Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I wish to thank the many individuals who took part in the research I conducted for this book. Some consented to be interviewed, others completed questionnaires, but to all I remain deeply indebted:

Arthur [pseud.]

David Atkings

Bess Blackwell

Richard Blais

Fergus Bordewich

Jeff Brar

Ollie Cooper

Steve Crawford

Anna Danielle

Christine Davies

Alan Dodds

David Dudeck

Patrick Earle

Ernest [pseud.]

Bill Fillmore

Bruce Finch

Trish Flindall

Fergus Foley

Angela Ford

Richard Garner

Nino Gualtieri

Mark Godfrey

Henry Hamilton

Alastair Harper

David Hodges

James Hooley

Jean [pseud.]

Karl [pseud.]

Bill Kerr

David Lane

Roger Ledressay

Terry Ledressay

Max [pseud.]

Carol McLean

Margot Miller

Kaarel Parn

Lana Parn

David Pearson

Brenda Pulvermacher

Robert [pseud.]

Karen Rogers

Geoffrey Seccombe

Bruce Shore

Don Skelton

Frank Sullivan

John Wall

Patrick Welland

Ann Woodruff

I owe an added round of thanks to Patrick Welland, who provided me with the notes he took during his travels in 1975, and to Carol McLean, who similarly provided me with notes compiled by her grandfather, Edward Reeve, from letters she had written home during her journey in 1964–65. David Harvey, John Hunter, and Brenda Grant also generously shared letters and diary notes related to their respective journeys.

This book would likewise not have been possible without the help of Abe Tinney, who transcribed my recorded interviews; Rosemary Howard, of the University of Lethbridge Library, and Lourdes de Aguilera and Maria Angeles Prieto, both of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, all of whom assisted me in obtaining data on international tourism; and Abdie Kazemipur, for our wonderful conversations about Iran and the Middle East prior to the 1979 revolution. I am also grateful to the University of Lethbridge for granting study leaves and research funding.

Particular thanks are extended to three very good friends: Rob Phillips, who provided me with a large number of valuable books on travel, as well as endless encouragement; Ron MacTavish, who similarly provided encouragement throughout and made useful suggestions on an early draft; and Hillary Rodrigues, whose own travel experiences and observations confirmed my account.

I am greatly appreciative of the critical advice offered by anonymous reviewers of both earlier and later drafts of the text and to Athabasca University Press’s editorial board. Special thanks as well to Pamela Holway, who encouraged me to turn what began as a sociological study into a more personal, narrative account and provided analytical and contextual material, and support throughout, and to Peter Midgley, who pushed me to critically examine the meaning of my own words.

A very special thanks from across the years goes to Ahmad, Maude, Moira, Rainer, Sandra, and Wyhet, to whom this book is dedicated. Though we will probably never meet again, you are always in my heart and in my thoughts.

As always, my wife (Terri), daughter (Jayna) and her husband (Adam), son (Keenan), and brother (Marvin) have been a source of support, to which are now added my grandson (Maxton) and granddaughter (Hollie). Sadly, my parents did not live long enough to read this book, although I think they would have enjoyed it.