Six questions (and answers) about travel and travel writing

A reader named Cliff, who is preparing to leave on his own extended vagabonding journey, recently contacted me with a few questions about travel and travel writing. Here’s a transcript of our exchange:

Before you set out on your first world trip, did you know you’d end up writing a book, or having a world-renowned website?

No. I hoped this might happen, but I didn’t expect it. I just wanted to have a great journey. The success of my book and website have in large part come from the fact that I have been consistent and persistent in both travel and web writing.

How did you get your book published?

A Random House editor found me through my website and my Salon writing. This is pretty rare, though. Most writers go through agents.

What did you do after you got back from your first long-term world trip?

I didn’t really get home from my first long-term trip. I stopped in Thailand and wrote Vagabonding there. I didn’t get home until the book was done, and by that time I’d been traveling for nearly three years (five years if you count my expatriate stint in Korea).

Of course, that was my first international journey. A few years earlier I did a journey around the USA for eight months. When that finished I unsuccessfully tried to write a book about it, got a few dead-end jobs, and eventually went off to Korea to teach English (which funded my later vagabonding travel).

Has anyone shown interest in making your travels into a movie?

Believe it or not, yes — but not tangible has come of it yet. Television and film development is a slow and uncertain process, and I’m not counting on anything yet. I might eventually get a story onto the screen, but for now I prefer the printed word, since it’s my central passion, and it has more thematic and philosophical possibilities (if a smaller audience).

If you could change something about your trips, what would it be?

Nothing. Every negative experience has been something to learn from for the future.

Was there anyone close to you who was not supportive of your idea to travel before you set out?

Yes, but not in a prohibitive way. Some people were unsupportive in a passive-aggressive way, but that’s normal and happens to everyone.