Does travel have to involve hardship?

Certainly the most miserable times are the most fun to read about it. On a sunny day, you want to hear about someone suffering through the snow and ice. It shows the limits of human endurance.

Do you always travel alone?

If I want to write, I travel alone. Writing about travel requires both having the experience and having the time to reflect and write. If you're with someone, they're saying: "Where are we going to eat? I'm hungry." Or, "Hey, look at that!" So travelling is best done alone, but a vacation is best shared.

Do you get lonely?

Sometimes it's very tough. But to paraphrase Chekhov, if you're afraid of loneliness, don't travel. That solitude is part of travel, and it makes travel happen. You have an experience that you wouldn't have if you were really happy and sitting in a restaurant.

You tend to travel overland. Why do you avoid flying?

I would rather do anything than fly. There's nothing to recommend flying except that it's quick. You see nothing, you're hassled, you wait … Your travel only begins when you get out of the plane. Until then, you're just in a rocket ship.

Do you worry about your carbon footprint?

Of course, but there are worse things. Tourism is environmentally destructive – it's not just the plane that's the problem. Companies dig up virgin soil and put up a big hotel, they need a sanitation system, they need water. In a lot of these places the local people have no water, they have no food … That's an obvious concern.

What are your thoughts about the recent ash cloud?

It truly interests me that a volcano 1,000 miles away can create havoc, climate change, close airports, cause breathing problems … It's nature's answer to man's arrogance: we tamed the planet, but the planet is fighting back.

Do you still have a thirst for travel?

My thirst has been slaked, but I still have a curiosity. After finishing a novel, other people go out for lunch or see their friends, but I am compelled to go to India or South America.

How has travel changed?

More people travel, it is cheaper, people are travelling further, and they're travelling to exotic destinations. Now everyone has been to Bangkok. Once upon a time only the very rich went to Bangkok – or only the very attractive.

One of the paradoxes of travel is that as some countries open up – Albania, Vietnam, Russia – others close down. Iran used to be a valid destination. Afghanistan was a place where hippies would go. Tourists were encouraged to go to Libya. It was: "Come to sunny Zimbabwe and look at the giraffes!" It's strange.

You have to seize the opportunity. If it's possible to go to a place, go there, because something may happen and then you won't be able to. Don't say, "Oh, travel is over, you can Google it." Take advantage of the possibilities and get going.