Following the Equator

The wisdom of travel writers

The best travel writing has such a timeless and universal quality, and it endures with lessons and observations that keep us thinking.

We can read a handful of those lessons in a blog post at Brave New Traveler by Olivia Hambrett, who examines "5 Writers Who Affirm the Importance of Travel."

Among the literary luminaries she quotes are Maya Angelou, Margaret Mead, Rosalia de Castro and, of course, our favorite, Mark Twain. Hambrett offers this fascinating tidbit about Twain: Despite the critical success of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Twain's best-selling work of his lifetime was The Innocents Abroad.

Twain vs. Bryson

A July 2008 issue of Time magazine, which we wrote about in July, aptly makes the case that Mark Twain was the founding father of American irreverent humor.

Twain took on topics that up to that point had only been addressed with staid seriousness—politics and travel were his usual targets— and from ordinary material, he fashioned what I would call "humor missiles." Then he fired the missiles at his readers, delivering a message that otherwise would have been lost in the clutter.

That article names people such as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and the cast of Saturday Night Live as followers of the path that Twain blazed, and I agree: They definitely keep the political humor missiles flying. But what of the travel humor missiles? I propose Bill Bryson as the modern-day Twain in that regard.

Twain's World

Mark Twain never grows old. That's the premise of the new Time magazine that just hit newsstands.

A gorgeous portrait of Twain graces the July 14 cover of Time's Annual Making of America Issue, which illustrates how Twain not only was the man of his times ("America's Original Superstar," he's called) but also a man for all times. His wit and wisdom on politics and race, just to name two, make Twain as relevant today as in the late 1800s.

While Twain is lauded as the inventor of the American novel and the forerunner to today's political funnymen such as Jon Stewart, Time also points out what we well know about our hero: "Twain was best known as a travel writer."

Time created a remarkable map (above) that marks where Twain traveled in writing his five travel books: The Innocents Abroad (1869), Roughing It (1872), A Tramp Abroad (1880), Life on the Mississippi (1883) and, of course, Following the Equator (1897).

Mark Twain needs help

"The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money."    — Twain

Perhaps an exception to Mark Twain's adage about money and friends can be granted on behalf of the master himself.

Imagine our disappointment yesterday when, shortly after writing about Twain's travel literature, we learned that his former house in Hartford, Connecticut, is in danger of being closed to the public because it's running out of money.

Unfortunately, as yesterday's New York Times' headline puts it,
"This Time, Rumors of Demise May Be True."

The Mark Twain House & Museum is where Twain reached the pinnacle of his success, holing up in the third-floor billiard room to pen by hand, among other masterpieces, Huckleberry Finn.

New book on Twain's travel literature

Our blog's inspirational hero, Mark Twain, has always been the premier champion of travel.

Few writers have expressed the essence and importance of traveling as clearly and as compellingly as Twain. And few people have had the perspective to observe the world with such keen insight.

Now, a new book turns the tables on Twain's travels, examining his own writing. The book— titled Mark Twain's Travel Literature: The Odyssey of a Mind
by English professor Harold H. Hellwig—provides an analysis of the travel themes that Twain used in his classic works, including Following the Equator.

Vagabonding's inspiration

Speaking of Mark Twain, our favorite travel writer gets his due from author Rolf Potts in the April issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Potts is the champion of vagabonding, or extended traveling without a set itinerary. He has written a book, Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel, and maintains a Web site, vagabonding.net, devoted to his passion.

There's a Q&A with Potts in the April National Geographic Traveler, and editor Keith Bellows asked him, "Which storytellers have had the most influence on you?" Potts' response:

"Certainly Mark Twain. He was someone who could travel the world and find delightful details. I recall Twain said he'd seen enough bones of St. Stephen in European cathedrals to replicate him several times over."

We love a good Twain reference. Our friends at Intelligent Travel also posted a video excerpt of the interview:

Twain inspiration

We're not the only blog drawing inspiration from Mark Twain these days.

In his blog, Global Neighbourhoods, Shel Israel just tipped us off to Leo Babauta. Leo just resigned from his job to write his blog, Zen Habits, full-time. Leo's announcement began with this favorite Twain quote:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Good advice. And good luck, Leo!

Speaking of inspiration, Shel (and Robert Scoble) wrote the blog book Naked Conversations, which encouraged us to begin this blog in the first place. Thanks, Shel!

Greatest travel books

Looking for a last-minute holiday gift? Or maybe just a good read? How about a classic book? Gadling just reminded us of Condé Nast Traveler's list of The 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time.

Compiled by a jury of 45 writers, the books aren't ranked numerically; they're only listed alphabetically—everything from Along the Ganges by Ilija Trojanow to Wrong About Japan by Peter Carey. The list is historically comprehensive, spanning The Histories by Herodotus (circa 440 B.C.) to this year's Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney.

Our hero, Mark Twain, landed three books on the list: The Innocents Abroad, Life on the Mississippi and Roughing It. But, to our extreme disappointment, our namesake, Following the Equator, didn't make the cut.

Happy Birthday, Mark Twain

Today is Mark Twain's birthday. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on Nov. 30, 1835, in Florida, Mo. Under his famous pen name, Twain became America's most famous literary icon.

Of course, we have a special place in our hearts for Twain here at Following the Equator, evidenced by the fact that we named our blog after Twain's final travel book. So, happy 172nd birthday, Mr. Clemens.

Thanks to World Hum for reminding us that today also is Jonathan Swift's birthday. World Hum was particularly interested because Twain and Swift both created characters on its list of the 10 Greatest Fictional Travelers—Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Jim, and Swift's Lemuel Gulliver.