Even people who are not particularly fond of travel are all of sudden lusting to go places. Such is the psychological reactance to being told not to. The longing lasts, of course, but for a minute, since the idea of being marooned somewhere unfamiliar in these times is not exactly appealing.

Your Daily Picture to the rescue! This week offers vicarious travel. Photographs and all, but also recommendations for truly interesting books by daring and/or perceptive travelers. Some books will be covering places I have not been to but always thought they should be explored at some point. Just my luck.

One of those is today’s pick, Rory Stewart’s The Places in Between. The book describes the Scottish author’s 2002 trek on foot across Afghanistan from Herat to Kabul, just month after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and shortly after the Taliban lost official power (and look where we are now – much happens in 18 years, doesn’t it?). It was part of an insane hike that also took him into Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and India. The narrative has stayed with me for a long time (here is the raving NYT book review from 2006) – he is a gifted writer, incredible adventurer and – well, not the kind of guy I’d seek out as a friend.

Sounds like he was an agent for M16; later he had a stunning career with the Conservatives, various prominent governmental posts, cut short when he opposed the rise of Boris Johnson. Now he stands as an Independent for the 2021 mayoral election of London. He seems to be invested in environmental protection, fighting conditions of poverty and improving prison conditions, but is clearly enmeshed with the conservative political elite and its goals, close friends with the Royal family. Here is a witty if effusive summary of the man from The Tatler.

Do read the book, it provides food for thought way beyond a travelogue. Particularly now where our disastrous war and withdrawal in Afghanistan has fully put the Taliban back into power. Pray for the women.

Photomontages today are of various modes of travel, experienced or imagined.

Music today comes from a different continent, more specifically: Argentina. It is one of the countries where I visited for a short time in the mid-70s and always felt I wanted to go back. Who knows, a woman can dream.

Chango Spasiuk was born there, but you can hear some Eastern-European influences in his music – his grandparents had migrated from Ukraine.