TRAVEL MONTH REVIEW - 'An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington', Karl Pilkington (Canongate Books, 2010)

Accompanying the successful TV show of the same title, in which Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant send their grumpy comedy sidekick and self-confessed miserable git, Karl Pilkington to visit the seven wonders of the world entirely for their own amusement (and ours). This is a record of his experiences and observations en route to 'enlightment'.

The whole crux of this book (and the telly programme, of course) is that this is a man who hates leaving his home comforts - lets put him in what he would consider the most unpleasant and uncomfortable situations and have a good chuckle. Which is ok, because Pilkington appears to be in on the joke most of the time. And this is a funny read. Funny, not laugh-out-loud hysterical, though. I was hoping for a few more giggles, if I'm honest.

However, there are some classic lines. My particular favourite -

He offered me a glass of nut juice. Of all the things to get juice out of, I can't think of anything less juicy. I was still getting my head round the fact that carrot juice existed, now nut juice.

Anybody reading this book who is unfamiliar with the TV series might not get too much out of it. Most of the comedy is mined from the delivery and it was only because I could picture him and hear him saying these things that I found them amusig. I checked out a couple of reviews on Good Reads from people clearly clueless about Karl Pilkington and the jist of their assessments is (and I'm generalising slightly/a lot here) 'what a miserable git' (they're correct, but that is the point) 'why is a trip like this being wasted on him?' (the comedic potential for larfs). And so on and so forth.

This is no ground-breaking travalogue. The structure is very samey. Karl goes to wonder. Karl notes down some observations. Karl has a bit of a moan (mainly about toilet-related matters), transcript of phone conversation between him and Ricky or Stephen (slightly scripted TV feel to them), Karl makes a few final observations. End of chapter.

The phone transcripts seem a little pointless. I get how they worked on screen, but, on paper they are over-long and a bit unfunny and appear to be levered in to increase the Gervais/Merchant content.

In terms of the travel aspects of it all, I enjoyed the Brazil and Petra chapters, particularly his exchanges with Brazilian guide Cesco (of nut juice-gate). On the whole, I would have like more observations on the whole travel side of it from Karl and a little less of the TV related stuff.

So, as a a companion piece to the TV series, this works a treat. As a stand alone travelogue, not so much. So, yeah, if you're a fan, read away, if you're not, this probably isn't going to persuade you otherwise.

TRAVEL TIPS?

I was particularly drawn to the Mexican obsession with death. There as something about embracing the dark side is a celebratory manner that drew me to this country. I've always wanted to explore south and central America and this didn't discourage me. However, this didn't offer anything particularly enlightening in terms of travel observations, just funny commentary about the usual (bowel movements, foreign eating habits and the like). But, I'm ok with that.

TRAVEL MONTH REVIEW - 'I Left My Tent in San Francisco', Emma Kennedy (Random House UK, 2011)

It's 1989, and Emma and her best friend Dee head to the USA to make their fortune. But completely inept and virtually unemployable, they discover that they can't even get a job in McDonald's.

Forced to travel from California to New York with only pennies in their pockets, they bounce from scrape to scrape, surviving on their wits and the kindness of strangers. Bad luck and misfortune throw everything their way -- snakes, earthquakes, black magic and incontinent dogs. They even get kidnapped by a sex-crazed midget in a Ferrari. This never happened to Jack Kerouac. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

When I first decided to undertake a travel month for my blog, this book moved from the back to the forefront of my mind. I have fond memories of various 90s comedy sketch shows starring one Emma Kennedy and have been following her amusing twiter feed for a while now (I highly recommend checking out her website for some very funny anecdotes). I discovered this book whilst reading a pant-wettingly hilarious column in the Guardian about her childhood camping experiences. And I love a good comedy biography. Travel, comedy, it was a bit of a no-brainer to include this one, really.

A was expecting laughs and I got them. I don't really want to go into too many specific incidents for fear of ruining the experience for the potential reader, but there were I couple of times when I did that thing of chuckling away to myself in silent hysterics for quite a long time after putting the book down. Apparently, my husband finds this REALLY annoying, but I just couldn't stop. I had to pay several trips to the bathroom to pull myself together.

