iBooks Top Travel Memoir and Essay Ebooks

The most popular and best selling travel memoirs and essays at the Apple iBookstore. Chart updated daily.

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Travel Ebook Best Sellers

Top Travel Memoir and Essay Ebook Best Sellers

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Leave Only Footprints - Conor Knighton Cover Art

Leave Only Footprints

Leave Only Footprints My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A delightful sampler plate of our national parks, written with charisma and erudition.”—Nick Offerman, author of Paddle Your Own Canoe From CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Conor Knighton, a behind-the-scenery look at his year traveling to each of America's National Parks, discovering the most beautiful places and most interesting people our country has to offer NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY OUTSIDE When Conor Knighton set off to explore America's "best idea," he worried the whole thing could end up being his worst idea. A broken engagement and a broken heart had left him longing for a change of scenery, but the plan he'd cooked up in response had gone a bit overboard in that department: Over the course of a single year, Knighton would visit every national park in the country, from Acadia to Zion.   In Leave Only Footprints, Knighton shares informative and entertaining dispatches from what turned out to be the road trip of a lifetime. Whether he's waking up early for a naked scrub in a historic bathhouse in Arkansas or staying up late to stargaze along our loneliest highway in Nevada, Knighton weaves together the type of stories you're not likely to find in any guidebook. Through his unique lens, America the Beautiful becomes America the Captivating, the Hilarious, and the Inspiring. Along the way, he identifies the threads that tie these wildly different places together—and that tie us to nature—and reveals how his trip ended up changing his views on everything from God and love to politics and technology.   Filled with fascinating tidbits about our parks' past and reflections on their fragile future, this book is both a celebration of and a passionate case for the natural wonders that all Americans share.

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On the Hippie Trail - Rick Steves Cover Art

On the Hippie Trail

On the Hippie Trail Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer by Rick Steves

A  NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail. In the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied “Hippie Trail” from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year-old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way: jumping off a moving train, making friends in Tehran, getting lost in Lahore, getting high for the first time in Herat, battling leeches in Pokhara, and much more. The experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world.   This book contains edited selections from Rick’s journal and travel photos with a 45-years-later preface and postscript reflecting on how the journey through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal changed his life.   You know Rick Steves. Now discover the adventure of a lifetime that made him the travel writer he is today.

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A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson Cover Art

A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER  •  The classic chronicle of a “terribly misguided and terribly funny” ( The Washington Post ) hike of the Appalachian Trail, from the author of  A Short History of Nearly Everything  and  The Body   “The best way of escaping into nature.”— The New York Times    Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes—and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.    For a start there’s the gloriously out-of-shape Stephen Katz, a buddy from Iowa along for the walk. But  A Walk in the Woods  is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike. Bryson’s acute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America’s last great wilderness. An adventure, a comedy, and a celebration,  A Walk in the Woods  is a modern classic of travel literature.   NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

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Turn Right at Machu Picchu - Mark Adams Cover Art

Turn Right at Machu Picchu

Turn Right at Machu Picchu Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING TRAVEL MEMOIR What happens when an unadventurous adventure writer tries to re-create the original expedition to Machu Picchu? In 1911, Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and “discovered” Machu Picchu. While history has recast Bingham as a villain who stole both priceless artifacts and credit for finding the great archeological site, Mark Adams set out to retrace the explorer’s perilous path in search of the truth—except he’d written about adventure far more than he’d actually lived it. In fact, he’d never even slept in a tent. Turn Right at Machu Picchu is Adams’ fascinating and funny account of his journey through some of the world’s most majestic, historic, and remote landscapes guided only by a hard-as-nails Australian survivalist and one nagging question: Just what was Machu Picchu?

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The Pilgrimage - Paulo Coelho & Julia Sanches Cover Art

The Pilgrimage

The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho & Julia Sanches

A powerful tale of self-discovery and a journey for the ages. Get lost—and found—in the brilliant words of the renowned international bestseller, Paulo Coelho Step into the enriching and enchanting world of The Pilgrimage, a profound parable by Paulo Coelho that marked the beginning of his legacy, paving the way to the renowned The Alchemist. These two works act as complements, with The Pilgrimage offering an intimate glimpse into Paulo Coelho's real-life spiritual transformation during his mystical walk along the fabled Santiago de Compostela route. Part travel memoir and part spiritual guide, The Pilgrimage is a story brimming with universal lessons that resonate with seekers of introspection and literary lovers alike, offering moving insight into living with mindfulness and humility and embracing the human connection to the divine. Coelho’s artful storytelling weaves the extraordinary into the ordinary, illuminating that the profound truths of life often dwell in life’s simplest aspects. As a gateway to Paulo Coelho’s masterpieces, and with over 250,000 copies sold, The Pilgrimage reveals the origins of his philosophy that has inspired millions worldwide to discover their unique inner guidance and overcome fear to build resilience. Whether you’re a fan of Coelho’s enchanting narratives or a first-time reader, this book invites you on an adventure—one that just might lead you to a greater understanding of yourself.

