‘Curiouser and curiouser,’ cried the Ed

AN OLD FRIEND, BRUCE ROBERTSON, INVITED ME ON A BOAT RIDE SOME YEARS BACK. AS A RENOWNED CHEF, HE WAS HOSTING THE AUTHOR PAUL THEROUX. I DROPPED EVERYTHING

It was a blustery evening in Table Bay, just the three of us and the skipper on the boat – plenty of opportunity to learn from the legendary wordsmith. I had recently left a career in advertising and was determined to become a travel writer. Steering clear of admitting my literary aspirations we shot the breeze, which was easy to do with Theroux, even on a rolling ocean trying to hold our drink. But he saw through me, and where I surreptitiously yearned for sage advice on travel writing, he gave me the simplest guidance possible.

Theroux had just returned from a bus trip to Angola. What left the greatest impression on me was his reason for the journey. ʻI was curious,ʼ he said. That was it.

It reminded me that the more curious we are, the fewer expectations we have and the more profound the experience. Without plans and itineraries, travelling becomes discovery. This way you find yourself in unfamiliar situations and surroundings, you have to remain curious to keep going, find ways out of or into situations, rely on strangers, make the best of chance encounters and experiences. Itʼs no holiday, but thatʼs not the point – you learn so much more about the people and the place you are in.

If we take curious journeys we have a better chance of broadening our horizons; we may even discover magic. The most profound trip I ever took was to Alaska. I landed in Anchorage with no agenda whatsoever and resurfaced four months later in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. I was transformed by then.

These pages are full of journeys by curious people, who follow hardened swimmers into the toothy waters of the Cape, seek out the remarkable women bird guides of KwaZulu-Natal, cycle into the maw of Jozi to bask in astounding street art, photograph animals that will become new symbols of conservation, reveal the researchers who track wildlife from 13 000km away in order to catch poachers in the Waterberg. Arenʼt you curious?

The editor contemplates a glacier in the Canadian Rockies while on a journey from Alaska to Mexico.