One of the other great things was the pace - whenever I pick up an autobiography, I live in dread that, no matter how much I hero-worship the author, it will be sluggish and self indulgent and will be the literary equivalent of sorting paperclips. But thankfully, the pace here was great - we move very swiftly through the university years and from then on it's set piece after set piece and all the better for it. I particularly enjoyed the little sub plot of her parents parallel event-filled jaunt across Europe. (Three words - HAUNTED NAZI MANSION.)

I've never been to the US, but this book is a great nostaligic trip for anyone who'e ever taken a gap year and chooses to remember it through those ever-reliable rose-tinted specs. Whilst reading this, I remembered all those long forgotten days of anguish and boredom and frustration and the fact that the streets of foreign climbs aren't always paved with gold, more likely dog shit and flecks of vomit (I had my own little adventure with BUNAC in Australia). But this makes it all funnier when recalling these experiences. With the benefit of a few years, mind.

So, a brilliant read, highly recommended, and you can't say better than that really.

TRAVEL TIPS?

Um, yeah, if you're prepared for your trip and remember to bring your tent, you're probably less likely to run into trouble with midget porn barons, BUT, your travel biography would make very dull reading. So, swings and roundabouts, I guess.

TRAVEL MONTH REVIEW - 'Are We Nearly There Yet?', Ben Hatch (Summersdale, 2011)

The story of a madcap five-month family trip to write a travel guide—embracing the freedom of the open road with a spirit of discovery and an industrial supply of baby wipes (Synopsis from Goodreads)


A bit of a departure from my current reading habits, this one. I'd noted a fair amount of Twitter buzz surrounding this book, and I'm a sucker for a bit of Twitter buzz (because most of the time, it turns out to be justified). Plus, having two kids that are on the minuscule side myself, I was pretty intrigued by the motivation of a couple who would willingly travel the length and breath of the UK with their offspring over an extended period. I figured a full-frontal lobotomy might occur at some point in the narrative, either that or some bouts of hysteria.

Ok, ok, I exaggerate (slightly). Travelling with kids can, on occasion, be, er, quite pleasant with occasional glimpses of gushing pride at cuteness of offspring, but on the whole, one gargantuan headache.

Ben Hatch and his wife, Dinah, are commisioned to write a guidebook assessing family friendly-hotels and attractions across the country.  Swiftly moving on from each spot, Hatch documents the inevitable disasters, arguments, accidents and humour that you can imagine would stem from the scenario.

This book is EXTREMELY funny. I had preconcieved notion of it being a bit twee but it was anything but. I nearly wet myself twice in mild hysterics (the good kind) - never will I be able to recall my own fond memories of Liverpool without thinking about the 'submarine' in the Albert Dock. Trust me, you will have to be a very cold-hearted curmudgeon not to giggle at this. Kudos to Hatch for his frankness and honesty - nothing, and I repeat NOTHING is glossed over. I'm not quite sure I would like so much graphic detail on the author's bowel movements for every book I pick up, but I can forgive it here, because, again, it made me laugh like a mad-woman.

What is surprising is that the day-to-day goings on are accompanied by a very personal account of Hatch's attempts to come to terms with his father's serious illness. His accounts of his trip are interdispersed with tales of his short visits to  his dad. One side is steeped in humour, the other in sadness but the two never jar and both strands compliment each other perfectly.

Biographies can be a bit hit-and-miss for me. They can often end up being self-indulgent ramblings that mean very little to anyone but the subject. I always like them with a healthy dose of humour and a brisk pace, and this works on both these points.


Even if you don't usually go for travel biographies, I really recommend this one, especially if you have kids. It definitely served to remind me why we only attempt a family holiday, once a year, if that. 


TRAVEL TIPS?


Well, the main here one is never, I repeat, NEVER leave to go on the open road without a mammouth supply of chocolate buttons to use for bribery etc.
Also, another thing I loved about this was that it reminded me how little I have seen of the UK and the colossal amount of cool stuff on my my own doorstep. On the other side of the coin, it did flag up the sheer amount of boring crap to avoid, which is just as useful. And put me off going to the Lake District any time soon.