The travel writer and historian tells
Vicky Lane
about the tricks of his
trade and why a travel-free youth made his path inevitable
WilliamDalrymple
I had a very sheltered
upbringing, which involved very little
travel. My parents lived in a very beautiful part of Scotland,
where people came for their summer holidays, so there was no
need to go anywhere else.
When I first went travelling
at age 18, before Cambridge, the
effect it had on me was far more devastating and exciting than
for kids who were better travelled. I’ve never really recovered.
It was during that
life-changing year off that I started writing
about my experiences. It started with letters, and then pieces
for the college rag. In 1986, I won a scholarship prize, bought a
ticket to Jerusalem and walked Marco Polo’s route to Xanadu in
Mongolia in just over three months. By the time I left university,
I had written my first book about that journey.
The key to travel writing
is to get the details down. A journal is
essential. You don’t have to write brilliant prose, but record the
detail of specific conversations and sensations; the dust under
your feet, the sweat on your brow, the colour of the landscape.
Sight, sound, smell, feel is the key.
If I had to list my favourite
places in Europe, Rome
would come very high up. My brother is a
Catholic priest and trained there, so a lot
of my teenage years were spent flying out
with my parents to visit him. I finally went
back again last summer after 20 years
and it was like rediscovering an old love.
My wife and I both
love Greek food. We went to Santorini this
year which was lovely, and to Crete the year before.
You can’t beat Paris.
It's so easy! Good restaurants, nice hotels,
walking along the Seine – it always goes very nicely.
I used to write travel
books that drew a lot on history and now
I write history books that draw a lot on travel. It’s very much a
circular process: you go somewhere you want to read about,
you read about it, you write about it, you travel again.
One of the odd things
about being a travel writer is the
sensation that you are never quite on holiday. While it is lovely to
be doing your hobby as your work, you're never quite off the job,
never quite free from work.
I would say to anyone
trying to become a travel writer to
remain persistent because it is a wonderful career, particularly
when you are young. I regard myself as enormously fortunate to
have had such amazing adventures.
The irony is
that I had a very stationary childhood and
it left me with a great yearning to travel that I still
have. My kids seem to be the opposite. After
being dragged around [the world] they have
no huge interest at all.
Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan
,
by William Dalrymple is out in early 2013.
PHOTO
MAGNUM PHOTOS
P L A N E
T A L K I N G
One of the odd
things about being
a travel writer is the sensation
that you are never quite
on holiday
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