Compulsively Aimless

The most remote place on earth is the expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  I've flown over it and traveled to some of its remote islands.  The first adventure was to visit a friend who had signed onto the Peace Corps and was posted Fiji and the Bikini Atoll.  The second was to the Bikini Atoll to return with my Dad 60 years after he had been stationed there as US Navy Corpsman as part of Operation Crossroads--the test of two Atomic bombs. Bikini was the most remote place I've been on earth.  One plane a week that island hopped from a series of other remote islands.  The remoteness felt like a physical presence hanging over your shoulder.  Here's my short collection on the Pacific Ocean.  1.  A Pattern of Islands, Arthur Grimble (1952).    Grimble started his career as an official in the British Colonial Service posted to small British possessions in the Pacific.  He collected his stories of life among local fisherman, tribal chiefs, and...

Paul Theroux got me hooked on armchair travel.  The first book I read was The Great Railway Bazaar--a great circle route from London, through Europe, south Asia, Japan and back via the Trans-Siberian Railway.  Theroux was doing what I wanted to do and writing about it with a clear and original voice.   Theroux is best known for his train travel books but he is more of an intrepid traveler who stays as close to native means of travel as possible.  Some have described him as described as a curmudgeon but that adds to the draw.  He has definite views about people and places and that creates for a natural tension that keeps you reading.  You want to know his reactions to things even if they're not your reactions.  He is also exceptionally honest in his writing putting even his vainest ideas and insecurities in his narrative.  In my all time top three best travel writers.  Strongly recommend his work.  You won't be bored. 1.  T...