A Geordie In Girona

I’m no Buddhist monk

It was Benjamin Franklin who said: “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” Well, 20 years or so ago, I did something worth writing – I travelled the world for a year – and, by jingo, now I had something worth reading to write about! As I travelled, I kept a diary, filling the pages with thoughts and observations from all of those wonderful countries I visited. I wrote about the food and drink I consumed, the different languages, beliefs and cultures I came across, the intriguing mix of characters I shared my adventures with, and the numerous pickles I inevitably found myself in. There may have even been the odd romance or three along the way – after all, a year is a long time and I’m no Buddhist monk! I travelled on planes, boats, trains, buses, cars, motorbikes, tractors, canoes, rafts, helicopters, and even on the back of camels and elephants. I paraglided and I bungee jumped. I trekked to Machu Picchu. I watched tango in Buenos Aires. I picked cotton in Australia. I ate insects and fish eyes in Thailand. I am now using this very same diary to write a book about my travel adventures. As I’ve been working on it quite extensively recently, I thought it was about time I wrote a blog to update you on its progress and how I’ve been finding the writing process.

Last few months

It’s been quite a difficult time for me lately. After my dad died in April, I spent the entirety of May in Newcastle. There were a number of admin tasks related to his passing that needed to be carried out and I also had quite a bit of translation work to get through. More importantly, I also wanted to make sure my mam was coping alright by herself. I finally returned to Spain at the start of June and, since then, work has completely evaporated. Naturally, this has left me feeling very worried. I have also noticed an increased amount of negative chatter about Artificial Intelligence recently. It is no secret that AI has evolved greatly in the last few years. As a result, a large amount of freelance translators are now seeing an inevitable decline in their workload and I can’t help but to feel that this has got something to do with my sudden dip in projects. On the plus side, the downtime in work has at least given me a wonderful opportunity to push on with my book. Starting life as a bit of a rough diamond, it is really taking shape now and, although there’s still a long way to go, I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. 

Writing process

At some point after returning from my travels in 2006 – I think within the first year – I sat down with my laptop and transferred everything from my diary on to a Word document, giving it a bit of a light edit along the way. I always dreamt that one day I might use the material to write a book, but it wasn’t until March 2024 that I finally decided to do it. I began to slowly work my way through the raw text, keeping the good stuff and binning the boring bits. I then began to structure it, breaking it down into chapters and, from there, I started editing the text, improving the language and style so that it became more fluid. When it came to describing things in a more accurate and lucid way, I also found that looking at my old travel photos helped greatly as they took me back to a specific point in time. Once I finished writing about one country, I looked back on it to make sure it read well and it was entertaining. It also gave me the opportunity to spot errors and correct them. Then, once I was happy, I’d move on to the next country and do the same until I’d completed three or four countries. At this point, I would go back through the entire section containing all those countries and give the text another spit and polish. Eventually, when I was completely satisfied, the entire section would be sent to a colleague to read who would then offer me his opinion on it.

Current situation and what happens next

I completed the first two sections some time ago. Section one contained my time in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Chile, whilst section two only contained two countries, Argentina and Australia, because I was there for a longer period of time. I’ve just finished the third section – containing my adventures in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Laos – so I’m just waiting to hear my colleague’s opinions about it. In the meantime, I’ve had a few days off from writing, mainly to give my brain a little time to recover before I go again. I’ve already started to read through my diary entries from the final section which covers my time in Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and India. It has brought back some great memories and I can’t wait to get cracking again with it in a day or so. Once this last section is complete, I will send it to my colleague again for his opinion. Then, I will go through the entire book again, rewriting sections and finely tuning it in a way that takes into account any observations or problems my colleague or I have identified. Perhaps the biggest issue that I face is that it is currently far too long. I always used to have the same problem with my MA assignments as well – they’d often be twice as long as they should have been – so I will need to ruthlessly go to town on it, removing all the unnecessary jibber jabber. Once I’ve completely finished writing the draft, it will go back to my colleague who will proofread it and provide me with his editing suggestions to improve the book further. I will then make all the necessary alterations and, hey presto, the writing side of things will be more or less ready.

Other things to do besides writing the book

You would think writing the book is the hard part but, unfortunately, it’s just the tip of the lettuce really. There are so many other things to consider as well. One of the most important things is perhaps the book cover which, together with the back cover, needs to be designed, either by me or someone else. Then there is the title. At present I am using the working title ‘Chasing the Sun – Travel Tales from a Backpack Diary’. However, I have a few other ideas floating around in my head so there is every chance the title may change. I would also like to add maps in the book for each country that I visited. Showing the routes taken and the destinations I stopped at along the way, I believe they would be a great help to readers who are not familiar with the countries I’m writing about. Before I can start selling on Amazon, I need to make sure my book follows certain specifications regarding typesetting so that my final copy will be fit for purpose, not only for printing in book format but also for reading in digital format for anyone who prefers Kindle. Furthermore, I also intend to have it available as an audiobook so eventually I’ll have to record myself reading it. I know you can now use Artificial Intelligence to do voiceovers, but I’d prefer to keep everything as authentic as possible. I am pleased to say that I have never used AI for anything during the book writing process so, when it comes to voices, the only one I will use for my audiobook is my own – no matter how much I may cringe when I hear my own recorded voice. From a marketing perspective, I also need to decide on the book’s price and also how I am going to advertise it. So, as you can see, writing the book is the easy bit!

Release date

There’s a long way to go yet but I’m hoping that the book will be ready before the summer of 2026. A lot will depend on how much work I get as translator in the coming months. At present, things don’t look particularly promising on that front so it could well be that it’s full steam ahead with the book and, if so, it will definitely be ready before the end of the year. More posts will follow over the coming months related to the release date and any other juicy bits of info so, if you don’t already follow my blog, you may wish to hit that subscribe button below to ensure you don’t miss out on anything. Finally, perhaps you are wondering if the book is actually any good. Well, I couldn’t possibly comment myself, but one critic has had this to say about what he has read so far: “With its captivating storyline and perfectly blended humour, it’s a wonderfully entertaining read.”

So I suppose the answer is a resounding yes!

Ready for the off in Singapore