Bryson on flying, lions and getting older

When there's a list of the world's top travel writers, Bill Bryson's name is usually on it.

His bestselling travel books include Down Under, The Lost Continent, A Walk in the Woods and Notes from a Small Island.

He's also written books on language, Shakespeare, his own childhood in the memoir The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and a book on the history of science, A Short History of Nearly Everything.

The US-born, England-based Bryson is touring Australia this month in a stage show where he's interviewed by Ray Martin.

Check out this Q&A with the man himself:

You were born in Des Moines, Iowa, but have spent most of your adult life in England. Where do you think of as home?

I'm American and I think of America as home but I've spent most of my adult life in Britain and that's where I expect to spend the rest of my life. There's this feeling you can only have one country in your life, but countries aren't like marriages, you can be bigamous with countries and I like that a lot.

Where have you been to lately that you've enjoyed?

A. I was in China last year in Shanghai for the first time and it was a complete revelation to me, I felt like I was stepping into the 21st century for the first time.

What countries haven't you visited and where would you like to go?

Russia, India, all the countries between Syria and say Thailand, everywhere between that is unexplored by me, lots of South America and lots of Africa, so there's still a huge amount of the world.

You've written about your fear of animals in several of your books, how would you go on safari in Africa?

I don't think I want to sleep in a tent in Africa, I know a friend who went on a camping safari in Africa and there was a lion going through their campsite, that's not an experience I crave.

You've been travelling since you were a young boy, what's your opinion of no frills air travel?

I went on easyJet from London to Corfu in Greece, it was a really great experience, I was charmed by it, and I flew on the new Airbus 380 to Australia. A few years ago everyone thought travel was becoming a nightmare, and it felt like it wasn't worth going anywhere because it such as hassle, but now it's not that bad.

You're now 62 and you've been to so many countries, has travel lost its edge for you?

What surprises me is the excitement doesn't fade. I've been to Sydney many times, but I got off the plane and I was very excited to be here, the sun was shining. There's a comfort in knowing a place and you don't need a map to find your way around.

When you travel do you carry books or a digital reader?

For travel purposes I've been won over by a digital reader. I'm currently reading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. It was good to begin with but now it's getting slow. I'll persevere with it though as I always feel if I get so far in to it I have to get to the end.

*Bill Bryson – Many a true world, an illuminating interview.

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