The problem with travel books is that the writer's voice is the filter through which you see the world. If you find they come across as smug, insensitive, inconsistent and pseudo-literary, as I did at different times with this book, you have to live with it. However I still enjoyed this book, found it amusing and informative. It opened my eyes to journeys I will never take and some I might. The author is young and is often honest about how she has to pull herself up on her own expectations. And none of her attitudes are worse than the imperialist voice which characterises so much 20th century writing (even early Jan Morris, sad to say). So, I will still recommend it to the ever-increasing number of train nerds (welcome!)