Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Travel
Rory MacLean

‘Travel is medicine’: how the Sherborne Travel Writing Festival can inspire our trips

Camel trekking through the desert.
Adventure travel trips, such as camel trekking in the deserts of North Africa, are – for most people – better to read about than to actually do, says author Colin Thubron. Photograph: imagebroker/Alamy

These past few years have brought dramatic changes to our lives: Brexit, Covid lockdowns, climate change, soaring energy costs and the largest, most brutal war in Europe since 1945. While our horizons have drawn in, travel writers have continued to reach out, rediscovering and reinterpreting the world for a new age. From 14-16 April, 10 of the UK’s finest travel writers will come to Sherborne in Dorset to transport readers, listeners and both armchair and intrepid travellers alike towards the four corners of the globe.

The Sherborne Travel Writing Festival will be the first festival devoted exclusively to travel literature to be held in the UK in recent years. At its heart is the idea – and the timely theme – of reaching for the horizon. But how to justify a celebration of travel literature at a time when difficult personal finances and climate change loom over many of our travel plans?

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.