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My Twenty-Five Years in Provence - Peter Mayle Cover Art

My Twenty-Five Years in Provence

My Twenty-Five Years in Provence Reflections on Then and Now by Peter Mayle

From the moment Peter Mayle and his wife, Jennie, uprooted their lives in England and crossed the Channel permanently, they never looked back. Here the beloved author of A Year in Provence pays tribute to the most endearing and enduring aspects of his life in France—the charming and indelible parade of village life, the sheer beauty, the ancient history. He celebrates the café and lists some of his favorites; identifies his favorite villages, restaurants, and open-air markets; and recounts his most memorable meals. A celebration of twenty-five years of Provençal living—of lessons learned and changes observed—with his final book Mayle has crafted a lasting love letter to his adopted home, marked by his signature warmth, wit, and humor.

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An Ottoman Traveller - Robert Dankoff Cover Art

An Ottoman Traveller

An Ottoman Traveller Selections from the Book of Travels by Evliya Çelebi by Robert Dankoff

Evliya Çelebi is the greatest travel writer of the Ottoman Empire. Born in Istanbul in 1611, he started travelling in 1640 and continued for over forty years, stopping eventually in Cairo where he died in about 1685. He collected his lively and eclectic observations into a ten-volume manuscript the Seyahatname, or Book of Travels. For the first time in English, this selection gives a taste of the breadth of Evliya's interests: from architecture to natural history, through religion, politi, linguisti, music, science and the supernatural. While he made over a thousand complete recitations of the Koran in his lifetime, he also wrote with curiosity about Christianity, about his own impotence, about the anti at a world convention of trapeze artists and the feats of a Kurdish sorcerer who conjured a horse from a log pile.

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The Best American Travel Writing 2019 - Jason Wilson Cover Art

The Best American Travel Writing 2019

The Best American Travel Writing 2019 by Jason Wilson

An eclectic compendium of the best travel writing essays published in 2018, collected by Alexandra Fuller. THE BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING SERIES gathers together a satisfyingly varied medley of perspectives, all offering a deep cultural exploration of what it means to travel somewhere new. For the past two decades, readers have come to recognize this annual volume as the gold standard for excellence in literary travel writing. This year’s volume journeys to the front lines of history, culture, and controversy, exploring: Global Perspectives: Venture from a post-apocalyptic Chernobyl and the walls of Guantánamo to the jungles of Sumatra and the most crowded island in the world. Literary Journalism: Discover how Nashville became a bachelorette party hub, what it’s like to walk from Selma to Montgomery, and why a group of Brazilians traveled 18 hours on a riverboat to vote. Cultural Encounters: Experience the spread of the chile pepper across the globe, the complexities of tourism in China, and the surprising politics of paprika in Hungary. The Art of Travel Writing: Collected by celebrated author Alexandra Fuller, this volume showcases the power of the first-person narrative to connect us, challenge our perspectives, and reveal who we really are.

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Danube River Cruise Travel Guide with Beautiful Images - Angela Macron Cover Art

Danube River Cruise Travel Guide with Beautiful Images

Danube River Cruise Travel Guide with Beautiful Images by Angela Macron

Prepare to embark on an unforgettable adventure as you flip through the pages of this captivating travel guide. This guide is your ticket to explore the heart of Europe through the enchanting world of river cruising. Step aboard luxurious ships that will carry you gently along the meandering waters of the majestic Danube River, through ten diverse countries, and into the heart of centuries-old cultures. Discover the magic of Vienna's opulent palaces, the historic charm of Budapest's Buda Castle, and the medieval allure of Regensburg's cobblestone streets. Navigate through captivating landscapes, from the rolling hills of the Wachau Valley to the rugged beauty of the Iron Gates. Explore hidden gems along the way, savor local delicacies, and immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of traditions and histories that line the Danube's banks. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or embarking on your first cruise, this comprehensive guide will equip you with insider tips, cultural insights, and expert advice to ensure every moment of your journey is nothing short of extraordinary. This book is not just a travel guide; it's your passport to a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a treasure trove of memories waiting to be created along Europe's legendary river. Prepare to set sail and let the Danube weave its enchantment around you.

