Memoirs must be one of the most interesting and satisfying genres for a writer, returning to people and events of the past, both happy and otherwise, that awaken old memories and invariably recall other ones. I was fortunate to have begun my adventures in the early sixties, when there was a general belief that the world was finally at peace and free of war. Life was full of hope and opportunity.

In this frame of mind, I ventured down the Amazon River at the age of twenty-three with my cousin George, quite ignorant of what lay ahead of us, and found the whole experience exhilarating, which led to a lifetime of travel with my wife Marit.

As professor of English literature, we lived in various parts of the world, including Jamaica and Barbados, London and Bahrain, Nigeria and Swaziland, Oman and Japan. Now retired in Mexico, I look back on our wonderful time together in these different places, enjoying every one of them – and it was all such great fun!