Independent Reading Post 8

Prompt: 18
Chapters: 21 & 22

"At the same time, I had a quite irrational urge to keep going. There is something about the momentum of travel that makes you want to just keep moving, to never stop. That was Asia over there, after all-right there in my view. The thought of it seemed incredible. I could be there in minutes. I still had money left. An untouched continent lay before me. But I didn't go. Instead, I ordered another Coke and watched the ferries. In other circumstances, I think I might have gone. But that of course is neither here nor there." (page 245)

The last sentence of the above quote, "But that of course is neither here nor there," is where the title of the book most likely came from. Towards the end of the book, Bryson is speaking about how he could have kept traveling but it was his choice not to. The last line alludes to that fact that Bryson does not regret not traveling more and does not regret stopping where he did. It seems to define the book well because it speaks to the care-free and spontaneous attitude that Bryson possessed on the trip, one with no regrets. I don't think I would change the title of the book because it is a title that speaks well to the main issues presented. However, if I had to change it I would maybe call it, "The ups, downs, ins and outs and everything else that you will ever need to know about Europe and it's people." I think this title also speaks well to what the book is about because Bryson truly does describe more than the stereotypical travel book, and he does so in a way that makes his reader understand fully what the culture of the country is like.