Anyone travelling from Europe to the Indies prepared well for the trip. By the end of the nineteenth century, the first modern travel guides for tourists to the Indies had appeared. One of these is J.M.J. Catenius-van der Meijden, Naar Indië en terug. Een boek tot naslaan (To the Indies and Back. A Book to Consult); it offers advice and tips for the whole family. Men, women and children turned to it to learn what awaited them on their trip. The guide also lists items of clothing that travellers had best take with them on their way to the Indies: ‘For the voyage, one should, as far as possible, wear old clothes, in dark colours. These should of course be well-fitting and neat, and one should look presentable in them. Etiquette demands that one is smartly dressed at all times, even on the high seas and in bad, stormy weather.’ The guide makes a distinction between travellers with an ‘average’ and a ‘large purse’.
J.M.J. Catenius-van der Meijden, Naar Indië en terug. Gids voor het gezin, speciaal een vraagbaak voor dames. Een boek tot naslaan. ’s-Gravenhage: N. Veenstra, [1903]. [1812 C 9]