The first thing that impressed me was the build quality. I’d seen a couple of the earlier versions of Kindle and they looked cheap and plasticky and somehow, just wrong. Where Apple products always look sophisticated and desirable, the early Kindles look like they’d come out of a Soviet factory just before the Wall fell. I’m pleased to report that the new Kindle looks good. Not great. But good.

The second thing that impresses is the e-ink screen. The Kindle comes with a plastic protector on the screen that peels off with instructions printed on the front telling you how to charge your Kindle for the first time. Well, I thought the instructions were printed on the clear sheet. They were, in fact, displayed on the screen it was protecting! A really clever ploy by Amazon because they’ve sold you on the quality of the display straightaway.

The third thing that impresses is the ease of buying books for the device (within the Amazon eco-system, of course.) You choose the book, click one button and, hey presto!, the book is downloaded to your Kindle, either over a wireless connection or a 3G network, depending on which flavour Kindle you bought. I’ve always maintained that the way to combat piracy is to make it dead simple for people to buy an eBook. Amazon have got it spot on. Why faff around with Pirate Bay and complicated file conversions when buying a book is this simple?

Of course, another essential weapon to fight piracy is getting the price right. Make eBooks too expensive or poor value and people will start looking around for pirate versions.

Since I got my Kindle I’ve found that my personal price point has hovered between £2.50 – £3. I’d probably pay more for an author I really liked, but not much more than half the price of the printed versions. But at £2-3 I’ll happily downloaded a book that I’ve been meaning to read but haven’t got around too.

Like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for example. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and at £2.68 it was a no-brainer. I loved it and promptly downloaded the other two books in the trilogy at £2.68 and £2.44 respectively. That’s three sales Quercus would have missed out on if they hadn’t priced their eBooks so aggressively.

On the other hand, I didn’t purchase the new Tim Butcher book, Chasing the Devil, or Dom Joley’s The Dark Tourist, two books I actually want to read, because of the ridiculous price set by their publishers. £10.42 for a file of Tim Butcher’s book that I don’t really own and sits on Amazon’s server? You’re having a laugh! Dom Joly’s book is marginally better at £7.02, but the ‘real book’ version is available on Amazon for only £0.78 more!

When will these greedy publishers learn?

Back to my ease of use point, the Kindle also rates highly on ‘ease of ownership.’ I feel a little uneasy that I don’t actually really own the books. They sit on a server at Amazon and I access them. And as we saw with the 1984 debacle they can ‘remove’ your books if they want. But there’s a method to the madness that means I can access that book on any device I’ve loaded the Kindle Reader software on. For example, I have it on my iPhone, my desktop computer and the little netbook I take travelling. If I had an Android phone or a Linux machine, I could have it on that too. And by simply using the synchronisation feature I can start reading a book on my iPhone, continue from where I left off on my desktop and then finish it on my Kindle in bed at night.

OK, so far so good. None of this would matter if the Kindle was crap to read on. I’ve tried to read a couple of things on my iPhone and gave up. It was uncomfortable and I just never reached that point where I became ‘immersed’ in a book.

Not a problem with the Kindle. If you get a cover – which I heartily recommend – it sits comfortably in your hands and the e-ink screen is sufficiently book-like in look and size that you soon forget it’s an electronic device in your hand. The only difference is the disconcerting ‘flash’ when you turn the page but you soon get used to and it is only a little more distracting than physically turning the page of a book.

I got so ‘immersed’ in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo that I was reading it on my Kindle as I was making my lunch or sitting on the sofa in front of the tele, just like I would with a real book. OK, a lot of that can be put down to good writing and good storytelling. But the point is, I forgot about the delivery method. It was all about the story.

Initially I was reluctant to get a Kindle because it is in effect a single purpose device. You read books on it. And books without any of the bells and whistles that is meant to make eBooks such an attractive proposition. (On that point, I downloaded the ‘enhanced’ version of Nick Cave’s The Death of Bunny Munro for my iPhone and ended up turning off all the ‘enhancements’ and just read it as a book.) But after a week with my Kindle I’ve decided that’s it’s greatest strength. I pick it up when I want to read a book. Playing games, surfing the web, tweeting and so on would be just a distraction. And let’s face it, the Kindle is much, much cheaper than an iPad.

