Settling into a new country is like getting used to a new pair of shoes. At first they pinch a little, but you like the way they look, so you carry on. The longer you...

As far as Samson was concerned I was just another foreigner in pursuit of a lunatic quest.

As a travel writer I’ve specialized in gritty, fearful destinations, the kind of places that make a reader’s hair stick on end.

On a harsh expedition, there’s no space for anyone who does not intend to finish.

The situation was different in the jungle. Every inch of ground had to be earned, and was done so through much exertion with the blade.

The first few hours in the cell were quite stimulating. I’d never been in a prison cell before and was quite enjoying the experience.

Time spent in India has a extraordinary effect on one. It acts as a barrier that makes the rest of the world seem unreal.

A little imagination goes a long way in Fes.

The ants are bad” The Bear”the ants?”Tahir”Do not be fooled. They look very small, so harm you don’t think of then at all. Then years. Then one day you wake up, and your home has...

With an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything.

On a hard jungle journey nothing is so important as having a team you can trust.

My father used to say that stories are part of the most precious heritage of mankind.

Venture to a remote corner of a faraway land and, from the moment you get there, every person and every thing becomes an obstacle, designed to entrap you, to stop you proceeding on your way.

The rain of Madre de Dios is similar to that of the Amazon, but there is a petrifying aspect to it, as if it seeks to wound rather than to nurture.

In moments of great uncertainty on my travels, I have always felt that something is protecting me, that I will come to no harm.

Only a man who has his health, a full stomach and wears clean clothes would ever entertain the notion of tracking down the greatest lost city on Earth.

I am all for curses and superstition, but there’s a point at which they start getting in the way. That point had arrived.

To be selfless, you would give charity anonymously, walj softly on the earth, and look out for others-even total strangers-before you look out for yourself. For the Arab mind, the self is an obstacle, an...

The mere mention of the Farakka Express, which jerks its way eastward each day from Delhi to Calcutta, is enough to throw even a seasoned traveller into fits of apoplexy. At a desert encampment on...

Contemplation is a luxury, requiring time and alternatives.

The last thing we wanted was for the Machiguenga to be sad again. Sadness appeared to bring out their violence.

For my father there was no sharper way to understand a country than by listening to its stories.

Respect was one thing. Survival was another. It was important that I kept my priorities in the right order.

There can be few situations more fearful than breaking down in darkness on the highway leading to Casablanca. I have rarely felt quite so vulnerable or alone.

It was an awkward moment. We were burning down our host’s house, a situation which any guest seeks to avoid.

In some warped way, having an embalmed body with us made perfect sense.

As I see the world, there’s one element that’s even more corrosive than missionaries: tourists. It’s not that I feel above them in any way, but that the very places they patronize are destroyed by...

Running an expedition can bring out the worst in a man. It can make you a power-crazed monster.

One senses that, in these conditions, no amount of wet-wiping could bring true hygiene.

A journey, I reflected, is of no merit unless it has tested you.

Visit Cape Town and history is never far from your grasp. It lingers in the air, a scent on the breezy, an explanation of circumstance that shaped the Rainbow People. Stroll around the old downtown...

To Succeed, you must reach for the stars, and let your imagination find its own path

At the dealership, I pulled out the sieve and toyed with it threateningly. When the salesman was ready for me, I held it up, told him I was not a tourist and demanded a large...

It is almost impossible to overemphasize the importance with which ancestry is held in the Middle East and North Africa.

Real terror is a crippling experience. You sweat so much that your skin goes all wrinkly like when you’ve been in the bath all afternoon. And then the scent of your sweat changes. It smells...

In some peculiar way, indeed, the rules were now beginning to seem quite logical. It was then I knew that I had been in India long enough.

My journey to the land of the Shuar tribe had taught me the importance of practical gifts.

Because there is no challenge, there is no reason to work hard. And with no reason to work hard, we all have become lazy. Lazy people are like cancer. They spread. Before you know it,...

Experience has taught me the power of trophies. You may have every knick-knack and useless contraption ever devised, but while they weigh you down, a simple trophy can go a long, long way.

Foras Road has a sordid reputation (…) Old crones sat in doorways, while their daughters were pushed out to earn money. It is intriguing that a society which is very covert with sexuality should be...

A man who embarks on a journey must know when to end it.

The pursuit of illusion is not about studying for prizes, or for study’s sake. There’s no right or wrong, no pass or fail.

Stories are not like the real world; they aren’t held back by what we know is false or true. What’s important is how a story makes you feel inside.

Previous experience had taught me that any expedition marches on its stomach.

Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.

At the last moment, the fish and I exchange a troubled glance. The murrel seems to be demanding an explanation. Alas, I am in no position to start justifying the unusual treatment. What comes next...

When I am about to embark on a difficult journey, I comfort myself by reading the accounts of the great nineteenth-century travellers, men like Stanley, Burton, Speke, Burckhardt and Barth.

I believe that Marrakech ought to be earned as a destination. The journey is the preparation for the experience. Reaching it too fast derides it, makes it a little less easy to understand.

The ability to tell a good route from a terrible one is a valuable skill when leading an expedition. Unfortunately for us all, it was a skill I did not possess.

The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.