But that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don't want to know what people are talking about. I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.

Eventually living in North Yorkshire and mainly working as a journalist Bryson became chief copy editor of the business section of The Times and then deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent. ) (1999)
Down Under (UK) / In a Sunburned Country (U. "
In November 2006 Bryson interviewed the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the state of science and education.

He received widespread recognition again with the publication of A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003) which popularised scientific questions for a general audience. Bryson shot to prominence in the United Kingdom with the publication of Notes From A Small Island (1995) an exploration of Britain for which he made an accompanying television series. Born an American he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before returning to the US in 1995.