Not a Hazardous Sport by Nigel Barley
Not a Hazardous Sport brings to a close Nigel Barley’s series of anthropological journeys that began with The Innocent Anthropologist and continued in A Plague of Caterpillars.
Writer, Explorer and Travel Philosopher
A Plague of Caterpillars
February 20, 2019 by Leave a Comment
A Plague of Caterpillars by Nigel Barley
Nigel Barley returns to Cameroon in this hilarious follow up to The Innocent Anthropologist.
“Returns” is a bit of a misnomer. In truth, he’d only just left.
Getting the Drift in London
February 8, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The Great Court of London’s British Museum…
I’d only been in London for a few hours, and I was already thinking I’d have to scrap a year’s work.
The Innocent Anthropologist
February 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The Innocent Anthropologist by Nigel Barley
Nigel Barley was a rather unhappy “desk anthropologist” at a British university.
His fieldwork-hardened older colleagues never stopped reminding him of this, because back in their day, it wasn’t enough to camp out in a library cordoned off by stacks of journals. You had to get out and live with the natives.
The Best Books I Read in 2018
January 1, 2019 by 2 Comments
Best Books 2018
It’s that time again.
I typically read about 100 books a year. Everything from travel literature to poetry, history, psychology, fiction and memoir.
I love reading lists and recommendations, and I bet a few of you do, too. So at year’s end, I like to take a moment to share my top reads of the past twelve months.
An Interview with Lawrence Millman
August 10, 2018 by 4 Comments
At Hellisheidi, above Vindfellsfjall, Iceland…
Lawrence Millman is the author of eleven books, including Northern Latitudes, Last Places, An Evening Among Headhunters, and Lost in the Arctic. His travel articles have appeared in such magazines as Smithsonian, National Geographic Adventure, The Atlantic Monthly, Sports Illustrated, and Islands.
Coasting With Jonathan Raban
July 9, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Coasting by Jonathan Raban
In 1982, Jonathan Raban bought a wooden two-masted sailing boat and circumnavigated England in a slow, wandering, unhurried way.
He called this manner of travel “coasting”: moving along with the tide, letting the wind decide the direction of travel, and living “on the shifting frontier where the land meets the water and the water shades into the land.”
Visiting One of My Travel Inspirations
June 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
A mausoleum fit for an explorer…
We had a packed agenda on this 3-day London trip, but as luck would have it, there was a two hour window of free time on Saturday morning.
Talking Travel Writing at The British Museum
June 23, 2018 by 1 Comment
The British Museum
I flew over to London last weekend for a packed 3 days of events.
It was good to be back in one of the world’s truly great cities. My last visit was in 2016.
The Best Books I Read in 2017
January 4, 2018 by 2 Comments
The Best Books I Read in 2017
It’s that time again.
I typically read about 100 books a year. Everything from travel literature to poetry, history, psychology, fiction and memoir.
