(inspired by this thread)
Mr. Palin would be my choice. He comes across as congenial and adventurous enough for my tastes.
I think Remond O’Hanlon might be last on my list. His companions always seem to have a hard time of it during his adventures.
I’d pick Richard Francis Burton.
I’d like to go with Mary Kingsley, but I think I’d annoy her. Or T. E. Lawrence.
ReDmond O’Hanlon :smack:
Matt Dillon might be good if he counts. He’s fond of the Cambodian bars, I hear. City of Ghosts (2002) was to some extent inspired by the people he met there.
Benjamin of Tudela was a fascinating medieval Jewish traveler.
Ghengis Khan. Maybe not the most tranquil traveler, but he did visit quite a bit of the eurasian countyside.
Michael Palin was my first thought.
But Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman would be pretty damn cool too.
Michael Palin was my first thought too.
Keith Floyd - the food would be amazing.
David Attenborough - Michael Palin played him, once, you know.
Gerald Durrell - such a sense of humour.
Anthony Bourdain seems like a good guy to be out and about with.
Anthony Bourdain for me as well.
I’d like to travel with Jan Morris. I’ve read several of her books and have seen some TV interviews with her, and I love her personality.
Nellie Bly on her round-the-world trip.
Anthony Bourdain would take me to the yummiest places to eat.
Samantha Brown, OTOH, is just yummy.
Some days I would say Burton for the excitement. And other days I would say Malcolm Forbes for the sheer Luxury and absence of worry while travelling.
Well part of me says I’d like to go with Ernest Shackelton, Richard Burton, or Edmund Hillary; but the other part of me is a 21st century pansy who knows that he couldn’t even be a porter for any of those giants.
With that being said, I’ll go with Hiram Bingham III, the discoverer (or re-discoverer if you like) of Machu Picchu.
**
This is mine also.
They also have a follow up series called “Long Way Down”, but I don’t think it’s out on DVD yet.
So many… I’d pack up & leave any day if I could accompany either of the following on their original trail.
- Fa-Hsien (China, Central Asia and India in the 4th century)
- Jørgen Jørgensen (Iceland, Battle of Waterloo, Tasmania)
- Marco Polo (Classical Silk Route)
- Herodotus (Babylon, Egypt, etc.)
Present day… I dunno. Perhaps V. S. Naipaul who seems to be a pretty intelligent and observant traveller.
If A Cook’s Tour is anything to go by, he’d make you eat cockroach scrotums simmered in snake bile.
Having recently read India, a million mutinies now, I’d say he wouldn’t be much of a laugh down the pub of an evening.