8 Lessons I Learned From Reading ‘Travels’ by Michael Crichton

When I was younger, I was fascinated with books. Without the distraction of handheld screens or good TV shows, books had a way of transporting me to a far off place, filled with eccentric characters and locations that came alive in my young, imaginative mind. And for me, the best storyteller out there was Michael Crichton.

I hung on every word of his best selling books. The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Congo, Rising Sun, The Great Train Robbery, the list went on and on.

Somewhere in the phase of rebellion that was my late teens and early 20s, my love for reading books waned. Luckily, this quarantine has given me plenty of free time and I have started opening (and actually reading) books again! So when I looked down and found a copy of ‘Travels’ by Michael Crichton in my hands, I knew I had to read it.

It’s one of Crichton’s few non-fiction book, and as you can guess by the name, it’s about his experiences traveling the world…as well as some other worlds. As a travel addict, naturally, I had to dig in and start reading it. And as usual with Crichton’s writing, the 376 pages go by quickly, as he weaves experience after experience into a long form campfire chat.

As I read through the stories of Crichton’s life, I learned a lot. Whether he was MEANING to teach his audience these lessons, or if he just had the urge to write his memoirs due to boredom, we will never know, as Crichton passed away in 2008.

I have put together a list of some of these lessons, which hopefully will inspire you to read this interesting and thought provoking semi-autobiography of one of the best novelists the world has ever seen.

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If Anyone Can Be the Poster Boy for “Do What Makes You Happy, Instead of Taking Easy Success”, it is Michael Crichton

Growing up reading his novels, I didn’t know much about Michael Crichton except his name. But from the first page of the book, it became apparent that this giant of a man (he stood 6’9) was a genius. And not the loosely thrown around term ‘genius,’ but an actual genius. He attended Harvard, but while at Harvard, he decided he didn’t really know what he wanted out of school. So in addition to his anthropology studies, Crichton enrolled in Harvard Medical School, because, why not? He talks about how his early experiences with medicine were so negative, he would faint when given an injection or when having his blood drawn. It seems that it was obvious to Crichton from an early age that he wouldn’t want to be a doctor. It seems even more obvious once he started medical school. But, still, he slugged through and graduated. All of a sudden, Michael Crichton was a doctor.

As I stated above, there was one problem. Michael Crichton didn’t want to be a doctor. He wanted to be a writer. He grew up learning how to tell stories on paper from his father, who was a journalist. He began writing at a young age, writing a 9-page puppet show with a large number of characters as an assignment in the 3rd grade. At just 14-years-old, he sold a travel article on his family’s adventure to Sunset Crater National Monument in Arizona. Who did he sell it to? The New York Times, of course.

So, with dreams of being a writer, what did Dr. Crichton do when he graduated medical school? Not practice medicine. He never practiced a day of medicine in his life. He wanted to be a writer. Why waste time with being a doctor? So in this day of age where seemingly every Instagram ‘Influencers’ screams from ‘Just quit your job and travel…do what makes you happy!’, well, Michael Crichton practically invented that trend. He could have easily become an MD, making a great living owning a private practice or as an ER doctor, but he chose to follow his dream and write instead, which could have made him live like many other starving artists. But through hard work, and of course, amazing content, he was able to become an incredibly successful author and director, making millions of dollars in the process. But, maybe he did second guess his decision, or wonder what his life could have been like. While he never lived the actual life of an ER doctor, he was enamored with the thought of it enough to create and write an entire TV series based on life in an Emergency Room. And I hear it was a success. Maybe you heard of ER?

Never Judge A Book (Or In This Case, Its Author) By Its Cover

The first 80 pages of the book focus on Crichton’s time in Harvard Medical School. The first chapter in the ‘Travels’ section of the book hilariously shows how Crichton is a doctor, yet, not a doctor, as he deals with a neighbor’s medical issue in his West Hollywood apartment building. Why does 1/4 of a book about travel not actually talk about travel? Well I hate to break it to you, but its actually even more than that! While a large majority of the book does take place in other locations while Crichton is off on an adventure, a good amount of the book takes place in Harvard, Los Angeles and the Southern Californian desert. Is this a bad thing? Not at all. Crichton does a brilliant job of weaving through locations, and each location is tied to one central theme. Finding yourself.

Yes, that’s right. Michael Crichton, successful author of countless blockbuster books was always looking to find himself. I always assumed a man as successful as Crichton would have it all. Money, happiness, and all of the answers. But I could not have been more wrong.

It’s Never To Late to Find Your Love of Travel

Michael Crichton didn’t start traveling until after he graduated medical school. I can relate to this as I never left the United States until I was 27 years old. With travel becoming easier and easier to accomplish thanks to the advancement of online booking and the plethora of travel research available on the internet, people are starting to experience the world at a younger age. But as I learned in my experience, and as Crichton drives the point home, it’s never too late to find your love of the experiences that travel can bring. Except, unlike Crichton, I hadn’t already written a New York Times Bestseller, The Andromeda Strain, before I began my international adventures.

