Going travelling is one of the few things we undertake in a direct attempt to make ourselves happy – and frequently, in fascinating ways, we fail. We get bored, cross, anxious or lonely. It isn’t surprising our societies act as if going travelling were simple, just a case of handing over the right sum of money. But a satisfying journey isn’t something we can simply buy: it’s the result of an art that has to be learnt.

This is the guide: not to any one destination but to travel in general. It talks to us, among other things, about how we should choose a place to go, what we might do when we get there, how we should make good moment stick in our minds and why hotel rooms can be such liberating places…

In a succession of genial essays, we become students of an unexpected but vital topic: how to understand and more fully enjoy (what should be) some of the finest experiences of our lives. Included amongst these are a number of quizzes and practical exercises to help us reflect on what we have learnt, as well as room for recording our own thoughts and observations of wherever we find ourselves.

Essays include: 

• How to Choose a Destination
• What is ‘Exotic’?
• The Importance of Sun
• The Pleasure of the Airport
• The Longing to Talk to Strangers
• The Little Restaurant
• Drawing Rather than Taking Photographs
• The Advantages of Staying at Home