Read more
Quondam: Travels in a Once World is high octane pure adventure, the likes of which, as Dervla Murphy agrees, would be very hard to replicate in today's technological travel-world and yet it, indirectly and in a subtle way it makes the case that it is still possible to go out with a fresh mindset, ready to be as vulnerable and open as we can
be to the vagaries and vicissitudes of a journey.
Ted Simon said how, on a long journey, we reach a rarefied place within; an experience that opens new doors and closes-off many old ones. It all too often makes it impossible to return to the 'old life'. The end of it is only the beginning. In a sense, Quondam is just that, a love story to the open road, with its raw adventure, its intimacy and renewal, its landscapes and imagination. It is an invitation to those who can, to go with a new understanding, to those who have long ago been there, to remember fondly and to those who will never, to sit comfortably and enjoy every page.
About the author
Growing up in County Cork, Ireland, John Devoy studied medical laboratory science and worked in Cork University Hospital until 1985 when he took a break to undertake his great adventure. Today he lives with his wife Sara and their three teenage children, Oisín, Aisha and Meriel, on their organic farm in West Cork, Ireland.