Money Doesn’t Necessarily Make for Better Travel Experiences

Like I mentioned above, Crichton had already written the The Andromeda Strain, which became a New York Times Bestseller while Crichton was in his final year of medical school. While I don’t know his specific financial situation, it is safe to assume he wasn’t living on a shoestring budget on his maiden voyage. As his career progressed and he wrote more blockbuster novels and began writing and directing movies such as Westworld and The Great Train Robbery, Crichton was not hurting for cash. He talks about the extravagant hotels he would stay in, such as the infamous Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, but usually those quick luxurious stays were short, as he was in transit to get off the grid. He would then stay in tents while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, small houses made of thatched grass with the local tribes in the remote highlands of New Guinea, and even a military base in Pakistan.

In almost all of his experiences in his travels, things ultimately go wrong. He rarely easily finds what he came to see, if he does at all. His money and his fame couldn’t always buy him success or comfort on his journeys.

It’s OK to Travel and NOT Know What You Are Looking For

Crichton was on a constant journey of self-discovery. He freely admits every travel adventure he had taken was because he was unhappy with something in his day to day life. While his travels and experiences always had an actual, physical goal, it’s easy to see that this was not the actual purpose for his movements. His true desire was to escape what troubled him in his daily life and reset his inner self. While he knew what he came to see, what he didn’t know was what he had hoped to find.

‘Traveling’ Doesn’t Have to Refer to an Actual, Physical Destination

When picking up a book called ‘Travels’ the last thing you would expect to be reading about is auras, chakras, psychics, fasting, spoon bending and conversations with a cactus. But, ultimately, a good chunk of the book is about just that. It becomes apparent that the term ‘Traveling’ doesn’t just mean getting on a plane and getting to the physical destination in his mind. In the end, in the pages of ‘Travels’ the author travels to Rwanda, Thailand, Pakistan, Kilimanjaro…and the Astral Plane.

Crichton was fascinated by achieving self-realization through the means above, as well as others. He details his journey in all of these experiences in great detail. What started as a curiosity quickly became real, as this Harvard educated MD claims that everyone has a degree of psychic ability. While I never really believed in any of what Crichton claims to have experienced, he doesn’t beat around the bush by telling the readers that HE believes in most of it. And in turn, who are YOU to judge his beliefs if you haven’t tried it for yourself. He drives that simple point home:

“You don’t have to take my word about chakras or healing energy or auras. You can find out about them if you want to. Be as skeptical as you like. Find out for yourself.”

He has a point. It looks like I may have to start thinking of ‘travel’ as more than just a stamp in my passport.

It’s About The Journey, Not The Destination!

Ah, that age old cliched line we have all said and heard a million times. But Crichton masterfully details each of his experiences with little emphasis on the final result. The stories are all about his experiences attempting to achieve the final result, and the important lessons that the journey itself taught him.

One great example of this is when Crichton travels to Jamaica. He wants to visit a museum of early Jamaican artifacts in Spanish Town, so he and his girlfriend Terry set out. Crichton describes the tension as they realize this museum is in a rougher part of town. After a run in with some guys that left them shaken, Crichton leaves Terry in the car while he asks an unhelpful police officer where the museum is. As he returns to his car, he finds a man in his back seat as Terry sits up front. She tells Crichton that Lester is a tour guide and has offered to help. It quickly becomes obvious that Lester is not a tour guide, and he has no intention of getting out of the car. I won’t spoil the story, but the drama that ensues overtakes the sought after destination, and Crichton learns much more about himself from the experience than he does about Jamaican artifacts in the museum that he researched to help him craft his novel ‘Pirate Latitudes.’

Crichton Isn’t Always Likable, But He Sure As Hell is Honest

As I stated above, Michael Crichton was an idol to me when I was younger. His books transported me out of my world and into his exciting fantasies. So when it became clear early on in the book that ‘Travels’ was his ‘memoir’ of sorts, I was excited to get to know the man that I looked up to growing up. At times throughout the book, I wish I hadn’t.

It’s obvious that Crichton could be kind of a jerk at times. And he never hides the fact that he was a damaged person. Maybe the most jarring experience in the book is when he talks about an experience entering a Thai brothel of underage girls with his friends. Now, it’s important to note that Crichton quickly writes that he had no interest and he left, but the way he casually recounts standing outside smoking a cigarette while waiting for his friend inside is hard to accept. But perhaps even more startling was the fact that none of the original book reviews I found from 1988, like the New York Times, even mention it.

Aside from this experience, Crichton displays his lack of interest in maintaining healthy relationships with the women he dates, and there is a number of them mentioned in this book (including 2 wives). But, through it all, he readily admits that his unhappiness was internal. His reaction to achieving his goal of directing a major motion picture? Disappointment, because what could he possibly do to top that now? Crichton comes off as slightly insecure and unhappy, which leads to his desire to travel, both physical and spiritual. Crichton beautifully describes how he takes each adventure to try to ‘find himself’ while concluding with the important lessons he learned along the way.

Through the course of the book, Crichton doesn’t attempt to hide his insecurities and the shortcomings in his personality. He is brutally honest about his life, and about himself, throughout the book. He could have easily crafted the stories to make you really like him as a person, but he doesn’t. Crichton is telling you HIS story about HIM…what good would lying to the readers be? His no-holds-barred honesty is appreciated as Crichton brings you on his wild journey of self discovery.