Corroboration of Solo Travel Writing
Good Travel Writing- And so, with quite a degree of persistence, I have managed to bring a stack of those travel stories together and upload them to this website. But did everything really happen as described? Didn’t I invent parts of it? After all isn’t that a short coming of travel writing, that particularly with solo travel, it just can’t be corroborated with accomplices – Indeed there are reputable intrepid travel writers from years past who have since been caught in a lie with their publications. Furthermore, in this age where so much sway is held by journalism being fact checkable, via Google, where is the evidence?
Well let me start by saying (your Honor) that all the anecdotes described in my pieces are
grounded in actual events. Possibly in some instances I may have made, say, the scenery
a bit more evocative, to give it an extra sense of time and place. Although, if this has
happened, I believe it to be minimal – I certainly have not been back to read through all
these pieces again, to spot where bits of artistic license may have crept in, with a view to
rewriting the stuff. Rather, much of it hasn’t changed one iota, or been perused again
since all those years ago.
It’s No Surprise Really
I don’t feel that the stories I relate are the stuff of deep exploration or award-winning
journalism – I like my creature comforts too much to contemplate venturing down
mountain potholes or launching out towards tribal Papua New Guinea. What they reflect
are the everyday experiences of a lone traveller who during their trips has gone out of the
way to spend much of the time covering miles on foot, exploring the highways and
byways of settlements, or in travelling from one lesser well visited location to another (to
be then followed by much more walking). In doing so, perhaps the real surprise would
have come if events like those described hadn’t come to the fore.
Destination is Critical
Clearly destination is critical here. I wouldn’t for one moment expect to come away with a
host of observations, worth committing to paper about, say, conservative Luxembourg
(and I didn’t), but by contrast, making one’s way independently across the Indian
Subcontinent becomes another matter, with it becoming near impossible not to act as a
magnet for the attentions of so many people.
Correlation of Risk and Experience
Chums have also asked me why on earth I would want to place myself in such a
vulnerable position, venturing independently off the beaten track, and, I suppose, putting
myself at a fair bit of risk – Hell, weren’t these meant to be holidays? I have never really
thought of it in these terms, but looking back now, I guess they have a point. Or put
another way, you reap what you sow, with there being some kind of correlation between
degree of risk and experiences had.
Corroboration – As Good As It Can Get
For those lone travellers, who have adopted a similar mindset to their trips, I don’t feel
their degree of adventure would be any different. If they had followed the same trails, I
wouldn’t expect for one moment their jottings to reflect near identical experiences.
However, they would, I hope, be able to provide a similar sense of what it might feel like
to spend time in these regions – and I suppose this is as precise as any corroboration of
lone travel writing, if indeed it is needed, could ever get.
Keep Moving on
Looking at it from the other side of the equation, let it be said that the number of journeys
featured within this website have been exceeded by travels I made, where most of the
time was spent sat outside cafes and hostelries. For me, it was this kinds of trip that had
become the alternative holiday, where the conversation flowed but the miles covered and
travel writing material unearthed were far exceeded by alcoholic units consumed. I am not
for one moment saying that one kind of trip has more going for it, than the other. But
clearly, if it’s writing matter you are after, then keep moving. Gotta’ travel on
Damian Rainford
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