Overland travel stories » Old World Wandering

“Old World Wandering is a happy marriage of unusual locations, good writing and an infective love of travel, grounded in a real understanding not only of the places they write about, but of the nature and delights of journeys themselves.”

Alec Ash (@alecash)

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Dispatches

Regions

The Old World refers to Europe, Asia and Africa, the three continents that were at least partly known to ancient geographers. We've organised our posts into rough cultural blocs, including:

• Indian Subcontinent (24)
• Southeast Asia (21)
• Continental Europe (18)
• Middle East & North Africa (11)
• British Isles (9)
• Far East (4)
• Southern Africa (3)

Definitions

• travelogue

  (ˈtra-və-ˌlȯg, -ˌläg) n.

  Why are ancient travelogues like Homer's Odyssey and Gilgamesh still important to us? And where is travel writing going, in the age of the blog?

• hippie trail

  (ˈhi-pē ˈtrāl) n.

  The hip-hike to Kathmandu grew out of Eastern influences on the literature of the West. It lives on in backpacking, the industry it invented.

• banana pancake trail

  (bə-ˈna-nə ˈpan-ˌkāk ˈtrāl) n.

  As much a concept as a series of criss-crossing transport connections, the Banana Pancake Trail asks important ethical questions of so-called independent travellers.

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Book Reviews

• Catfish, no Mandala

  

  Short-changed, shoo-ed out of shops and fleeced by taxi drivers: Vietnam can be hard to like, but why should that matter?

• Where to for travel writing?

  

  As part of Old World Wandering’s Kickstarter project, I’m interviewing three people about travel, writing and how they intersect in the topsy-turvy present. Last week I [...]

• A journey across the road

  

  In his novel Travels with My Aunt, Graham Greene tells the story of a bookmaker who has spent his entire working life at a racetrack, [...]

Transitions

• South African in China

  

  Thoughts on being South African in China, ahead of our appearance in the documentary Postcards from China, with links for Africans in China.

• Night Train to Nong Khai

  

  A night train from Bangkok to Nong Khai, on the border of Laos, is an opportunity to indulge in fantasies of the East.

• Writer in Transit

  

  I don’t have a single journal entry about my three months in India. I didn’t write anything about my time there, except for a post about the dancer that didn’t dance, in a Bombay beer bar. The scene – a slice out of a furtive, alternative reality, swallowed up in Mumbai’s underworld – spoke to me, forming sentences in my head. But those brief moments of inspiration stood alone.

Asides

• In Ulan Bator, with just five days to go

  

  Sanbanor! We’re finding our feet in Ulan Bator, where we arrived on the Trans-Mongolian two days ago. It’s a surprising city, where dirt roads, ger [...]

• Where to for travel writing

  

  The three interviews connected to our Kickstarter project started with Graham Boynton, a magazine and newspaper editor. My second subject was Rolf Potts, whose career [...]

• Where to for travel writing?

  

  As part of Old World Wandering’s Kickstarter project, I’m interviewing three people about travel, writing and how they intersect in the topsy-turvy present. Last week I [...]