From Hell to Paradise: and a thousand places in between

John Davies takes you on his journeys of 60 years travelling through most of Europe and North America, and invites you to share his wonderful train journeys, the great outdoors, inspiring countries and cities, together with a look at the contemporary scene as he sees it.

We’ve all probably been on the train from Hell at some time, but what about going to hell on a one-way ticket! Or arriving at Paradise twenty years on and finding it’s not much different? That is probably why I felt I should do penance in Purgatory yet another twenty-two years later.

How about a lightning 20-minute visit to Las Vegas at 8 in the morning, staying in Chattanooga and Kalamazoo, both featuring in Glen Miller’s big band repertoire; and following in the footsteps fo fictional Monsignor Quixote in Spain or Inspector Montalbano in Sicily? And the really scary one; Josiane and I outside the twin towers in New York the day before 9/11!

None of this would have been in my mind on my first school trip to France in 1958, which was a start a lifelong love of travel that would take me through Europe and North America.