So, in conclusion, I love my new Kindle. To paraphrase Jon Landau’s famous quote about Bruce Springsteen, ‘I have seen the future of reading and it’s eReaders.’

Real books will live on for sure. We’ll want to hold them, love them, put them on bookshelves. But for day-to-day, dare I say ‘disposable’ reading?, you can’t beat the convenience of eReaders.

And in particular, the Kindle 3.

Before you get too excited, I should point out that, basically, it’s Vroom with a View, abridged down to 3,235 words. There’s a few new lines in there, but I figured it would be best to experiment with an old anthology story than bugger up something new and fresh.

Anyways, it’s available now in all it’s DRM-free glory and in any eBook format you can think of here at Smashwords. Download it, take it out for a spin, and tell me if you find any typos or other glaring errors.

Thanks too for the huge response to my call for help last week. I made it the day before heading off on a week’s holiday – not the most sensible thing to do, I know – and I’m slowly working my way through your emails now.

And, finally, if you’ve come to this website after reading the book and you want to check out some pics from the trip, just click on the Vroom with a View link to the right.

I’ve been talking about bringing out eBook versions of my books for a while now. And I’ve been busily turning my mind into mush learning about XML and XHTML for the past couple of months in preparation. Last week I got permission from Ed Buryn to use his head as my logo and all of a sudden it’s beginning to feel more real.

Initially, Vagabond Editions will be a platform to create eBooks and PoD (Print on Demand) versions of my own work.

Then, using the experience and expertise gained from doing that, I hope to offer a service to established authors looking to convert their backlist or publish stuff their main publishers aren’t interested in.

Finally, I want Vagabond Editions to be a place that breaks new travel writers. I’m really looking forward to publishing authors who may not otherwise get a chance.

It’s a big project.

And I need your help.

Right now I’m looking for:

- A designer to create eye-catching covers for my books
- Someone who can knock up some groovy looking maps,
- An InDesign expert to create a book template.

You might be someone just starting out. You might be an industry guru who can knock out this kind of stuff in their sleep. But it needs to look professional. People won’t be just judging these books by their covers, they’ll be judging them by their typesetting – and typos – as well.

This is all at the ‘experimental’ stage at the moment, so I can’t pay much. But my hope is that this project will grow to a point where I can gather a collective of skilled people together and remunerate them appropriately.

I’ve put a rough outline of what I’m after below. If you’re interested drop me an email.

I can’t wait to get it up and running!

Book Covers
A family look. I don’t mean PG rated, just a common look across all titles. Reflect the tone of the books. Look good – and legible – when tiny. (i.e. 100 x 150 pixels.) For example, my UK covers work very well at that size.

Maps
Single page. Again, a family look across all books. Can send you a jpg of ones currently used as a guide.

Book Template
Ready to go off to the printers. Basic layout, styles etc. I’ll do thankless task of putting in the text.

Being an enterprising American, Doug has spun the Signspotting concept into a number of successful incarnations. There are the wildly popular books – Signspotting 1,2 and 3 (Number 4 is on the way). The hugely well-attended Signspotting exhibitions – Stockholm, Copenhagen, Dubai, Edinburgh and soon Covent Garden in London. And let’s not forget the merchandising – greeting cards, fridge magnets and posters.

Now, at last, there’s the Signspotting iPhone App.

It’s called Sign Shaker, and it works like those Magic 8 Balls that were popular a few years back. You ask a question, shake your phone, and Sign Shaker gives you a randomly selected sign as an answer. Doug sent me a prototype a few weeks ago and I’ve got to say it’s a lot of fun.

First up, if you’ve got an iPhone, do yourself a favour and download a copy. I guarantee it’ll stay on your phone longer than that fart application you downloaded.

Secondly, I’m interested to hear any ideas you guys might have about how I could do something similar with my books.

