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Matthew Lightfoot

Goodreads Author

Born

in Leeds, The United Kingdom

Twitter

2WeekTraveller

Genre

Travel, Biography, Humor and Comedy

Member Since

September 2019

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Born with an insatiable wanderlust and inspired by an addiction to travel writing, but restricted by the demands of a full time job, Matthew Lightfoot set out to explore the world using his annual work holiday allowance.His first book,The Two Week Traveller, tells the tales of his adventures in almost 150 countries.Often described as ‘one of those people that things just happen to’, he lives up to his reputation with a collection of humorous, hair-raising and thought-provoking travel tales that span the entire globe over a period of 30 years.Being chased by rogue elephants and robbed at gunpoint by a stoned policeman; accidentally cycling down an airport runway and getting trapped in a voodoo ceremony are the sort of tales Lightfoot vividly Born with an insatiable wanderlust and inspired by an addiction to travel writing, but restricted by the demands of a full time job, Matthew Lightfoot set out to explore the world using his annual work holiday allowance.His first book,The Two Week Traveller, tells the tales of his adventures in almost 150 countries.Often described as ‘one of those people that things just happen to’, he lives up to his reputation with a collection of humorous, hair-raising and thought-provoking travel tales that span the entire globe over a period of 30 years.Being chased by rogue elephants and robbed at gunpoint by a stoned policeman; accidentally cycling down an airport runway and getting trapped in a voodoo ceremony are the sort of tales Lightfoot vividly recounts in the Two Week Traveller.
Matthew's second book, Snapshots, describes the round-the-world journey during which he wrote his first book, using thirty years of travel snapshots to jog his memory. His present day adventures take us on a campervan journey across New Zealand, to being castaway on a Fijian Island, then from the mysterious nation of Paraguay, across the countries of the high Andes by bus to South America's Pacific coast. Along the way, a series of long forgotten images lead us on a photographic exploration of the author's past adventures around the world. Lightfoot attracts incidents and his tales embark on a fast-paced tour of the people, history, cultures and eccentricities of cities around the globe, as memories are rekindled through photos appearing randomly on a laptop screen.From Kathmandu to Marrakech and Lapland to Mumbai, Snapshots introduces us to an entertaining cast of Transylvanian wolfmen, child goddesses, murderous street urchins and hairless dogs, as the author dodges international terrorists and Sunday morning rioters, gets slapped by a ghost, drinks narcotic mud from a bucket, and is caught up in a bar brawl between the US Navy and an assembly of dwarves.

Matthew Lightfoot's books aim to inform as well as to entertain, and combine richly detailed story telling with evocative descriptions which transport the reader to off-the-beaten-track locations around the globe. His books are for anyone who loves to travel, whether on a two week work break or a round-the-world odyssey, and, most of all, for everyone who knows that the journey is as important as the destination.

Facebook page -The Two Week Traveller Book features videos and photos from Matthew's adventures.
You can also follow him on Twitter @2WeekTraveller.
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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Matthew Lightfoot Ever since childhood I've been a wanderer and an explorer with an inquisitive mind and an urge to find what's over the next hill, or round the next co…moreEver since childhood I've been a wanderer and an explorer with an inquisitive mind and an urge to find what's over the next hill, or round the next corner. As I got older I became an avid reader of travel books,which served as a source of inspiration to explore the farthest flung locations in the world. Unfortunately, I left school at 16 and began work 3 weeks later. My trips have therefore all been made utilising my two week holiday allowance. Luckily I stayed with the same company for many years and my allowance increased to over 6 weeks leave per year, therefore allowing me to take a few holidays a year, and visit many countries. At the time of writing, it's somewhere approaching 150.(I'm not an obsessive country counter!)

I've found, both when travelling and when at home that I'm one of those people that seems to attract incidents. 'Things' tend to happen to me! Therefore, over the years, I've amassed quite a selection of anecdotes - scary, funny, sad, unbelievable and just plain weird.

Colleagues and friends have often said to me that I should write a book. I always dismissed the idea. I've read a lot of good travel books. I know that most full time writers will have better stories than mine.

One evening a young colleague posed the 'write a book' question, and I gave my usual answer. Her reply set me thinking .

She said "But those books are about lengthy journeys, taken over months or years. Your stories are all from two week trips which anyone could take. I've never read a travel book like that. Your stories are an inspiration to me, and they will be to others. You show that you can go anywhere and do anything, even when you're holding down a fulltime career."

I therefore decided to write the book. It's for anyone who loves to travel, but also has to work. Everyone who understands that the journey is as important as the destination. And anyone who, like me, would rather be eaten by a lion, than run over by a bus!(less)

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Matthew Lightfoot’s books

Average rating: 4.26 · 98 ratings · 14 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Two Week Traveller 4.12 avg rating — 78 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Snapshots (Matthew Lightfoot Travel Books) 4.86 avg rating — 14 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Art of Part Time Travel (Matthew Lightfoot Travel Books) 4.60 avg rating — 5 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Art of Part Time Travel (Matthew Lightfoot Travel Books) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Matthew Lightfoot's Blog

Lockdown or On-Location- What's your Ideal Writers Retreat?

What's your perfect environment for writing? Do you prefer to lock yourself away in a silent room, away from any distractions, in order to focus fully and immerse yourself in the story? Or do you prefer some external stimulation? Does noise, colour and movement stimulate your senses and creativity?

It wasn't a question I'd really considered until I completed my second book, Snapshots, in February 2 Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 15, 2021 08:48 • Tags: covid, creative-writing, lockdown, matthew-lightfoot, snapshots, travel, travel-writer, travel-writing, two-week-traveller, writers-retreat, writing-a-book, writing-location

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Matthew’s Recent Updates

Matthew Lightfoot is now friends with Michael Dean Edwards
Feb 06, 2024 01:49AM · like

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Quotes by Matthew Lightfoot (?)

“the journey can be more important, and enjoyable than the actual destination.”
― Matthew Lightfoot, The Two Week Traveller

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