Excess Baggage - 14/11/2009

Jan Morris has been travelling and writing about her journeys for more than 50 years. John McCarthy talks to her about some of the individuals she has encountered all over the world in that half century - rich and poor, renowned and obscure, friendly and unwelcoming. They reflect on the nature of travel and whether it is more about places or people. John also talks to travel writer and journalist Dea Birkett, who is a judge for the Oldie magazine Travel Awards. She reveals which was the worst airport, the best railway station and why there should be an award for cruelty to trees. She and John discuss what can make journeys more pleasurable for the older traveller.