'One fine day, and I know how romantic and old-fashioned that sounds, but it is what happened in my case, I packed a rucksack, took leave of my mother, and caught the train to Breda. An hour later - you know how small the Netherlands is - I was standing at the side of the road on the Belgian border sticking my thumb in the air, and I have never really stoppped since.' After making his first voyage as a sailor - to earn his passage from his native Holland to South America - Cees Nooteboom has never stopped travelling. Now, his most remarkable travel pieces are gathered together in a fascinating collection; from exotic places like Isfahan and Mali, to seemingly domesticated places like Australia and Zurich, Nooteboom gives us his unique view of the world, using his penetrative observation to show us the strangeness in places we thought we knew and the familiarity of places most of us will probably never see. A whimsical, hilarious, heartbreaking tour of the world from a writer A. S. Byatt has called 'one of the greatest modern novelists', Nomad's Hotel is for anyone who dreams about getting away - and then wishes they'd stayed at home.