Bill Bryson: ‘Ever since I was a little boy, I have pretended to be able to vaporise people I don’t like’

‘Something that always annoys me is when people say, “Do you mind if I give you a piece of advice?” Yes, I do very much mind’: Bill Bryson. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian

You did a whole book on Australia, and have travelled here a bit since – what’s the number one tip or recommendation you’d give someone coming for the first time?

Get out and walk! I mean, maybe not through the outback, but if you’re in any of the cities, walk. I do that wherever I go. And I love to just go off and explore without knowing where I’m going, without a map or any preconceived ideas. I think it’s the best way to discover a place, and it has the great virtue that if you turn a corner – say in Sydney – and there’s suddenly the Harbour Bridge, you feel as if you’ve discovered it. There’s a real feeling of exhilaration, I think, in that. But also, you discover little cafes and hidden corners and odds and ends.