12+ I started "travel writing", recording journals of my travels when I left Australia in 1987 for two years backpacking and living abroad in England and Europe. I kept writing journals and diaries on my daily life in England and broader travels in the UK, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa until I returned to live in Australia nine years later in 1996.
In 1987 my backpacker's bible was Europe Through the Back Door by Rick Steves. He had a different way of looking at people and places that contrasted with the then-popular Let's Go series, while other guidebooks like Lonely Planet and The Rough Guide weren't so well known in the mid-80s, at least not to a novice backpacker like me!
Europe through the Back Door
Steves summed up his approach in the guidebook's introduction:
Most people enter Europe through the front door. In fact, seeing Europe in this way has become common-place -- almost blasé. Make your trip special. Come with me ... through the back door. A warm, relaxed, personable Europe will greet us as an intimate friend.
Using Europe Through the Back Door as a guidebook made me feel like a traveller rather than a tourist. Not for me the packaged tour, "It's Tuesday, so we must be in Rome" approach.
I was going to explore and savour the real Europe via the back streets and backdoors!
Browse & Buy on Amazon.com.auIn truth, keeping to a schedule to extract the most value out of a Eurail Pass or to reach a destination by a specific date meant much of my travel — by train, plane, bus, boat and even truck — was done at a Contiki Tour-pace. And apart from living in England, I never spent long in any one location or country.
For instance, I only spent five days in Poland. If you haven't been to Poland, have a look at it on a map - it's a huge country!
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A Backpacking Tourist
So I was a backpacking tourist, not a traveller. But I think the things I saw and did, the people I met, seeped into my soul and being and my writing.
I've kept all my journals and diaries from my "backpacking years". And recently, I've started to share some of my travel writing on Tall And True.
Have a read - like all writers and "travellers", I'm always looking for tips and feedback!
© 2018 Robert Fairhead
Robert shares his writing on Tall And True and blogs on his eponymous website, RobertFairhead.com. He also writes and narrates episodes for the Tall And True Short Reads storytelling podcast, which features his short stories, blog posts, and other writing.
Robert's book reviews and other writing have appeared in print and online media. He has published three short story collections — Both Sides of the Story (2020), Twelve Furious Months (2021) and Twelve More Furious Months (2022) —, a microfiction anthology, Tall And True Microfiction (2023), and a collection of speculative fiction, One Day in the Life of Alex's AI and Other Speculative Fiction (2024).
In addition to writing, Robert's favourite pastimes include reading, watching the Sydney Swans Aussie Rules football team with his son, and walking his dog.
He has also enjoyed a one-night stand ... as a stand-up comic.
