J. Maarten Troost

J. Maarten Troost – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

J. Maarten Troost is a Dutch-American travel writer celebrated for his humorous and insightful narratives about the South Pacific, China, and wandering life. Learn about his biography, major works, style, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

J. Maarten Troost (born 1969) is a Dutch-American travel writer and essayist best known for blending candid humor, cultural observation, and personal reflection in his travel memoirs. His writing takes readers to remote islands, misunderstood nations, and the more puzzling corners of human experience.

Troost’s voice stands out because he is not a “perfect traveler” — he stumbles, he complains, he adapts — and in doing so, he offers a more grounded, humorous, and humane view of travel and culture. His work is beloved by readers who enjoy travel stories with heart, irony, and self-awareness.

Early Life and Background

Troost was born in Groningen, Netherlands in 1969.

He grew up, in part, in Canada, and was educated in the United States. B.A. degree from Boston University and an M.A. from George Washington University.

In his younger years, Troost also worked as a correspondent for The Prague Post from 1992 to 1994, covering political and social upheavals in post-Cold War Europe, including the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the wars in the Balkans.

Career and Major Works

Travel Writing & Global Living

Troost is best known for his South Pacific trilogy:

• The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific (2004)

• Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu (2006)

• Headhunters on My Doorstep: A True Treasure Island Ghost Story (2013)

He also ventured beyond the Pacific:

• Lost on Planet China: One Man’s Attempt to Understand the World’s Most Mystifying Nation (2008)

Troost has contributed essays and pieces to The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, The Prague Post, The Los Angeles Times, Islands Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, and others.

He also spent time working as a consultant for the World Bank after his Pacific experiences.

Style & Themes

Troost’s writing is often introspective, self-deprecating, and sharply observant. He turns cultural misunderstandings, personal failings, and absurdities into narrative friction and humor. He is as comfortable criticizing his own expectations as he is depicting others’.

Themes that often recur in his work include:

• Escapism vs. belonging — The tension between wanting to run away and realizing where “home” really is.

• Cultural collision — Western expectations meeting local norms and realities, with both comedic and poignant consequences.

• Addiction, recovery, and identity — In Headhunters on My Doorstep, Troost addresses his struggle with alcoholism and his journey to reclaim meaning.

• Adventure with consequences — He neither romanticizes travel nor idealizes exotic places; he shows both beauty and hardship.

In interviews, Troost has candidly discussed how addiction, personal restlessness, and a love for wandering shaped both his life and his writing.

Personal Life

Troost is married to Sylvia (as reported in bio sources).

He has lived in many places: the Netherlands, Canada, the Czech Republic, Kiribati, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the U.S. Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Famous Quotes

Here are some notable quotes attributed to J. Maarten Troost:

• “Paradise was always over there, a day’s sail away. But it’s a funny thing, escapism. You can go far and wide … but you never escape your own life. I, finally, knew where my life belonged. Home.”

• “It was as if the sensory overload that is American life had somehow led to sensory deprivation, a gilded weariness, where everything is permitted and nothing appreciated.”

• “Personally I regard idling as a virtue, but civilized society holds otherwise.”

• “I was simply restless, quite likely because of a dissatisfaction with the recent trajectory of my life, and if there is a better, more compelling reason for dropping everything … I know not what it is.”

• “So you’ve decided to travel around the world. This is an excellent thing to do. It’s a precious place, this planet. We should see it.”

• “You can read and read, but nothing eclipses experience.”

These quotes capture his ambivalence toward both wanderlust and rootedness, his humor, and his appreciation for lived experience.

Lessons from J. Maarten Troost

From Troost’s life and writing, we can draw a few broader lessons:

1. Travel is as much inward as outward
   Journeys across the world often become journeys toward the self, with all its contradictions.

2. Embrace imperfections
   Troost’s appeal lies partly in his willingness to admit failure, fear, boredom, and regret.

3. Humor as insight
   Comedy doesn’t diminish serious reflection; it can sharpen it by making truths accessible.

4. Home is not always obvious
   Escapism may pull you away, but eventually many find that belonging or meaning is found, paradoxically, near.

5. Honesty with one’s past
   Confronting addiction, restlessness, or discontent doesn’t weaken narrative — it deepens it.

Conclusion

J. Maarten Troost is more than a travel writer; he is a storyteller of the self in motion, of expecting and being surprised, of longing and returning. His work reminds us that travel is not about perfection or grand vistas alone—but about missteps, humility, and the stories we carry inside.