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jtj's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.25
estacer's review
2.0
Interesting idea and some compelling stories. Flavoured with smugness that his way of travel is what all of us should be doing.
I was intrigued to read about an appreciation for travel and visits to new places where the traveller can take their time and enjoy the new experiences. But according to the author, that is at odds with the type of travel "encouraged" by guidebooks that list the top 10 sights to see.
Explaining his disdain for tourism that encourages sightseeing, using the example of the time he saw the pyramids: "If anything, seeing a 'must-see' for myself tends to reduce the amazement and intrigue I felt for it before. Sometimes it has a shock value, because it's so immense, but I usually find my mind slips into a state of emptiness as the throng of tourists I have become part of consumes me and we file along in an orderly queue. I've wandered aimlessly, but not in a good way, around quite a few of the world's most famous sites and always found the experience oddly hollow. [....] I'm beginning to wonder if we're all colluding in a conspiracy of silence. Does anyone find this practice remotely enriching?"
Many more examples of this, which made his whole narrative quite pretentious and preachy.
One segment I did enjoy was the idea that traveling to new places allows us to access our brain's right hemisphere - to be open to the new experiences and the unknown, an idea first explained by Iain McGilchrist.
However, then the author goes on to compare travel from the left brain (informed by guidebooks and top sights lists) to travel from the right brain. His example is from an author of her travels that no common person working a 40-hr week would be able to do. She visits South American indigenous communities, native tribes of the Amazon, and does ayahuasca. Not something most people have the time or, in the case of ayahuasca, desire to do.
My own travels are more similar to the kind he derides, but I don't believe I experience any less wonder or appreciation for new places than he does.
I've actually talked myself down from 3 stars to 2. Perhaps partially in self-defense but primarily as a result of the one-sidedness of Kieran's judgement of travel.
I was intrigued to read about an appreciation for travel and visits to new places where the traveller can take their time and enjoy the new experiences. But according to the author, that is at odds with the type of travel "encouraged" by guidebooks that list the top 10 sights to see.
Explaining his disdain for tourism that encourages sightseeing, using the example of the time he saw the pyramids: "If anything, seeing a 'must-see' for myself tends to reduce the amazement and intrigue I felt for it before. Sometimes it has a shock value, because it's so immense, but I usually find my mind slips into a state of emptiness as the throng of tourists I have become part of consumes me and we file along in an orderly queue. I've wandered aimlessly, but not in a good way, around quite a few of the world's most famous sites and always found the experience oddly hollow. [....] I'm beginning to wonder if we're all colluding in a conspiracy of silence. Does anyone find this practice remotely enriching?"
Many more examples of this, which made his whole narrative quite pretentious and preachy.
One segment I did enjoy was the idea that traveling to new places allows us to access our brain's right hemisphere - to be open to the new experiences and the unknown, an idea first explained by Iain McGilchrist.
However, then the author goes on to compare travel from the left brain (informed by guidebooks and top sights lists) to travel from the right brain. His example is from an author of her travels that no common person working a 40-hr week would be able to do. She visits South American indigenous communities, native tribes of the Amazon, and does ayahuasca. Not something most people have the time or, in the case of ayahuasca, desire to do.
My own travels are more similar to the kind he derides, but I don't believe I experience any less wonder or appreciation for new places than he does.
I've actually talked myself down from 3 stars to 2. Perhaps partially in self-defense but primarily as a result of the one-sidedness of Kieran's judgement of travel.
kazgriki's review
5.0
Loved this book, and its cover. Dan Kiernan sprinkles his writing with anecdotes from his own enriching experiences of travelling on foot, by train, even by milk float! But the most inspiring sections of 'The Idle Traveller' for me centre on the philosophy he espouses of living consciously, allowing your life to slow down by living in the moment and engaging with it completely. Travel, he says, is at least as much about the journey, as the destination.
reading_on_the_road's review
4.0
This is an unusual travel book, written by a travel writer who doesn't fly. He argues the case for depth of travel experience over tick-box tourism, for the need to take time to fully appreciate the moment rather than rushing to the next thing on our itineraries, to appreciate the journey as well as the destination.
Tales of his own travel experiences are entertaining (as are his musings on philosophical, historical and even neurological subjects, though these parts are not always easy to follow).
Tales of his own travel experiences are entertaining (as are his musings on philosophical, historical and even neurological subjects, though these parts are not always easy to follow).
halfmanhalfbook's review
4.0
Kieran feels that the point of travel these days is to get to your destination as fast as humanly possible, to collect picture of yourself in front of the sights, and tick them of your bucket list.
This book that is about the essence of travel, the journey to a location and the time that you need to take in making that journey. In the book he describes a simple walk that he takes in his part of the Sussex downs, a rail journey across Europe with his very young son, and a almost disastrous journey to see eagles on Mull. All of these he uses to reinforce the point that making the journey at human speed means that you appreciate it more, you take in the landscape, and you arrive more receptive to the destination.
He alos writes a chapter on his jaunt across England in a milk float; Three Men in a Float. I have read this and it is very funny, but what he takes from this journey is that by moving across any landscape a slowly forces you to interact with the environment and more importantly other people.
It is quite a philosophical book, and if you are expecting purely a travel book then it might not be for you.
This book that is about the essence of travel, the journey to a location and the time that you need to take in making that journey. In the book he describes a simple walk that he takes in his part of the Sussex downs, a rail journey across Europe with his very young son, and a almost disastrous journey to see eagles on Mull. All of these he uses to reinforce the point that making the journey at human speed means that you appreciate it more, you take in the landscape, and you arrive more receptive to the destination.
He alos writes a chapter on his jaunt across England in a milk float; Three Men in a Float. I have read this and it is very funny, but what he takes from this journey is that by moving across any landscape a slowly forces you to interact with the environment and more importantly other people.
It is quite a philosophical book, and if you are expecting purely a travel book then it might not be for you.
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