The revised versions of Worth A Detour add to his collection of 20+ books, which combined have sold more than 100,000 copies. That\u2019s not a bad record for a guy who himself grew up in the tiny mining township of Pukemiro, west of Huntly, and was raised by two working-class immigrants.<\/p>\n
Janssen told Cowan his own humble background has given him an appreciation for the less flashy parts of Aotearoa.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to say, when I go to places like the Kaitangata coal mining town or Wairoa, which has had a bit of rough time, I have a soft spot for those places, I really do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents were Dutch and my mother and three brothers came, and it was a really big thing for them. They came from poor families, basically, and New Zealand was very good to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a place like Pukemiro, my mum was always incredibly loyal to certain people. They said they were really good to us when we came here, and that Huntly was good to my parents and they were very loyal to it. They loved it. They built their own house and that\u2019s where they stayed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think you learn to make the best of things and you learn to enjoy things that don\u2019t necessarily need to be big and flash \u2013 because if you haven\u2019t got a lot of money, big and flash is not going to cut it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janssen told Real Life that despite his parents\u2019 lack of wealth, they made the best of what they had \u2013 and managed to sow the seeds of his eventual career in travel writing by regularly going on aimless drives on a weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father and mum were big fans of the Sunday afternoon drive. I think it\u2019s a real Kiwi institution that everyone should do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever was free just got in the car and off we went. There was a destination, sort of, but it didn\u2019t matter if you got sidetracked and you went somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might say, \u2018oh, someone\u2019s building a new house out there\u2019 or \u2018we haven\u2019t been down there\u2019 \u2013 and off you go. You get sidetracked and you chat about the people who live in a particular house along the way \u2013 \u2018there\u2019s that old building over there, and it used to be a school and now it\u2019s this.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just take an interest in everything around you without necessarily having to be fixed on getting somewhere. And there was always an ice cream!\u201d<\/p>\n
Now well into his 70s, Janssen reckons he\u2019s seen most of the country. He still loves getting on the road, but is more selective about his travels nowadays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you just get tired of it,\u201d Janssen told Cowan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m doing the book stuff, I travel on my own because if I take someone with me, they think it\u2019s a holiday, whereas I have to be a little focused, I have to cover a reasonable amount of ground \u2013 there are a lot of roads in New Zealand!\u201d<\/p>\n
Janssen has a few favourite weird and wonderful spots from his book \u2013 the absurd toy wall in Eltham and the \u2018fence of death\u2019 made of pig skins and skulls in the Macraes \u2013 but says some of the best discoveries have come through chatting to strangers on his travels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we just need to just slow down a little bit and make a little time to have a conversation with people, without overdoing it, of course,\u201d he reflects.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust engaging with people, it\u2019s amazing what enhances your life through conversations with people on a random basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Worth A Detour is on sale now.<\/p>\n
Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7.30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here<\/a>.<\/p>\n