I've spent the better part of fifteen or sixteen months researching and writing a travel memoir, and now it's all on two little USB sticks on my desk. I still have a lot of editing to do, and things to change, but the better part of my first book is done and I couldn't be more happy. I'm pleased with the way the trip that I'm writing about went, as well as how I'm incorporating past travels into the story, and how it has come into being electronically. But now the hard part of fine tuning ...

A number of friends have told me that I need to write a book about my travels. They remind me of all the places I've seen, and encourage me to write a book about it all. So, after hearing enough of it, I've finally got the ball rolling and am about halfway through the story - something I've found to be much more difficult than I had initially anticipated.

I knew writing a book would be a lot of work, but you just pour so much of yourself into it that it's difficult not to fuss over every...