Interview: Patricia Schultz, travel writer, on Scotland

‘PEOPLE get very emotional about the book and describe it as a bible,” says travel writer Patricia Schultz, the author of 1,000 Places To See Before You Die. “They won’t go anywhere without consulting it. That leaves me astounded.”

The book, originally published in 2003, has been translated into 26 languages and, with three million copies in print, can be seen on many a traveller’s shelf – usually dog-eared or with destinations proudly crossed-off.

Now they’ll have to get a fresh one, as it has been revised, with a fatter second edition that features 600 more photographs, an extra 200 pages and 200 new entries (some of the individual “1,000 Places” have been rewritten to feature more than one attraction).

As before it’s divided into location or continent – Europe, Africa or the Middle East – then subdivided into countries and their must-see destinations, such as “The Kremlin and Red Square”, or “Trekking and Romance in the Atlas Mountains”.

The new version also features much more of Scotland, about which the author is happy to wax lyrical. In fact, as part of her current tour of the US, to promote the book, the first picture in her PowerPoint presentation is one of the Hebrides.

“Some destinations and circumstances come together by pure serendipity to create a perfect experience and that’s what we had,” says Schultz, 59, who visited Edinburgh and the Hebrides in October, with her husband, Nick, in tow (she usually travels solo). “We had the typical bad weather, which reminded me of how moody and romantic Scotland can be, and then brilliant sunshine, when everything was green and lush. We took our time tootling around until we arrived in Oban and got on the Hebridean Princess. I’ve been to Skye before, but I’ve never actually set off on a ship to see the outer islands.”

The Scottish pages of the book also feature entries on “The Balmoral Hotel and the Royal Scotsman”, “Edinburgh Castle and the Festival”, “Mackintosh’s Glasgow” and “The Castle Trail”, among others.

Schultz wants to return soon, in order to cover something else: “I’ve never been to the Military Tattoo – it’s on my very, very short list of things I haven’t done.” And that’s an ever-diminishing line-up, as she has been to around 80 per cent of the places featured in the book.

When she began writing the first edition back in 1995, she soon realised the scale of the job ahead.

“It was overwhelming,” she says. “I had to concentrate on whatever country I was involved in at that moment – France or Botswana – and keep moving forward. It took me eight years from beginning to end. I was just concerned about putting one foot after the other and getting through each day with a smile on my face and still vertical.”

Also, the internet was in its infancy then, so research and organisation were more difficult. Although, as Schultz says: “Now every independent website would have you believe that their destination is one that you have to see before you die”.

However, even her relentless schedule, and the exhausting nature of travel – all the packing, unpacking and waiting for flights – couldn’t dampen Schultz’s passion.

When it comes to this degree of wanderlust, was she born with it, or did it develop over time?

“I heard a wonderful quote recently, and the significance resonated. It was that your character begins not when you’re born, but 20 years before. In other words, it’s all about your parents. Mine never travelled – we were from a modest background – but they encouraged my curiosity for what was across the street. They always nurtured that, and my heart will forever be indebted to them.”

When she was 15 years old, Schultz’s first trip abroad was to visit a schoolfriend who lived out of term in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. The trip was funded by her parents, who did overtime to save money for their daughter’s trip.

The book is not about dispassionately scoring destinations off a map, or being an intrepid explorer. It’s about the pleasures of a place. Therefore – especially as Schultz mainly travels alone (“I was in Buenos Aires for 48 hours once, and my husband wasn’t remotely interested in taking a 12-hour flight to stay for two days”) – she doesn’t stray into dangerous or unknown territory.

“I’m very careful about where I go,” she says. “In the US, we’ve been reading about the journalists who have been killed in Syria in recent weeks. I don’t pretend to be a war correspondent or to want to seek out these impossible places. My goal has been to explore the wonders of the world.”

However, she says, there are destinations that might simply be more challenging, as visiting them might take you out of your comfort zone.

“I’ve never been in a situation that’s so bad that I’ve considered it uncomfortable. If anything I’ve thought, ‘I’m not particularly enjoying myself at the moment but, my God, what an education.’

“One of the trips that was a complete removal from anything I’d ever done before was to Papua New Guinea. As much as you can’t identify, you can marvel that others are still living as if 1000 years ago. There’s so much of an immediacy there, with people who are bare-breasted and wearing grass skirts in a way that you thought only existed in National Geographic documentaries.”

Schultz talks so enthusiastically that it’s easy to get swept along and start looking out your passport.

Despite this, she knows that the recession makes it difficult for people to spend money on travel, and that not everyone can escape the office in order to take long holidays. However, if you have the drive, you don’t necessarily have to go too far from home – as long as you immerse yourself in the experience.

“It’s what gives me inspiration, faith in the world and joy,” says Schultz. “People who don’t travel convince themselves that they’re not interested, that they’re fine at home, but I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying it once they’re in the middle of it. Travel opens you up. You can’t be immune to the wonders of the world.”

• 1,000 Places to See Before You Die (second edition), is published by Workman, £14.99.