I’ve been in a bit of a reading and blogging slump and have finally thought it through enough to come out the other side. This blog was started in 2011 so it is almost 10 years old and I must say I am feeling quite stale with what I’ve been reading and writing. When I think back to the books I get the most excitement from and just really enjoy I always come back to travel writing. Travel writing isn’t written about that much. Most of the bloggers I follow read the Bookers, the Stellas, the Pulitzers, the popular books, current events, politics, global issues and authors from the first half of the 20th century. While I enjoy following these posts they are books I don’t always get too enthused about, except maybe authors of old. Modern authors, though on my radar, aren’t always authors I enjoy reading. I think too many of them try to be too clever, politically correct to the extreme , using gimmicks that try to outdo everyone else. (Okay, you don’t need to agree with me and I will still like you).
I like adventure. I like a good story. I’m too old for too much naval gazing and deep and meaningfuls. I feel too old to do much more about changing the world from outside of my own domain. I’m leaving it to the younger generation. I have spent years writing letters to politicians, working in unions over worker’s rights, volunteering for various causes. I am tired now. Being in my 70’s I want to back down and enjoy what is around me more.
My interests in life are friends, animals, nature, photography and travel. I enjoy a lot of books that surround these subjects. Having been socially isolated for several weeks now along with the rest of the world, these topics are continually rising to the surface.
I’m supposed to be in Sydney today. I should be spending a day with a fellow photographer friend talking about the performance I saw on Saturday night at the Opera House. That same friend and I had booked a trip to Italy, Slovenia and Croatia and should be leaving in a couple of weeks. Sadly all of that has gone by the wayside and I now spend time here housebreaking a Jack Russell puppy who thinks he knows everything and argues with me every chance he gets. (Lucky for him he is such a cutie)
It is odd how quickly things can change. On the other hand I have been enjoying the quietness of being at home all the time. It’s given me a chance to buckle down and sort through closets and bookshelves. I even did a cull of some books and moved them on.
I haven’t been reading much though I did start the book Bruny by Heather Rose that was
kindly sent to me by a friend in Queensland. I am enjoying it. It is political but I know who all the characters are as it takes place in Tasmania. The author isn’t at all careful about not revealing, shaming and almost naming the politicians this story seems based on.
But….. I keep going back to travel books in my heart. People walking, cycling, motorbiking to the corners of the earth. I love the people they meet, the experiences they have. The suspense of tricky situations that sometimes arise. I love road trips more than any other kind of travel, both real and virtual. I want to be with them on that bike, in that backpack so I am giving all the books I feel I “should” be reading the flick and focusing on travels. The Travellin’ Penguin didn’t get his name from reading best sellers.
I’m hoping the enthusiasm will come back to my moods when it comes to pages between covers. I am also listening to more podcasts about books and interviews with authors regularly so I am not going to be completely in the dark regarding modern times.
So, without further adieu the Penguin and I are going to get our virtual passports and spend time doing more out in the world. I’ve scattered some photos throughout of the 
places and people I plan on spending time with.
It’s time for a quick catch up. I abandoned the Alphabet book sharing from my shelves as I found I was having to spend too much time online either researching the authors or looking up photos of the books plus writing about the book. During lock down there are more phone conversations of people I usually catch up with, emails to friends and relatives overseas, book blogs to read, books to read. All in all I was just on screens too much and it was getting to me.
The Illustrated Emerson Essay and Poems. I think Emerson was an important writer for students to know about, especially his essay on Self Reliance. What could be more important than young people knowing that it is up to them to achieve and succeed and not blame others or circumstances on coping with everything that happens to them. I have always felt strongly about this.
The next book that follows on from this one is a beautiful copy of The Illustrated Walden or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau. Some of his well known quotes included “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”; “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately”; “Books are the treasured wealth of the world”, “Our life is frittered away by detail.” There isn’t much there I disagree with.
Lucas joined the staff of the humorous magazine Punch, in 1904, and remained there for the rest of his life. He was a prolific writer, most celebrated for his short essays, but he also produced verses, novels and plays.
