Have you read a book and said
“I’ve got to go there?”
This is what we asked our Facebook Friends
for this month’s themed travelling tales.
What authors have inspired you to dream of visiting a faraway place?
Gavin Maxwell ~ Scotland
One day in the month of May I will walk with a rucksack from Inverness to Sandaig (Scotland). Accompanied with rain, wind and sun. Some places are more special than others. The most special #dream #travel destination for me is Gavin Maxwell’s (1914-1969) ‘Bay of Alder’ in Scotland.
Photo by Anita Evans
It’s the remote place where he lived for almost 20 years. The place where he wrote his books, took care of his otters, planned his travels and licked his new wounds. At the end of the journey I’ll find Edal’s monument at Camusfearna. It’s the exact place where once Gavin’s writing table stood. The house was burnt to the ground in January 1968 and Otter ‘Edal’ perished in the fire.
Photo by Anita Evans
[Editor’s note: The rock visible on the right is Edal’s monument
Daphne du Maurier and Rosamunde Pilcher ~ Cornwall, England
Daphne du Maurier and Rosamunde Pilcher resonated with me, even as a teenager, wtih their tales of Cornwall. It took me many years to get there, but I felt the same sense of excitement Rosemunde Pilcher described as I crossed Brunel’s bridge over the Tamar River.
I think I have everything both ladies have written about Cornwall, as well as heaps of other novels set in that beautiful, wild corner of the world. Needless to say, it’s on my list of ‘must re-visit’ places – and I’m glued to everything on TV that’s remotely connected with Cornwall.
Photo by Emily Barney
Arthur Golden ~ Gion, Japan
Photo by Dave and Melody
Isabel Allende and Pablo Neruda ~ Valparaiso, Chile
Anne Frank ~ Amsterdam, Netherlands
Photo by Shooting Chris
[Editor’s note: The darker brown house on the right is Anne Frank’s
Alexander McCall-Smith ~ Botswana, Africa
Photo by Sean Murphy
Photo by Sean Murphy
Ah…one day!
Carlos Ruiz Zafón ~ Barcelona, Spain
Photo by soSickboy
Beatrix Potter ~ Lake District, England
Delicious… a Tom Kitten roly poly pudding for dinner
What book have you read that’s inspired you to want to travel there?
Do share in the comments below 🙂
Some great story inspired travels [Lets see the photo of you in Beatrix Potters porch :)]
I’ll have to sort through my photos!
I know its in a safe place 😉
What a cool idea for a post!
For me, the book would be “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova. The book is part historical fiction, part travelogue, and part horror-fantasty (it’s written on the premise that Dracula is real, and still alive).
The story is set is Europe, with the main characters traveling everywhere from London to Turkey to Croatia to Romania. This book has made me yearn to explore Eastern Europe. And someday I hope to!
Eastern Europe ~ a great backdrop to a novel and an inspiring place to visit 🙂
I’ll have to ask you – which came first? Your love of NZ or J.R.R. Tolkien’s “It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and, if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might get swept off to.” ?
More reading for me to do to inspire my travels.
Thanks, Linda, for this innovative post.
Yes, I have to say I’ve already ordered ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ from the library LOL
Thanks for contributing ~ It’s the input that makes the post such fun 🙂
Great topic, Linda! I read a biography of Mary Shelley by Miranda Seymour that inspired me to follow in her footsteps during the famous 1816 “Frankenstein” summer — London, Paris, Lake Geneva.
Three beautiful areas of Europe, and an uplifting period of Mary Shelley’s life, sounds like a fun combination for retracing her nomadic footsteps.
Loved the look of this suggestion on Twitter from @fl2native for ‘The Hills Is Lonely’ by Lillian Beckwith, which she said “Makes me want to visit the Hebrides.” 🙂