Finding James Bond in Jamaica

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  06.10.08 | 12:11 PM ET

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This year marks the centenary of James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s birth. To celebrate, the Telegraph’s Simon Williams headed to Jamaica to spend some time at Goldeneye, the house where 14 Bond novels were written. The resulting essay includes some thought-provoking speculation about how Bond would have coped with modern air travel (particularly “the smoke-detectors in the loos”), and how the island might have inspired 007’s creator. From the story: “Fleming once said, ‘writing makes you more alive to your surroundings.’ Perhaps that’s why three of his books lead 007 to Jamaica. ... Here, anyway, is where all those characters were born.”

On another James Bond-related note: we can’t all get outfitted with Q-approved gadgets before a trip, but we can turn to San Francisco Chronicle travel editor John Flinn’s list of essential travel tools.

Tags: Pop Culture Travel, Travel Writing, Caribbean, Jamaica, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


3 Comments for Finding James Bond in Jamaica

TambourineMan 06.10.08 | 4:58 PM ET

If you want to read some Fleming travel essays, check out Thrilling Cities, a collection of aricles he wrote for the London Sunday Times. It’s out of print, but you can find it on ebay.

Michael Yessis 06.10.08 | 5:07 PM ET

Thanks for the heads up, TambourineMan. Looks intriguing.

HS 06.11.08 | 12:17 AM ET

The London Times Literary Supplement had a big section on Fleming last week, too.  There were many facets to Bond’ creator.  Particularly interesting were the speculative pieces on thet role that Fleming’s time in naval intelligence during WWII played in his novels.

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