I've never read his columns.
How can you read a column with a profile picture of a dog?
I was pleasantly surprised with the calibre of this book.
It's 40 years of living aboard.
It has the good the bad and the ugly.
I know, cliches aside, the book took me back, way back, to a time when things were a bit more gentle.
Of course it had the coups, and some more.
The writer stated he wasn't a war journalist.
I appreciated his honesty.
The little visa runs into Khmer Rouge territory verged on the fascination.
The book has gems here and there.
I felt the last few chapters were just fillers though.
I'm not big into sports.
The botched English words on menus were interesting.
The writer had a maid for 30 years.
There's a story within itself.
To be really honest, the earlier chapters, where the author makes it overland from the UK to eventually reaching Thailand, and the little forays into Malaysia, were the really compelling chapters for me.
It was hardened traveling with the hopes, doubts and dreads which that kinda traveling affords.
There's a bit of a clubby feel to the book, and it's easy to feel left out if you couldn't make an impression and keep a cushy job like most of them did.
