Traveling My Way Cannibals to Communists to Dining with the Queen written by James Bruce. Review by Sean Malone, Editorial Assistant with Orange Hat Publishing | Ten16 Press
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“As we’re eating, a man walks by. My guide tells me the man is 76 years old (really old here). I smile. He smiles. His smile shows he is absolutely toothless… I offer some buttered bread and wave to him to sit down next to me… I ask him what the holes in his kina shell necklace represent. The guide asks, and translates: ‘They are for the eight men he has killed and eaten.’ That’s a showstopper! My guide says it’s true. The man looks at me. I offer him more buttered bread, and we all burst into a good laugh.” –Papa New Guinea, 1984
Traveling is truly the most subjective of experiences. The wayward tourist has all too many priorities to consider when visiting domestic or international destinations. Apart from selecting the location, there are various options for how to spend the time. What provides the best “sense” of a new place? Should one focus on the amenities and trappings of the city or on hiking and camping through rugged countryside? What interactions are the most representative of a culture? Whether you’re planning an upcoming trip or would simply like to sample the experiences of an avid traveler, James F. Bruce’s Traveling My Way offers a considerable platter of diverse anecdotes of world travel. While the highest concentration of passages occur in Africa and Asia, the book delivers on its subtitle with a highly eclectic sampling of travel vignettes, taking the reader to six continents across six decades of global encounters. Bruce’s style is informal; the book reads like he is sitting across a table from you at a restaurant or a bar
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OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2021
