travels with my donkey robert louis stevenson

The great affair is to move to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly to come down off this feather bed of civilisation, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints. For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.

Why any one should desire to visit either Luc or Cheylard is more than my much-inventing spirit can suppose. He gave no reason for his journey, being a devotee of travel for its own sake. He published his account of his trip with Modestine in the year after his journey: Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. RLS was also a writer, and most people first meet him as the author of Treasure Island or Kidnapped. He came from Scotland, son of a lighthouse builder. He was 27 years old, already a veteran traveller, and destined to go on travelling, ending his life in Samoa. RLS was suffering from a broken heart when he set out. No donkeys, but a lonely cow, with bell joined us for an hour one day.

My companions were 13 walkers, guided by a professional tour leader, looked after by a wonderful tour manager. This route took us further south, crossing from East to West. Last week (May 2016) I travelled, in much more luxury but also on foot, from Ganges to Millau. They covered 120 miles together, travelling south from Le Monastier (near Le Puy) to St Jean du Gard. This is a mountainous area north of Montpelier. In the autumn of 1878 Robert Louis Stevenson set off with his donkey Modestine, spending 12 days travelling in the French region of the Cevennes.

Travels with my donkey robert louis stevenson