Onderweg. Verhalen uit het nabije Westen is a collection of short stories and columns about travel and travelling experiences by the Dutch author Rik Zaal, which have all been previously published in the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant.

Although the table of contents suggests and lists a large number of European countries, most stories, or all stories are mostly about Dutch people and their idiosyncrasies, and the author’s apparently favourite countries Germany, Spain (especially Catalonia) and the Czech Republic, especially Prague. Almost all stories are written in 1990 and 1991. So, since these are also my favourite countries, and I lived and travelled in these countries in about the same period, Germany, where I lived in 1988 / 1990, Spain (1991) and Prague (1993), it was a pleasure to read these stories, as Zaal’s experiences are very similar to my own.

A lucky find. ( )