onsdag 23. januar 2008

Instead of jewels, perfume, shoes and new clothes....

My passion is travel books. When other women buy jewels, a new bottle of perfume, shoes, chic clothes.....well, I buy another book or ten. And on top of my passion list are travel books.

It can be
an old paperback worn to pieces, or a full coloured coffee table books which makes me empty my wallet. It might be a book describing travels close to where I live, or the traveller's tales take me around the world. The dream lies in them all.

Looking through my fast growing book collection I can find tracks from early childhood. I have a book from 1941 which I've inherited from my father, the inscription on the first page tells that this was a Christmas gift when he was 9. It tells the story of two children travelling around the world and all through the book there are photos, maps, tickets and drawings illustrating the adventures of the kids. I have another book from a few years later, S.O.S. Arktis, which takes me to an icy cold world of hard days filled with challenges, and yet another from 1965, Kartet som vokste (The Growing Map) - the great explorer's tales told for youths. Add Jules Verne, stories from the first missionaries, National Geographic and other books and magazines, and you have enough to fill the mind of
a young traveller to be.

My collection of travel books is growing steadily. I know I should make a list of what I have, but that's a task for some coming future.

A couple of months ago I was browsing the travel section in one of the book stores here in Trondheim. I do this often, but my treasure hunting is not always successful. That spesific day I found the golden egg though: Burton Holmes
TRAVELOGUES, The Greatest Traveler of His Time, 1892-1952. Hardbound. Full coloured. Huge. Tempting. (Unfortunately amazon has no image available).

Luckily we live in the credit card area. I bought the books, and now it resides on top of my chest of creativity.

1 kommentar:

Anonym sa...

I think that's a nice passion to have.

Paz ;-)