Benedict Allen: Author Profile

by Travel Writing World
Benedict Allen

Benedict Allen stops by Travel Writing World to answer a few questions about his career as a writer. He is the author of several books, most recently Explorer: The Quest for Adventure and the Great Unknown (2022).


How did you first become interested in writing travel books?

As a child I wanted to become an “explorer” – and set about trying to achieve that rather curious ambition. It seemed to me, even as a boy, that writing about the experience – of discovery, of immersion in other lesser known worlds – was part and parcel of the process. You went out, you recorded your experience, and then reported back.  

How did you manage to get your first travel book published?

My first adventure was very dramatic, a first known crossing of one of the remotest stretches of the Amazon, during which I contracted two forms of malaria and also almost starved to death, It was, I suppose, a compelling adventure that publishers wanted to publish. But it took me a year or more to write. 

What is your writing process like, both on the road and at home? And how long does it take you to write a book inclusive of the research, travel, writing, and editing phases?

I write copious field notes, then bring them home to work up properly. Expeditions might take six months. A book two years. 

What books or authors influence or inform your own work?

None now; as a boy I greatly admired Laurens van der Post, one of the few modern proper ‘explorers’ who were foremost writers – and of course I liked Wilfred Thesiger, Freya Stark, Thor Heredahl, Jacques Cousteau, and so on. I knew none of them well personally, but met them all and always assumed that was the sort of job I had too – that of totally immersing myself in little known or unrecorded environments, then sharing what I’d been witness to.  

What advice would you give to someone interested in writing a travel book?

It’s a lonely process, and usually not lucrative, so before you embark on it just make sure you have something new to contribute – a new angle, fresh eyes, or a new discovery: that’s the value in what you have put down, assuming you have the ability to communicate that experience, of course!  

What is so appealing about the travel book as a literary form?

It’s a cliché, but the value is in the outer journey but also the inner journey. Also: though as a child I wanted to be the classic type of “explorer” – and did become that, to an extent – in truth we humans are all explorers. We are all curious, we are all seeking to discover. And in setting off to the horizon we are re-enacting what our cave-dwelling forefathers did. It’s a primaeval impulse – no less valid today, when we think the world explored, though it is not, than a million years ago.  

Why write about travel?

If you have something new to say, then I think you should say it – you are a witness to the world as you see it. Dr Livingstone is one of the most famous explorers of the Victorian “Golden Age” of exploration – yet really he was just a witness for Europeans to an Africa that was already well known to many Africans and Arab traders. His account was still important – a fresh (European) perspective; and this process of recording the world from your own perspective is valid today too. 


Benedict Allen stops by Travel Writing World to answer a few questions about his career as a writer. He is the author of several books, most recently Explorer: The Quest for Adventure and the Great Unknown (2022).

If you enjoyed this interview with Benedict Allen, you might enjoy our other author profiles for more behind-the-scenes interviews with authors of travel books.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

* By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More