Back to The Beach: A Lost Interview with Alex Garland
Twenty years ago, Frank Bures chatted with a young Alex Garland about his travel novel, The Beach. Bures recently unearthed the interview—a time capsule from the dawn of global backpacking.
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Features
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- A Sort of Homecoming
- Travel Stories: Ivana Waz left Serbia for America when she was 14. She returned to her homeland with her son to answer the question: Was she more Serbian or American?
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- How Korean Karaoke Changed My Life
- Travel Stories: After being turned away from the school choir, Lavinia Spalding lost her love of public singing. Then she moved to South Korea.
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- Riding the Slot
- Travel Stories: As she struggled to make sense of her father's final days, Lenore Greiner sailed across a treacherous patch of San Francisco Bay
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- Road Trip to the Spiritual Assembly
- Travel Stories: When her Aunt Noonie needed company on an annual pilgrimage, Nancy Davis Kho tagged along. Just how "woo-woo" would things get?
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- The Intricate Weave
- Travel Stories: Don George was in Cremona, Italy, and grieving the loss of his father, when he heard the violin soar
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- War Story
- Travel Stories: Could a trip to the old battlefields of Europe with his veteran father work a little magic on their relationship? Jim Benning hoped so.
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- Walking Off Writer’s Burnout
- Travel Stories: Jeff Biggers hadn't written anything original in months. The joy was gone. Then he and a friend went for a stroll in Bologna.
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- The Accidental Hitchhiker
- Travel Stories: In Samoa, Celeste Brash gave a ride to a man she didn't know. Their encounter will stay with her forever.
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- How a Taxi Ride Changed a Writer’s Life
- Travel Interviews: Layne Mosler's memoir, "Driving Hungry," chronicles her cab-centric quest for great meals and experiences. Jim Benning asks about it.
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- A Not-So-Literary Tour of South-Central Mexico
- Travel Stories: Peter Ferry made the trip based on a story he'd heard about Hemingway's Lady Brett Ashley, but in Taxco, nothing was quite what it seemed.
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- Call Your Mother. Seriously.
- Travel Stories: Abbie Kozolchyk visits a most unusual theme park in Singapore
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- Cuba, Undistilled
- Travel Stories: Tired of hearing pundits pontificating about Cuba, Chris Ryan wanted to see the island for himself -- before the coming of Best Western and American Express
Writer Spotlight: Pico Iyer
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Why We Travel
Travel Stories: In a classic essay, Pico Iyer explores the reasons we leave our beliefs and certainties at home to see the world with open eyes
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The Photographer and the Philosopher
Travel Books: Pico Iyer on Jan Morris and V.S. Naipaul, two "master portraitists" of place
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Lover’s Moon
Travel Stories: Pico Iyer on the power of travel to make a forgettable Glenn Frey song last forever
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The Perfect Traveler
Travel Books: Pico Iyer on the author who steals into so much of the travel writing we enjoy
Video of the Day
Video You Must See: Japan at Warp Speed
video: An up-tempo time-lapse visit to Japan