Can’t guarantee a commission, of course, but you will be duly credited!

The hooks can still be found on Vespas today. I’d use the one on my PX in Sydney to carry home takeaway Thai for example.

The other day I got an email from Steve Wadman telling me about an unusual use he found for the hook on his Vespa. I let him tell you about it in his own words:

“Last year my uncle died and I took a major part in helping my Mum with all of the arrangements. He had been cremated and my Mum kept putting off making a decision about disposing of the ashes. It was the anniversary of his death a couple of weeks ago and I suggested that it would be good to do something with them on this day. She agreed and I arranged with my brother and sister to all meet up at my mother’s house in Rottingdean.

It was a really hot day and I decided to ride the Vespa down to Brighton to collect the ashes form the Funeral Director who had been keeping them for us. I rode down in my shorts and T shirt and felt really positive as we could put some closure behind us after my uncle’s death.

I arrived at the Funeral Directors and went inside. I don’t know if you have ever seen the container for someone’s remains, but I was expecting a small container. I had given no thought to this matter and when I was presented with a box the size of a shoe box with my Uncle’s remains inside and it was quite heavy – I was somewhat taken aback. They had thoughtfully given me a carrier bag. When you do think about it there is the coffin and the body so there is naturally quite a lot of ashes at the end of the day.

I went outside to the scooter and I already had a change of clothes in the top box and some other odds and ends under the seat so you know what’s coming!!!!

That little hook under the seat came out and the carrier bag with the ashes fitted perfectly between my legs.

I set off to Rottingdean to my mother’s house and rode along the seafront about 6 miles with the ashes snuggly tucked in and hanging on that hook!!

So my uncle made his final journey on a Vespa and we then spread his ashes in the sea as he loved swimming at Rottingdean.

I am sure you will appreciate this tale as it brought a lovely smile to all my family when I turned up on the scooter with the ashes in this fashion.”

I wonder if that’s what Enrico Piaggio had in mind when he first suggested the hook to his designers back in the early fifties?

But this morning I got a bit of a wake up call. There are a lot of jobs that are much, much cooler. Especially if you are five years old.

You see, Daisy’s school has been inviting dads along to class as part of their celebration of Father’s Day. (It’s in June here, not September like back in Oz.) And today me and four other dads got to sit in for an hour in the morning, see what our children get up to and ‘help out’ with the lessons. Then we were ushered out just as the day’s special guest arrived.

Today’s special guest was Amelie’s dad. He is a pilot and arrived dressed in his pilots uniform. Me and all the other dads looked at each other with alarm.

We knew. Each and every one of us.

You can’t compete with a man in a uniform.

You know the drill – the said person is about to set off on some crazy wild-eyed adventure to raise money for a worthy cause. No consideration is shown for for my emotional well-being, of course. Every time I read one I wish I was heading off on that wild-eyed adventure too!

Sadly, until I start introducing vampires or boy wizards into my travelogues, there’s not much I can do to help out. I can offer sincere best wishes and the odd signed book. But that’s about it.

In an attempt to do a little bit more I’ve decided to post a blog, once a month, to highlight the crazy adventures my more charitable readers are setting off one.

If you want to help them out – great. If it inspires you to go off one of your own – even better. I’d rather help you guys than the charity muggers who have made Covent Garden one big collection bucket.

So without further ado, here’s this month’s selection of adventure ‘chuggers’:

Welsh 3000′s
Charity: Madam Curie Cancer Care
A group of teachers from the John Bentley and Springfield schools determined to climb all 14 peaks above 3,000ft in North Wales. Their students are hoping they get lost and they get a couple of days off school.

Scilly Mission
Charity: Cystic Fibrosis Trust (UK)
A group of lads from the Scilly Isles attempt to drive to Ulan Bator in a Citroen Saxa, currently the only car on Tresco.

The Odyssey
Charity: WaterAid
Graham Hughes is attempting to become the first person to visit all 195 members states of the UN in one continuous land journey. He’s only got 40 countries to go – bastard! – and is running low on funds.

