Book excerpt: Robert Louis Stevenson's 1878 travelogue, An Inland Voyage, details his canoeing trip through France and Belgium in 1876. Pioneering new ground in outdoor literature, this was Stevenson's first book. He had decided to become free from his parent's financial support so that he might freely pursue the woman he loved; to support himself he wrote travelogues, most notably An Inland Voyage, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes and The Silverado Squatters. Stevenson undertook the journey with his friend, Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, at a time when such outdoor travel for leisure was considered unusual and it resulted in this romantic and original work that still inspires travelers today.