Travel Takeaways by Julie Watson
Published by Beachy Books, 2023

Subtitled “Around the world in forty tales”, the book comprises (yes, you guessed it) forty short accounts of the author’s trips to places as varied as Italy and Japan, Mexico and the Arctic Circle. 

Written during the Covid pandemic, the author writes of the pleasure of reliving past travels at a time it wasn’t possible to actually “go there”. 

There are stories of people, others of places, and some focus on food and/or friendships. It’s a book about destinations, difference and, occasionally, danger. 

Some accounts are more interesting than others but, sadly, in many of them, what I didn’t get was any sense of fun or sometimes even much enthusiasm. During my own travels (which range from India to the US and Spain to Egypt) there’s been a wonderful mix of the bizarre, the exciting, the fascinating and, only occasionally, the awful. Such a shame the author hasn’t shared more of the diverse experiences travel can offer.