Few things are as exciting as the idea of travelling somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with better weather, more interesting customs and inspiring landscapes and where it seems we will finally be happy. But the reality of travel seldom matches our daydreams. The tragi-comic disappointments are well-known: the disorientation, the mid-afternoon despair, the lethargy before ancient ruins. And yet the reasons behind such disappointments are rarely explored. We are inundated with advice on where to travel to; we hear little of why we should go and how we could be more fulfilled doing so. Taking four separate and distinctly different journeys, including a city break to Amsterdam and a Mediterranean cruise, de Botton encounters real holidaymakers with whom he discusses their reasons for taking a break.