Euromums
Charity: Cystic Fibrosis (AU)
Disclaimer notice time. One of the said ‘Euromums’ is my sister Vanessa. She is taking part in The Great Escape this year to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis. Any Eurosceptics should note they’re out of Eurobodalla in NSW, not Brussels.

I was a little surprised when they contacted me. But they said they came across my website and wanted me to put one through it’s paces. And maybe blog about my experiences.

Now, I love my gadgets. But I’m no tech guru. So rather than go on about the awesomeness (or otherwise) of the Atom processor I thought I’d just talk about how the Booklet performed in real life. Or at least my approximation of it.

First Impressions
The build quality is amazing. It’s made from a single piece of aluminium, just like the new MacBook Pros. Indeed it looks like the netbook Apple would’ve built if they hadn’t decided make the iPad instead.

Everything feels solid and beautifully crafted. It makes the Dell Mini 10v I hackintoshed feel like a piece of plasticy rubbish. You could demolish buildings with this thing.

On the road
The trial coincided with a six-day trip to Italy, a perfect opportunity to use the Booklet how I would if I was off ‘researching’ one of my books. I loaded it up with trial versions of Microsoft Office, Photoshop, InDesign and Lightroom. And popped in a CF card reader (the Booklet already comes with the more popular SD slot) and an external portable hard drive to store my photos.

It soon became apparent that the Booklet was a head-turner. While a multitude of MacBooks passed through the security checkpoint at Stansted without comment, the Booklet was singled out for special attention. When the guard on duty saw it was a Nokia he took it away to be ‘swabbed,’ primarily so he could show it to the other guys on duty. They nodded their heads, seemingly impressed.

It wasn’t the last time someone wanted to take a closer look at the Booklet. Every time I pulled it out in Italy someone noticed the Nokia badge and came over to have a closer look. Nokia obviously have a strong and respected brand image so their move into netbooks is not as crazy as it first seems.

Performance was pretty standard for a netbook. I could keep two or three programs open without any noticeable effect on performance. Editing 20mb photos in Photoshop took longer than on my desktop but not annoyingly so. The 3G sim card picked up the local network without any probs in Italy. And the Nokia social media application looked like it would work seamlessly with all the appropriate social media websites. I just baulked at paying £4 a megabyte to update my Facebook account!

Positives
Battery life. Nokia are claiming 12 hours between charges. I never found out. Like I said, I took the thing to Italy for six days and didn’t have to charge it once.

Sure I wasn’t using it heavily. Transferring photos and editing them, writing the odd article, doing a bit of (wifi) web surfing. But that’s how I would use it if I was on the road. Just the odd hour here and there.

Now I know all netbooks boast long battery life. But in real life I’m lucky to get two or three hours out of my Dell Mini. To be fair to Dell, I hackintoshed it so I could run Snow Leopard on it, probably screwing up its power management settings in the process. But the Booklet just didn’t die.

Mac-like design. Stylish and and extremely well made. Like I said before, the Booklet was an attention magnet. Anyone who saw it felt compelled to comment. But more than that, I had no doubts it would handle six months or more at the bottom of my backpack.

Negatives
The price is a major hurdle. At £695 rrp that’s £500 more than my Dell Mini 10v set me back. It’s definitely worth the extra £500 – you can see where the money has been spent. The problem, for me at least, is justifying that extra expense for a ‘spare’ laptop to lug on the road.

The second is the 3G capability. In theory, being able to browse the web, update blogs and social media sites, email etc over the local telephone network anywhere in the world is a huge, huge bonus. Unfortunately, as it stands now, it also results in an equally huge phone bill. That’s not Nokia’s fault, but until the likes of Vodafone start charging reasonable fees for data roaming the sim card slot is a money pit not a feature.

Conclusion
I want one. If I didn’t already have my Dell and an unexpected royalty cheque came in I’d be tempted to shell out the extra cash. The build quality and design is just that much better. And I’ll be honest, the attention it garnered was kind of nice. I wasn’t just another wanker with a MacBook. (And I say that as a wanker with an iMac)

On a practical level, it did everything I needed it to do. And gave the impression it would handle a six-month jaunt through the former Soviet Union or a trip down the west coast of Africa.

