry Miller for a t...

My fellow adventurers floated towards me on their kayaks in the slow-moving water. I was momentarily tinged with regret for not having joined them. But it was a fleeting moment and I soon realised that, with a life full of regrets, this one would not add much to the total.This book describes my thoughts and impressions of two bike trips in Asia. It wasn't all about cycling. We took trains, boats and some even had a day of kayaking.On, or off the bike, I had plenty ...

In early September 2023, I left the sanctity of my Brisbane home and sallied forth on a four-month adventure across Asia and Europe. I travelled, for the most part, alone, joined in a couple of locations by my wife. One fine afternoon, as we discussed the travelogue I would write about the trip, I was inspired by what to use as a title. Go Away, with its subtle as a sledgehammer double meaning, seemed appropriate.The title and writing style were inspired by one of my favourite writ...

A journey of contemplation and misadventure as I attempt, mostly unsuccessfully, to re-live a bicycle trip I first embarked on as a fresh-faced 20 year-old.More than 40 years ago I headed south with a guy I had met at Liverpool Street station in London.Enfield to Athens on a tandem.They said it couldn't be done.For the re-run I was better prepared, or so I thought.But, as it turned out it didn't really matter.My Brother's Bicycle

Les and Tracy travelled extensively until COVID-19 wrought havoc on their plans. Like millions of others, they stayed home and wistfully watched TV shows set in foreign lands, dreaming of the day when they would dust off their suitcases, check that their passports were up to date and peruse airline and rail timetables.Les fretted. Being the older one in the relationship, he was concerned that his advancing years and recurrent back problems, meant that he would never again go on a g...

Les and Tracy had lived in the south of France from 1997 to 2007 before moving back to Australia via Bangkok.So, when COVID began to release its grip on the world and airlines were flying again, they ventured out of their quiet sanctuary in Brisbane and boarded a plane bound for Nice.Twenty-four hours later, they were basking in the dappled sunlight of the Cote d'Azur.But it wasn't all red wine and Salad Niçoise. There were inefficient bank managers and other bureau...

The Soft Nut Bike Tour of Burma was led by our friend Chris. Boundless resourcefulness and a refusal to accept defeat are just two of his many skills. Snapped chains, grinding gears and punctures are fixed in a flash and if it all gets too much for our less than youthful bodies, he'll conjure up a truck or train to get us to the next outpost of civilisation.This book describes a ten-day tour of the less travelled area of Southern Myanmar. It's called the Soft Nut Tour because there...

The Existential Railway Station Book was never really an alternative title, but it could have been. The story begins with a fever in Berlin.The sort that makes hotel ceilings pulse gently and convinces you that destiny has a sense of humour — particularly when you're in town to see Bruce Springsteen, who once wrote and recorded a song called The Fever.In Quicker Than Walking I travel the way I suspect many people do — curious, occasionally baffled, and always watching. From...