Peter Moss came to JDA on Wednesday 30 March 2005, to give a talk about his travels. Peter has had an interesting and varied career as a writer, journalist and a stand up comedian! He recently had a book published - "Across the Borderline" -consisting of stories and anecdotes about his travel experiences.

Peter had decided that as he was a wanderer and Jewish, to call him 'The Wandering Jew' seemed pretty appropriate. Everyone laughed when Peter pointed out the slogan on his T-shirt that stated 'Not all who wander are lost'!!

Peter explained that he spends about 25-30 weeks a year travelling. Someone quickly asked:

"You travel 25-30 weeks a year, so how do you actually make a living and support yourself?"

"I write about travel for a number of newspapers and travel magazines. Last week I had an article published about Seattle in the Jewish Chronicle. I don't get paid to travel, but I get paid to write. Often, I will write 3 different stories with 3 different angles for 3 different newspapers. I have also written about music and football and have a regular column in The Guardian about faith and spirituality.

Tour operators who act as sponsors cover the cost of my travel. In return I give them publicity."

From March 2004 to March 2005, Peter has been to the USA, Canada, Chile, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Tanzania, Stockholm, The Czech Republic and Woodside Park!!

Someone asked "What are your favourite places?" Peter replied that out of the 68 countries he has visited, he has not really been to one place that was a huge disappointment. But, he has been to a number of places that he consideres to be very overrated.

Asking the audience not to throw fruit and vegetables at him, and not wishing to insult anyone, he would name his top four overrated cities starting with 4th place:

Florence - In Peter's opinion, the Pontevecchio Bridge is too full of people selling nasty wares to the tourists and the Duamo is like old public toilets in Shepherd's Bush, with graffiti just as bad!

In 3rd place is Barcelona - Loud, bombastic and polluted. If the Gaudi architecture were removed you would simply end up with Grimsby! Valencia is by far the best undiscovered treasure in Spain.

In 2nd place is Prague - Cheap beer and full of British lads on stag nights. Alarming!! The statue of Christ on the bridge with an angel flying about his head reciting Kiddush doesn't make sense.

The gold medal goes to Paris - The worst thing about Paris are the Parisians. Peter's personal view is that they are unfriendly, rude and arrogant. People often say that the Israelis and the South Africans are arrogant, but he strongly disagrees - the French take the prize!

On a brighter note, these are the places Peter does admire:

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden - Built on 14 islands, full of water is, visually, in his opinion, the most beautiful capital city in Europe.

The Spanish coast has been destroyed by civic corruption and the high rise developments in the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Marbella have wiped out the views of the fantastic mountain ranges that were once considered as competition to Switzerland.

Inland Spain is like an entirely different country in comparison, with the government being very strict and protective about what is and is not allowed regarding development in the areas of Grenada, Cordoba, Seville and Salamanca.
These beautifully preserved cities also have some of the oldest and most beautiful synagogues in Europe and, as a lover of Jewish History and old synagogues, Peter delights in what is located in these cities.

Peter says that Old Yugoslavia, Montenegro and Croatia are stunning as they are still unspoilt, with the Adriatic Sea so beautiful and untouched by mass tourism.
The breathtaking mountains and lakes made Switzerland look like Norfolk!!
Dubrovnik, in Croatia, has amazing castles and one of his favourite excursions in this city is a 2-mile walk on the castle ramparts. Here, views of the city give an insight into the history of the city's development. During 1989, shelling destroyed over 2000 houses and roofs. The 600-year-old houses were rebuilt with brand new terracotta roof tiles. Sadly, the reconstruction has bankrupted the city, which now relies on tourism to boost the coffers.

The sad reality is that the tourism is needed but, as we have seen, it is a double-edged sword because although it brings in boosted funds, it also comes with a downside leading to an explosion of tourism.

In Tanzania, Africa, Peter coached a football team in a Masai village, allowing him to combine his major four interests - travel, football, children and geography.

On discussion with other travellers, Peter realised that an atlas used 15 years ago is now out of date, as there have been so many new countries and changes to the world's geography.

Peter's favourite capital city is Budapest, in Hungary, as the combination of nature, architecture and the charming people are always welcoming.

Questions and answers

"Visiting so many countries, how do you cope with the continual currency changes?"

Peter laughed and took his wallet out of his bag. He had not organised his wallet since returning from his travels. He took out currencies from Argentina, Morocco, Israel, Sweden, Euros, US dollars and Canadian dollars!

"Do you go to Israel often?"

"Yes I go twice a year to visit friends as I lived in Israel for six years. During this time, I made great friends and grew to understand my heritage more, as well as the complexities that make up life in Israel. I also go to Israel to play football with the British Jewish Football team."

"Have you walked across the Equator?"

"Yes several times, this last time in Tanzania."

"With so many languages across the world, how do you communicate?"

"This is a fantastic question! I speak French, Hebrew, Spanish and, of course, English. But I have found that if you want to make yourself understood, then you can. You would be surprised how international the language of football is!!"

"What about Yiddish?"

"I do speak Yiddish, but only in Hendon!"

"Have you always felt safe travelling? We hear a lot about crime/robbery in South America for example."

"In my opinion, there is no such thing as 'safe' or 'unsafe' - only 'lucky' or unlucky'.
Of course, you have to be aware and know not to do certain things. I obey simple common-sense rules. I never travel with expensive jewellery. My travel watch is a plastic Swatch and when I wander about a city, I only walk about with the minimum amount of money that I require for the day. I leave the rest of my money in the accommodation safe.

My two children grew up in Camden and I believe that, if you can get about safely in a city like London, you are streetwise enough to manage anywhere using common-sense."

We thank Peter for a fascinating talk … now we know exactly where to go for our future holidays!