Around the year 2000, someone recommended Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux to me. It’s a book about his travels around China in the eighties.
I’d never heard of him, but I was at the beginning of my own Chinese learning journey, and his observations and overall travelling ‘style’ had a big impact on me. He came across like a literary version of Anthony Bourdain—moody, opinionated, and intriguing.
By the time I made it to China in 2001, much of the book was out of date, but the trains were still old and slow (the titular Iron Roosters).
My travelling companion and I would sit on tiny flip-down seats next to the train windows at the foot of our hard sleeper bunks, and I would practice Chinese with the locals, asking them ‘controversial’ questions we thought Theroux might ask. Do you like America? What do you think of Mao?
Theroux is foremost a writer of literature, able to paint a vivid picture of his experiences that you can absorb and feel. Colin Thubron has a similar skill.
But they are both old men now. Who are their replacements? Does travel writing even work—or matter—when we have endless uploads of travellers filming everything in sight?
Surely the answer is yes. A plane ticket, a selfie stick, and a YouTube account do not an inspiring travel story make.
And yet, these videos get views. Hundreds of thousands of them.
But what do the viewers gain?
I think it depends on how much thought goes into it.
Watching a traveller sit at a street café in Baghdad with his phone facing him is, for many, just another form of procrastination. They numb their minds watching other people do stuff.
Bourdain’s shows—though, obviously, backed up by a sizeable budget—were a good template for what video makers can accomplish. He spent time talking to people, having conversations, listening to the beating heart of the place. His voiceovers captured the moment, and he didn’t sugarcoat his moods, which made the experience feel real and visceral.
It was still television, though, which is full of smoke and mirrors. His episode on Saigon, for example, features him walking into the food area of Ben Thanh market as if it’s a quaint little spot where locals eat. Not true. It’s an overpriced tourist trap. But some artistic license is okay. There’s plenty of fiction in Theroux’s travels books too.
The point is, if we’re going to see less travel writing and more travel videos, can they include conversations with a little substance? Can there be more show, not tell? A little more artistry over virality?
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