Paul Theroux’s “Essential Tao of Travel”

1. Leave home
2. Go alone
3. Travel light
4. Bring a map
5. Go by land
6. Walk across a national frontier
7. Keep a journal
8. Read a novel that has no relation to the place you’re in
9. If you must bring a cell phone, avoid using it
10. Make a friend
–Paul Theroux, The Tao of Travel (2011)

Posted by Rolf Potts | Comments (6)  | September 3, 2012
Category: Travel Quote of the Day


6 Responses to “Paul Theroux’s “Essential Tao of Travel””

  1. Zach Says:
    September 3rd, 2012 at 2:35 am

    Move slowly. Take walks. Sometimes, sit for a while. It’s impossible to fully appreciate a place in an hour or even a day. Take your time.

  2. DEK Says:
    September 3rd, 2012 at 9:07 am

    Map, sí, App, no.

  3. bani.amor Says:
    September 3rd, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    guilty of never doing #4.

  4. Sage Says:
    September 3rd, 2012 at 5:56 pm

    I waiver on 8, for I sometimes do that and other times read novels or non-fiction on the place I am wandering… Nice list. I remember watching Theroux give a talk on book TV where he suggestion for one to become a writer was to “Leave home, go alone, and stay on the ground.”

  5. Callie Says:
    September 5th, 2012 at 11:37 am

    …and drink with locals whenever possible.