Traveling after fiction

Hi fellow travelers.
I am looking to hear from people who have traveled somewhere because they had read a fiction book, seen a movie or traveled somewhere because fiction inspired you to do so. I went to Calcutta after having read ‘The Calcutta Chromosome’ and used it as a guide in the city. I expect my experience of Calcutta was quite different than if I had 'just' used a guidebook.

Please let me know if you have done something similar. I need the information for my master thesis at the English department at the University of Copenhagen.

Thanks a lot.
Katrine.

My trips to the South Pacific were probably precipitated by reading James A Michener's "Hawaii" & "Tales of the South Pacific". Since those long-ago days, I have devoured as much Sth Pacific fiction / travel stories / biography / history/ guide books and contemporary works as I can find.

All of this is valuable for "informing" travel - we owe it to other countries and people to at least try to understand what we are seeing and experiencing - otherwise, it's better to stay home and buy a coffee-table book!

It is also interesting to compare your own reactions with those of other writers - Paul Theroux is one of the most interesting, since I don't think I've ever felt even vaguely similar thoughts to him about almost anywhere in the Sth Pacific I've been - thank Goodness! Perhaps that's one reason why I get back there at every possible chance!

I think it can be a mistake hough to try to "repeat" somebody else's experience, since perceptions can be such personal things, and can depend also on external factors which can often vary from hour to hour, let alone years after an author's experience.

Took the trans siberian after remembering and seeing again Dr. Zivago (sp??). A wet and cold Sunday evening in the eastern US- I began arranging the trip the next morning. Was during the USSR days, so it was not an easy trip to plan, especially since I refused to take one of the nearly required tours. Used the Great Railway Bizarre as a travel guide.

Travelled to the MIddle East after several years of Catholic school.

I guess that depends on if you feel the Bible is ficton or not.

While teaching in western Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, I read a book called "Murder on the Mataniko Bridge" by Anne Kengalu. Anne was a teacher from New Zealand who married a Solomon Islander.
She wrote lyrically about the Ontong Java Atoll (later I discovered it was the home of her husband). It is also called Lord Howe (Not to be confused with the island near Australia)
It is one of, if not the largest atoll in the world.
And it is very beautiful.
Trouble is, the only way you can get there is on one of the local "ships" and I was woefully seasick for 24 hpurs. (I don't normally get seasick).
They have since built an airstrip, but there are no regular flights yet.