Nicolas Bouvier | To Japan and Afghanistan in a Topolino

The two friends parted ways on the road after one and a half years, and Bouvier subsequently continued on his own via India to China and then onwards to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where he remained for nine months. In “The Scorpion-Fish”, Bouvier described in 1982 how Ceylon’s hot, humid climate sapped his energy – but also how his senses were sharpened while documenting both the insects and the shady localities of this fascinating, frightening island. He left Ceylon in October 1955 and took a French steamboat to Japan, where he stayed for a year, compiling the material that he would share in his 1970 book “The Japanese Chronicles”.

A low point

Back in Europe, where in 1958 he married Eliane Petitpierre – the daughter of a Federal Councillor – and soon became the father of two children, Bouvier needed years to put the fruitful experiences of his four-year trip into writing. The author, who wrestled with every word and was a stickler for accuracy, soon went through a deep, personal crisis that plunged him into despair and alcoholism – an episode that found expression in his 1982 book of poems “Le Dehors et le Dedans” (Inside and outside). But it was precisely by recalling the distant memory of his time in faraway countries that he managed to pull himself out of the abyss. For many, Bouvier’s singular relationship with far-flung localities made him a credible decipherer of the human condition and an utterly unique travel writer.

“Savour the sweetness of life”

From 1963, Bouvier produced a flurry of works reminiscing on his extensive travels between 1953 and 1957. But he also covered subsequent visits to Japan, Korea and China, as well as producing a notable, vivid account of his time on the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. Even after his death in 1998, Bouvier – whose mantra was “savour the sweetness of life and the art of living, as if today were your last” – has continued to inspire people around the world to travel with inquisitive, open eyes and treat the unknown with love and respect. Translated into all the main languages, his books have lost none of their magic, not least in this era of mass tourism.

Many of Nicolas Bouvier’s books are available in French, German and English.

Charles Linsmayer is a literary scholar and journalist in Zurich.