I just wish the phone companies would come up with some kind of reasonable international roaming plan so I could make the most of the 3G slot.

Disclaimer
Nokia sent me the Booklet to trial for two weeks. (The man from DHL just took it back off me.) There was no obligation for me to blog or tweet or Facebook about it. But I figured a lot of you maybe looking for some kind of laptop to drag on your next adventure.

I very nearly didn’t go. I saw them at Koko back in 2008 and left the show depressed. I got the feeling that they were struggling with getting older, questioning what they were doing and wondering where they fitted in now. Looking back at YouTube videos posted from the gig I realise I may have been a bit harsh.

I suspect I might have even been projecting. When you’ve been doing something ‘creative’ for a while you begin to worry that your best days are behind you. You wonder if your latest work is just a derivation of a past glory. If it has that spark and energy that your earlier stuff had.

Well, I do anyway.

Which brings me to the title of this post. I lifted it from a t-shirt a guy was wearing at the gig last night. I don’t know if it was ironic or a bold statement of fact. But I found myself nodding in agreement. When it comes to Teenage Fanclub I DO like their old stuff better.

It pains me to say it, but since Songs From Northern Britain in 1997 each album has been following the law of diminishing returns. Each has one or two good songs, but the rest seem like filler. The new album, Shadows, is the same.

But I keep going to their gigs. One, because they’re great live. And two, when they play one of their classics, like Sparky’s Dream or Radio or Ain’t That Enough, it really is one of life’s transcending moments.

And thankfully for TFC, their are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of blokes in checked shirts with less hair than they used to have, willing to shell out good money to do the same.

His real name was Filippo. He bought and sold Vespas. And his friend Marco restored them. Although they didn’t have a Vespa that matched my needs – as old as me and in roughly the same condition – they pointed me towards one on eBay Italy that did.

It was Sophia, the Vespa that took me from Milan to Rome in Vroom with a View.

I caught up with Filippo and Marco when I finally got to Livorno. We hit it off immediately and spent close to a week visiting festivals, drinking coffee, tearing around the ancient canals at midnight in Filippo’s boat, drinking ponce and basically living La Dolce Vita. More often than not I’d end up crashing on the sofa in Marco’s workshop, waking up the next morning not quite sure how I got there.

After the trip we all stayed friends. Marco took my Vespas under his wing and I came over periodically to visit them. When Filippo got married to the lovely Valeryia, I was there. And when Marco married the equally lovely Lucilla, my daughter Daisy was the flower girl.

Last Saturday it was Marco’s 50th birthday. And, naturally, me, Sally and Daisy were there.

Those of you who have read Vroom with a View and Vroom by the Sea know that Marco is a man of style and taste and likes to do things with a certain elan. His birthday party was no different.

It was held in a ramshackle fisherman’s shack hanging precariously over the lake where Puccini wrote most of his operas. It was reached by following a narrow path through a thick wood to the edge of the lake. Then we had to beckon a boatman to take us across the water. Sally commented that it didn’t feel like Italy. It was more like the bayous of Louisiana.

Dinner was prepared by the guy who owned the shack using ingredients he had hunted and caught that day. And as he cooked various pasta dishes with duck, crawfish and wild boar a small band played swampy blues from the Deep South. The sun set, candles were lit and bottles of wine from Simone’s vineyard in Bolgheri were cracked open. People danced in the shack and on the boat.

It was at once raucous and intimate, like we were all part of a big Italian family. At one point, around midnight, Daisy fell into the lake, but that is another story for another time.

It made me realise that one of the real joys of travel isn’t necessarily the temples or cathedrals or the market stalls or the sugar white beaches. It’s moments like these, where you connect with people and with their culture and become friends.

And then, of course, the crazy, funny times that flow naturally from that connection.

Just added: A video made by Francesco, an artist friend of Marco’s.