Category Archives: Writing

18
Aug
2010

A snapshot of a wandering wildman.

5 comments
Posted in Travel, Writing
Back in the spring I gave a corporate motivational talk in Mallorca. As well as the usual smart clothes and laptop for my presentation, I also packed a bivvy bag. The night of my talk I stayed in a very smart hotel. The next morning I filled my pockets from the breakfast buffet, checked out, [...]

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25
Jul
2010

Pedals and Paddles – part II

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Posted in Travel, Writing
I was only two weeks down the road on my way from Yorkshire to Sydney when the attacks of September 11, 2001 shook America. Suddenly war was declared and my scenic ride through Afghanistan no longer seemed like such a fun idea. So when I reached Istanbul, instead of carrying straight on towards Australia, I [...]

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13
Jul
2010

Writing is not a sensible activity. Just do it.

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Posted in Books, Writing
Nobody ever got started on a career as a writer by exercising good judgment, and no one ever will, either, so the sooner you break the habit of relying on yours, the faster you will advance. People with good judgment weigh the assurance of a comfortable living represented by the mariners’ certificates that declare them masters [...]

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06
Jul
2010

Pedals and Paddles – part I

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Posted in Travel, Writing
Over the next four weeks I am serialising a chapter I wrote for a Lonely Planet book a while ago. I hope you enjoy it as a chunk of old-fashioned vicarious travel writing and a break from the usual blog-fayre of soundbites. Get a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits and enjoy… “At times [...]

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15
Jun
2010

Kit selection for a walk across India

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Posted in India, Kit, Writing
The night train thunders past. The vibrations shake the ground I am lying on through my small inflatable mattress. My head rests on my rucsack. From the darkness I snatch glimpses into the brightly lit carriages. As suddenly as it arrived, the train is gone. The darkness and the silence it leaves behind feel more [...]

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10
May
2010

The Days of Anguish: being a writer

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Posted in Motivation, Writing
I find writing books to be quite the hardest thing I have ever done. They hang over you for months on end. The hours I spend with my elbows on my desk clutching my hair in my fists and screwing up my eyes in frustration and despair massively outweigh the happy hours of flow that eventually [...]

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08
Apr
2010

Make a living doing what you love

3 comments
Posted in Speaking, Writing
I recently gave this interview to journalist Alexis Grant. You talk about making a living doing what you love. How have you managed to do that? The key thing is to do what you love and do something interesting. Worry about the money-making afterward. I have managed to make a living out of traveling by: a) doing [...]

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15
Mar
2010

So You Want To Be A Writer?

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Posted in Poetry, Writing
Pete sent this poem through to me. I’m not sure I believe it all, but it’s food for thought… So You Want To Be A Writer by Charles Bukowski if it doesn’t come bursting out of you in spite of everything, don’t do it. unless it comes unasked out of your heart and your mind and your mouth and your gut, don’t do [...]

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10
Feb
2010

How to become an author

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Posted in Books, Motivation, Writing
Mark Pilgrim, writer and Google employee has these fine, ferocious words to say about aspiring to be a writer. Read them, turn off the internet and then get on with writing your next book. (That’s a message to myself, not to you!) “I’m a three-time (soon to be four-time) published author. When aspiring authors learn this, [...]

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08
Feb
2010

Across Scotland – a microadventure

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Posted in MicroAdventure, Packraft, Writing
Rannoch Moor’s colossal bleak landmark appeared even more forboding than usual as the train climbed north through Scotland. The ground was thick with snow, the sky grey-white and threatening. Burns and rivers were frozen solid with snot-yellow ice and the motionless rivers snaked towards iced-over lochs round the base of black mountains marbled with white. [...]

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