I found this real-life story of a man from Togo, who becomes obsessed with Greenland as a child and spends years working his way up through Africa and Europe to get there, fascinating.
Not only does it dig deeply into the everyday lives of native Greenlanders – dog-sledding, seal shooting, ice fishing, and a surprisingly open attitude towards sex – but we get a double dose of insight because we get to explore the Inuit way of life from an African’s perspective.
It’s a well-written and amusing account of an amazing and rare adventure; I enjoyed it immensely and would recommend to anyone who enjoys travel.
The gripping true story of one man's ten year expedition from a village in West Africa to the Arctic Circle
WITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY THE AUTHOR
Scorching heat, rich, fertile soil, and treacherous snakes marked the landscape in which Tete-Michel grew up in 1950s Togo, West Africa. When he discovered a book on Greenland as a teen, this distant land became an instant obsession - he was determined to journey to the place these pages had revealed to him and embarked on the adventure of a lifetime.
A book of rich and immersive travel writing, Michel the Giant invites…
A beautifully written account of an Englishman who ventures to rural Romania and ends up staying after he falls for a gypsy girl.
The author captures a seemingly idyllic, pastoral way of life and describes it with such grace that I was left longing to join him swinging a scythe in the hay meadows or sitting by a crackling wood stove after a day of splitting logs.
Although the book covers a period of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, the world Blacker documents could be from a century ago. It’s a moving, wistful, sometimes amusing, and eventually poignant account of a way of life that likely no longer exists; recommended for all arm-chair travellers or anyone with an interest in Romania.
Chosen for the Duchess of Cornwall's online book club The Reading Room by HRH The Prince of Wales
When William Blacker first crossed the snow-bound passes of northern Romania, he stumbled upon an almost medieval world.
There, for many years he lived side by side with the country people, a life ruled by the slow cycle of the seasons, far away from the frantic rush of the modern world. In spring as the pear trees blossomed he ploughed with horses, in summer he scythed the hay meadows and in the freezing winters gathered wood by sleigh from the forest. From…
This book took me to a chain of wild Greek islands that I knew nothing of before.
Blending exploratory hikes with local history and local characters, I was transported to a world of sheep farmers, ferry rides, honey-makers, abandoned homes, warm seas, and beautiful beaches. In this book we explore the rugged side of island life; the off-season, the rain, the winds, and the wildness, after the tourists have gone home.
It was fascinating to learn that these islands have lost much of their populations as people migrated for easier lives elsewhere. If you want to learn about real Greek island life, this book is a must.
"A vivid and intoxicating account of these beautiful islands" - Victoria Hislop.
"A must-read for anyone who loves the Greek islands" - Richard Clark
'There's something about abandoned places which moves me and captures the imagination.' So says seasoned travel writer Jennifer Barclay as she walks with her dog and her backpack through the deserted spaces of the Dodecanese, islands that were once bustling but are now half forgotten and reclaimed by the wild due to a mix of misfortune and the lure of opportunity elsewhere. Join her on a journey through abandoned villages and farms, cave-houses and captains' mansions,…
A Japan where snakes slither down school corridors, where bears prowl dark forests, and where Westerners are still regarded as curious creatures. Welcome to the world of the inaka – the Japanese countryside.
Unhappily employed in the UK, Sam Baldwin decides to make a big change. Saying sayonara to laboratory life, he takes a job as an English teacher on the JET Programme in a small, rural Japanese town that no one – the Japanese included – has ever heard of.
Arriving in Fukui, where there’s ‘little reason to linger’ according to the guidebook, at first he wonders why he left England. But as he slowly settles into his unfamiliar new home, Sam befriends a colourful cast of locals and begins to discover the secrets of this little-known region.
