Book tips from travel bloggers
October 14, 2016
Name: Clemens M. Sehi
Age: 32
Occupations: Travel Journalist, Advertising Copy Writer, Creative Director
Blogging since: 2013
Most Recent Trip: Ethiopia
Next Trip: Malaysia
Blog: Anekdotique
DW: Which books have helped you prepare for your trips?
Clemens Sehi: I like to read novels about the countries that I plan to visit. Two of the best were "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" and "South of the Border, West of the Sun," both by Haruki Murakami. He uses clear and natural language - and it makes you feel like you're in Tokyo, even though you've never been there: the big-city chaos, the screech of the trains as they pull into the station, the rustling sound of the cedar forests. Murakami does a first-class job of creating impressions of a given place, converting those impressions into emotions, and expressing those emotions in words.
But he's not the only one. There's also India's Rohinton Mistry. His novel "A fine balance" manages to capture the character of an entire subcontinent in just one book. It's inspiring. I couldn't imagine a better way to prepare for a trip to India.
Which book did you take along on your last trip?
I always take one or more print editions of standard travel guides. On my last trip, to Ethiopia, I had a guide published by Iwanowski and one from the Lonely Planet series, "Ethiopia, Djibouti & Somaliland travel guide". In general, I prefer print editions. Books are things that you're supposed to be able to hold in your hands. Words on paper. I can write in those books, too - about my experiences, and things to remember for next time. The books get older, right along with the person who owns them. They become dog-eared, and there are hand-written notes all over them.
Name a book that saved the day during a trip.
Those big, heavy Lonely Planet guides are great - like the one they did on "China". They're good for lots of things - like killing cockroaches, for example.