''Full Circle'' is a

travel book Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel ca ...

by writer and television presenter

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

. ''Full Circle'' is a written accompaniment for Palin's 1997

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

travel documentary ''

Full Circle with Michael Palin ''Full Circle with Michael Palin'' is a 10-part 1997 documentary television series, first broadcast on BBC One from 31 August to 9 November 1997. Presented by Michael Palin, ''Full Circle'' was the third of a series of programmes in which Palin ...

''. The book recounts the journey of Palin and the BBC film crew to countries and regions around the rim of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in 1996 and 1997. ''Full Circle'' consists of text by Palin and photographs by

Basil Pao Basil Pao Ho-Yun (鲍皓昕) is a Hong Kong–based photographer. He has been the stills photographer on the BBC filming teams that made Michael Palin's television travel programmes. Early career Pao was born in Hong Kong, but started his career ...

, who accompanied the crew on the trip. Basil Pao also produced a book, '' Full Circle - The Photographs'', containing many more of his pictures. Palin visits various locations in the Russia, United States,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, China,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, Australia, New Zealand,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and Canada, with each region appearing as a separate chapter. Each chapter features a day-by-day recount, similar to a diary, with headings such as "Day 43 - Huis Ten Bosch". There are occasional breaks in this format, however, where particular days are not mentioned. The trip described in the book covered through 17 countries over a period of ten months, the longest of Palin's trips.

Audio edition

This book is available as an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

, read by Michael Palin. There are two versions available. The abridged version lasts 6 hours and the unabridged version 11 hours, 53 minutes.

External links

*
Online version of text
on Michael Palin's site, palintravels.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Full Circle - Michael Palin British travel books 1997 non-fiction books Books by Michael Palin BBC Books books English non-fiction books