a blog about travel literature
This author has been called the “grandfather of travel writing” – but is he really that good?
In the early 1920s, young American graduate Richard Halliburton feels bored. He decides to go traveling on a shoestring budget, so he hops on a ship to Europe and takes it from there…
Are these just some minor slip-ups or are we looking at an expert exposing himself?
we’re in the mid-1950s, and the world has just entered the Cold War. Hans Ulrich Kempski is one of the best known journalists in West Germany. He visits Japan and China, both of which are on the periphery of the two main political blocks. He talks to politicians there, wanders about, and comes up with a bunch of articles describing and analysing the things he has seen. This book is a collection of those articles…
Is this guy more than just a worthy rival to Albert von Le Coq?
We’re in the mid-19th century. Heinrich Schliemann is a German businessman with a gift for languages and a passion for history who will later go on to discover the ruins of Troy. But first, he decides to go on a journey to China and Japan, both of which are currently struggling with the challenges of modernity and western imperialism. This book is about his journey…
Does the Chinese literary world need to train tougher editors?
in the late 2000s, Yu Ying, a 20-something woman from Southwest China, works as a personal assistant for a fashion model in Beijing. She applies for the Best Job In The World, a project that places an individual on the Great Barrier Reef as a spokesperson…
Can we read about warfare as if it was just an adventure?
at the outbreak of World War I, Gunther Plüschow, a young pilot in the German air force, gets dispatched to the German colony of Qingdao (they call it “Tsingtau” back then). He is supposed to be one of only two pilots on guard against the Japanese and the British there…
Bono sucks.
In the early 2000s, Gregor Sieböck, a banker from Austria, decides to walk around the world in order to promote environmentalism…
The modern traveler.
In 1946, Heinz Helfgen, a former journalist from Germany turned Wehrmacht soldier comes from a POW camp, only to find out that things are pretty bad at home, especially money-wise…
The poet.
In the late 17th century, Matsuo Basho, a Haiku poet who likes to walk around and compose poems, goes on several journeys through his homeland of Japan…
Trying to teach the people.
In the early 1930s, Ji Xianlin is a promising student from China who gets the chance to go to Göttingen, Germany, in order to pursue a university degree..
Clogged up freshness.
In 1537, shortly after the European discoveries in the Americas, young Fernão Mendes Pinto from Portugal gets on a ship to the East…