3.- Travel writing.
Travel writing of literary value typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. We have a fine example in Spanish: Camilo José Cela's Viaje a la Alcarria. Some famous travel writers include Paul Theroux (The Great Railway Bazaar), Gerald Durrell (My Family and Other Animals), Jack Kerouac (On the Road) Bruce Chatwin (In Patagonia), Robert Louis Stevenson (Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes) or Bill Bryson who, in Notes from a Small Island (1995) describes his travels in the United Kingdom.
Read and listen to the text by American travel writer Bill Bryson.
Citas Para Pensar
The sun was shining in a kindly way. This was France, and I was in that happy frame of mind that always comes with the start of a long trip. My wife and I had recently taken the decision to move back to the USA for a bit, to give the kids the chance to see where their father comes from and my wife the chance to shop until 10 p.m. seven nights a week. However, I had insisted on having one last look at Britain – a valedictory tour round the green and kindly island that had so long been my home. I had come to Calais because I wanted to re-enter England as I'd first seen it, from the sea. The next day I would begin the serious business of investigating Britain, but today I was carefree and unattached.
Bill Bryson In the morning, I breakfasted early and stepped out to another promising day. Clutching an inadequate little map that came with my ferry ticket, I set off in search of the ferry terminus. On the map it looked to be quite near, practically in the town centre, but in reality it was a good two miles away. And all the while I walked I was uncomfortably aware – actually in a panic – that departure time was approaching and that the ferry terminus, though always visible, never actually seemed to get any closer. Eventually, I arrived breathless and late and looking like someone who'd just survived a disaster. I boarded the ship with a certain disquiet, as I am not a good sailor. However, before long, it seemed, we were sailing into Dover harbour and the welcoming, watery sunshine of England.
Adapted from Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson.
