Novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux talks about his love of Mexico, road trips and Greenland

This week, novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux answers our travel questions and answers.

He reflects on his favorite foreign country, highlights the place that inspired his latest novel and recalls his very first trip abroad in the 1960s.

EARLY HOLIDAY REMINDER?

As a boy he spent a week in a cottage by the sea in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We didn’t have a refrigerator, and I remember the ice cream man with a rubber deck who would come by every few days with big blocks of ice on his back.

FIRST TIME ABROAD?

After graduating from college in the summer of 1963, I went to an Italian city called Urbino to teach English – my students were all young women, the food was delicious and the city was wonderful. It was probably my best job ever.

THE GRAND IRON BAZAAR GOT YOUR NAME AS A WRITER – ARE YOU STILL A TRAIN CRAZY?

I’m more of a manager. My last books were inspired by road trips. With a car you can go anywhere, anytime.

DID ANY PARTICULAR PLACE INSPIRE YOUR NEW NOVEL?

It’s the story of brothers fighting in a small town similar to where I grew up, Medford, Massachusetts, but I called them Littleford in my book and thought, “That would fool them!”

After graduating from college in the summer of 1963, Paul went to an Italian town called Urbino (above) to teach English. “It was probably my best job ever,” he says

WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

The Mosquito Coast, which was made into a film, and my memoir of VS Naipaul, Sir Vidia’s Shadow.

FAVORITE ABROAD?

Mexico because I can drive there from my home in Cape Cod. It is rich in history, I like the food, I have friends there and I speak Spanish. I especially love Oaxaca and Mexico City.

DREAM DESTINATION?

A place I’ve long dreamed of visiting Greenland – a place you hardly ever read about. I would like to go kayaking there.