At one stage, you write, “We’re the only brown people on board.” How aware of this are you when traveling?

Living in London, one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world, it’s not something I usually think about but traveling, I did notice regularly how certain cities are very white and lacking in non-white tourists.

I read very little travel writing as it’s dominated by white writers—I find it lacks nuance when viewed through the same prism and there’s an inescapable urge to exoticize “the other”, a trap brown and black writers don’t usually fall into—often because when we travel, we are “the other”, sticking out like sore thumbs through Moscow’s suburbs, or in rural China or in a bar in Eastern Europe.

White writers are sometimes blissfully unaware of how often they’re able to blend in while traveling. And if they’re outsiders, they’re often placed on pedestals. Brown and black travelers are rarely afforded this privilege and I think that makes for far more interesting reading.

In North Korea, did you ever feel frustrated at not being able to ask more?

No. I never felt the urge to put the guides into awkward situations by asking uncomfortable questions. We were briefed that bringing up politics would be unwise as no-one really knows how much the guides are aware of. Some could be completely unaware of the severity of the situation around them, but others might be aware and frustrated that they can’t talk about it or fight back. It would have been bad manners to probe and put them into danger with other guides listening.

I was content to have general chats with our North Korean guides. Usually this was about what kind of history they were taught at Kim Il Sung University, the kind of music they downloaded, where they wanted to holiday—all far more revealing than interrogating them.