I was reflecting on travelling companions just now, and I thought I’d go into a bit more depth on teh subject than would be desirable in the book review (as it has little to do with the books). What I mean is – in real life, as well as in the travel writer – I like the kind of travelling companion who wants to be there, or at least, would rather be there with me – travelling – than, say, back in the office, or at home watching television. You’re allowed your moments of “I miss my own bed!” naturally (I have those too), but you need the sort of enthusiasm for travel which means that if someone really offered you the chance to go back home you’d stare at them aghast, not jump at it. I like the sort of travelling companion who will sit down and laugh with me when we arrive (by bus) in St. Ives in the late evening of 28 December and find that I’ve booked the B&B from the 29th and we have nowhere to sleep. Not the sort who panics when we arrive in Stratford and find that the B&B isn’t actually a B&B and so we have nowhere to sleep, on the other hand we have a car and are a three hour drive away from home. WE ARE NOT GOING TO DIE! DON’T PANIC! For &%#&’s sake. IT’S FUNNY!. That may have been the moment when my conscious mind started to realise that maybe me and this person were not meant for each other after all. Or it may have been earlier when he… No, let’s not get personal here (though, hey, if you’re reading this and feel I might possibly be referring to you, please let me know… that you’re reading this, I mean).
I also rather like the kind of travelling companion who is happy to go his/her own way while I go mine and meet me for lunch or dinner, and not insist that we spend every minute in each other’s company despite the fact that we want to see wildly different sights (I’m going to spend an hour browsing this bookshop and if you want to sit in the corner and sulk because you wanted to see the football stadium then be my guest, but I am not going to come to the football stadium afterwards – there’s a perfectly charming little museum just down the road that I want to see and that’s all I’ll have time for today). Sociable, but not too sociable.
Ok, now for a FUN quiz (thanks Nicolette):
Sound of the moment: dog barking outside
Age of the moment: 23