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Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Italy, India and Indonesia - by Elizabeth Gilbert

From the Publisher: This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga-practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

How to Shoot Great Travel Photos - by Susan McCartney

Susan dropped me an email and gave me one of her best tips: “My rule is to shoot outdoors only when my shadow is longer than I am. By avoiding midday sunlight , I also avoid getting the ugly effects of “toplight” (light from directly overhead) on people.”

From The Publisher: A world traveler and master photographer reveals how to capture original, top-notch travel photos from around the globe with film or digital media. Illustrated by more than 150 breathtaking images from the author’s own work, the book presents a comprehensive roadmap to the challenges and rewards of the travel genre. Readers learn to handle issues such as exposure and metering, films, filters, and lighting under every exotic scenario, climate, and location imaginable; how to organize their trips effectively; and how to practice their skills close to home.

Journeys of a Lifetime - By National Geographic

A beautiful coffee table book that has more than just pictures that one would expect from National Geographic.  Each journey’s photos is complimented by maps and information.

From The Publisher: No one knows the world like National Geographic—and in this lavish volume, we reveal our picks for the world’s most fabulous journeys, along with helpful information for readers who want to try them out. Compiled from the favorite trips of National Geographic’s travel writers, Journeys of a Lifetime spans the globe to highlight the best of the world’s most famous and lesser known sojourns. It presents an incredible diversity of possibilities, from ocean cruises around Antarctica to horse treks in the Andes. Every continent and every possible form of transport is covered.

The Milepost - by Kris Valencia

Since 1949 The Milepost guides have been considered the Bible for those traveling the Alcan Highway linking the lower 48 states with Alaska. The Milepost is an annual publication that was founded in 1949 by William Wallace when the Alcan highway was just a gravel-packed road. My parents used this guide several times as they drove from Durango Colorado to Alaska.

The guide also contains a vast amount of details for driving the highways and by-ways of our 49th state. It consists of a mile-by-mile resource of the driver that wants to know. It is updated every year and now includes GPS coordinates for many locations. This years issue has 800 pages and over 500 photographs. You will never miss an important or interesting point if you have The Milepost in hand while driving in or to Alaska.
 

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SAS Urban Survival Handbook- by John “Lofty” Wiseman

Let’s hope you never need this book, but if you do, it could be a lifesaver! It is about how to protect yourself against various urban threats. Terrorism, fires, home robberies and other health and safety issues we may deal with in daily life. For twenty-six years John “Lofty” Wiseman was with Britain’s SAS as their Chief Survival Instructor. Today he is well known for his SAS training techniques for civilians.

From The Publisher: John “Lofty” Wiseman is the author of the bestselling SAS Survival Handbook, the definitive guide to survival in the wild from Britain’s Special Air Service. Now he has compiled a complete guide to survival in the urban jungle. Every year in America there are thousands of fatal accidents in the home—more than on the roads, and many more than in the great outdoors. Fire, electricity, water, gas, sharp knives, poisons, chemicals—these valuable tools can quickly become dangerous weapons when not treated with proper respect and understanding. Add to these the risks of travel, terrorism, muggings, rape, tsunamis, and earthquakes. We are constantly reminded that the world is a dangerous place. Wiseman shows readers how to think realistically and practically about these perils in order to avoid them, whether they are at home, on the street, in school, or in transit. From self-defense techniques to home security systems to coping with natural disasters, this book will teach readers to recognize risks, make quick decisions, and live confidently in the modern urban world.

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar - by: Paul Theroux

From The Publisher: Thirty years after the epic journey chronicled in his classic work The Great Railway Bazaar, the world’s most acclaimed travel writer re-creates his 25,000-mile journey through eastern Europe, central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, China, Japan, and Siberia. Half a lifetime ago, Paul Theroux virtually invented the modern travel narrative by recounting his grand tour by train through Asia. In the three decades since, the world he recorded in that book has undergone phenomenal change.

LOST ON PLANET CHINA - By J. Maarten Troost

From The Publisher: “Maarten Troost has charmed legions of readers with his laugh-out-loud tales of wandering the remote islands of the South Pacific. When the travel bug hit again, he decided to go big-time, taking on the world’s most populous and intriguing nation. In Lost on Planet China, Troost escorts readers on a rollicking journey through the new beating heart of the modern world, from the megalopolises of Beijing and Shanghai to the Gobi Desert and the hinterlands of Tibet.”

For more information see the reviews visit Amazon.com:

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Ghosts Of Alcatraz - By Kathryn Vercullo

From the Publisher - Alcatraz Island has a chilling history. Surrounded by icy waters, enshrouded by thick fog, and wrapped in whistling wind, it is no surprise to find that it is haunted. In fact, there is so much sadness, desperation, torture, and death in its past, it’s almost impossible to believe that there aren’t spirits there. Learn about famous prisoners who haunt the island and of those unnamed folks who continue to linger there. Hear Al Capone’s mournful banjo and Robert “Birdman” Stroud’s shriek in the wind. Find Smitty, the amazing escape artist, and Rufe McCain, who was murdered by a monster. Visit with unsettled spirits on Alcatraz, but make sure you catch the last boat home…

For more information see the reviews visit Amazon.com:

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HOW STATES GOT THEIR SHAPES - By Mark Stine

So have you ever wondered why the state of Oklahoma has a panhandle?

In a recent National Geographic Society which surveyed 18- to 24-year-old Americans they discovered 50 percent of young Americans couldn’t locate the state of New York. Ever wonder why New York state is shaped the way it is?  Maybe Mark’s book will help with this issue. 

For more information see the reviews visit Amazon.com:

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1,000 Places to See Before You Die - By Patricia Schultz

After unwrapping my birthday gifts this year I found I owned both versions of this marvelous book.  The original (2003) worldwide version with 973 pages and the more recent (2007) USA & Canada version with 1183 pages of brief descriptions of interesting travel destinations. 

Here are three random openings of the USA & Canada version:

• Page 552: Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway
• Page 172 - Historic Downtown New York, New York
• Page 697 - Enchantment Resort

I’ve been lucky enough to visit two of the three, pg 172 & 697.  You can read about my visit to Sedona’s Enchantment Resort.  No I didn’t set that up….it just happened at random.

This can make a great read for an airchair traveler, for those of you how actually hit the road these books give you lots of interesting spots that you may not easily discover on your own.

The first book includes the USA & Canada along with: Europe / Africa / The Middle East / Asia / Australia, New Zealand, and The Pacific Islands / Latin America / The Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda. The second book, of course, covers just the United States and Canada, but in much greater depth.

 

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