The Naming of the Blog

Of all the travel decisions I'm making, this is one of the hardest! Something original, witty and relevant is required, but what?

Here I am setting off on a 10 week jaunt through Indochina, and I need a theme. Then it came to me. Whenever I travel I try to bring home a paper knife as a memento - with varying degrees of success.

It all started back in 1981 when I was travelling through Spain, and saw this great Toledo dagger. I ummed and arred, but it was just beyond my meagre travel budget so chose to pass it by. Well, I regretted that decision for years, but finally my brother Geoff made good for me when he returned from Spain a few years ago with something very similar. Great - but not quite the same.

Not a great deal of success in Canada in 2005 either. The bus stopped at a craft shop in the Rockies, and I was delighted to find a fine blade with an exquisitely carved handle in the shape of a classic Inuit totem, clearly hand-crafted by local artisans. With the bus about to leave, I hurriedly bought the knife and rushed back to the group. Examining my purchase in more detail on the bus I was dismayed to find "Made in China" etched in incredibly fine print on the back of the handle!

So my search continues for a set of authentic, functional paper knives with which I can slice open bills and love letters alike.

So what's this got to do with A Tramp Abroad?

Well, Mark Twain clearly had a similar problem, as he wrote in his novel "A Tramp Abroad":
When one is reading in bed, and lays his paper-knife down, he cannot find it again if it is smaller than a saber.

And of course the double meaning suits me perfectly too - I'm a backpacking tramp travelling light and cheap, and doing a fair amount of tramping as well.

Follow my travels as I seek the perfect paper knives of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and outback New South Wales.