In this sense, whenever Sean complains about something or makes a sarcastic comment (roughly eighty percent of the book) the reader is positioned to realise that the overall message being conveyed is that travel isn't all that its hyped up to be, in fact the majority of Sean's entries indicate that he doesn't like the people or the place from which he is writing. Sean constructs himself as a smart, witty, stung out "generation X" Australian which makes him an easy to understand, entertaining and hilarious narrator, all of which add to the notion that his views on his experience are valid. .
The varying settings used in the text are an integral part of Sean and David's story, furthermore the way in which Sean describes and interacts with his surroundings is equally important to the creation of the story as an anti-travel text. When the two leave Port Augusta Sean's opinion of the outback for the rest of the trip is made clear with " .as soon as we leave Port Augusta there is instant nothingness-no trees, mountains, rivers, lakes, buildings, people or anything. Just 10 minutes out of town, it's in the middle of nowhere." (pg 51) Sean's description of the desert is one which gives the outback a negative image, essentially saying that there is no point in travelling to the desert because there is nothing there. This is in stark contrast to what a travel brochure promoting Australia would mention, seeing as landmarks such as the Olgas, Uluru and Kakadu are all located in the outback. This therefore proves that the way in which Sean creates outback Australia has an anti-travel message, where traditional tourism guides promote the outback as an extreme of nature and natural beauty, Sean focuses on the bland scenery and "nothingness.".
Sean uses characterisation to create characters which the reader is encouraged to hate, feel sorry for or just view as plain weird. The inclusion of certain characters Sean and David meet on the road serves a purpose of stereotyping a town or city as being similar to one or two characters.