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Two for the Road - Shirley Hardy-Rix & Brian Rix Cover Art

Two for the Road

Two for the Road 56,671 kms, 27 Countries, One Dream by Shirley Hardy-Rix & Brian Rix

Roads are for journeys, not destinations.   In 2003 Melbourne couple Shirley Hardy-Rix and her husband Brian Rix fulfilled a lifelong ambition of motorcycling across the world.   In an incredible 350-day journey, they would do everything they'd ever dreamed of as well as getting much more than they'd bargained for. Crossing 27 countries and covering 56,671 kilometres, they raced around the Isle of Man motorcycle circuit on Mad Sunday, survived Iran's traffic and travelled through Taliban strongholds under armed guard. Shirley and Brian's story is an epic account of the ups and downs of seeing the world on two wheels - from the frustrations of potholes and flat tyres, to the splendour of some of Europe and Asia's most awe-inspiring sights.   Full of terrific anecdotes, down-to-earth humour and practical advice, Two for the Road is a must for anyone who's ever imagined escaping the daily grind to experience the romance of the open road.

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Eight Years Of Trouble In Samoa - Robert Louis Stevenson Cover Art

Eight Years Of Trouble In Samoa

Eight Years Of Trouble In Samoa by Robert Louis Stevenson

A great part of the last four years of Stevenson's life was occupied, very unfortunately for his literary work, in an active share in Samoan politics. For some years before he began to travel in the Pacific, the islands in which he at last made his home, had been in a disturbed condition from causes partly arising from native differences, and partly from foreign interference. Before ever he had reached Samoa he had espoused the cause of the native race of Honolulu, and in February 1889 had written to ' The Times ' crying against German aggressiveness in Samoa, displayed not only in relations with the natives, but against American and English. Inasmuch as A Footnote to History records Samoan affairs from 1883 to 1891, it should be noted that Stevenson first set foot in Samoa at Christmas 1889, and after a brief stay was absent nearly the whole of the following year. Thus it was only during one of the eight years that he was in direct touch with what was going on. The history of the previous period he gathered from white residents such as H. J. Moors {q.v.) and others who more or less shared his political views, or at any rate from motives of interest were opposed to the German element.

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Neither here nor there - Bill Bryson Cover Art

Neither here nor there

Neither here nor there Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson

Neither Here Nor There is an affectionate and riotously funny recount of Bill Bryson’s travels across Europe. Like many of his generation, Bryson backpacked across Europe in the early seventies-in search of enlightenment, beer, and women. Twenty years later he decided to retrace the journey he undertook in the halcyon days of his youth. This hilarious romp of remembrance follows the best-selling author from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul, with stops along the way in Europe’s most diverting and historic locales.

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Riding the Rails with Paul Theroux - Paul Theroux Cover Art

Riding the Rails with Paul Theroux

Riding the Rails with Paul Theroux The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, and Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux

The international bestselling author records his many insights and adventures traversing the world by train in these 3 classic travel memoirs.   The Great Railway Bazaar In 1973, Paul Theroux embarked on his now-legendary journey from the United Kingdom through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Asia's fabled trains—the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express—are the stars of a journey that takes Theroux on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian.   The Old Patagonia Express Starting with a rush-hour subway ride to South Station in Boston to catch the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, Paul Theroux takes a grand railway adventure first across the United States and then south through Mexico, Central America, and across the Andes until he winds up on the meandering Old Patagonian Express steam engine.   Ghost Train to the Eastern Star Thirty years after the epic journey chronicled in The Great Railway Bazaar, Paul Theroux retraces his 25,000-mile journey to witness and experience a landscape drastically transformed by the intervening decades. The Soviet Union has collapsed and China has risen; India booms while Burma smothers under dictatorship; Vietnam flourishes in the aftermath of the havoc America was unleashing on it the last time Theroux passed through.

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Blue Highways - William Least Heat-Moon Cover Art

Blue Highways

Blue Highways A Journey into America by William Least Heat-Moon

Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads. William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put home behind him and a sense of curiosity about "those little towns that get on the map -- if they get on at all -- only because some cartographer has a blank space to fill: Remote, Oregon; Simplicity, Virginia; New Freedom, Pennsylvania; New Hope, Tennessee; Why, Arizona; Whynot, Mississippi." His adventures, his discoveries, and his recollections of the extraordinary people he encountered along the way amount to a revelation of the true American experience.

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Encore Provence - Peter Mayle Cover Art

Encore Provence

Encore Provence New Adventures in the South of France by Peter Mayle

In his most delightful foray into the wonders of Provençal life, Peter Mayle returns to France and puts behind him cholesterol worries, shopping by phone, California wines, and other concerns that plagued him after too much time away. In Encore Provence , Mayle gives us a glimpse into the secrets of the truffle trade, a parfumerie lesson on the delicacies of scent, an exploration of the genetic effects of 2,000 years of foie gras, and a small-town murder mystery that reads like the best fiction. Here, too, are Mayle's latest tips on where to find the best honey, cheese, or chambre d'hìte the region has to offer. Lyric, insightful, sparkling with detail, Encore Provence brings us a land where the smell of thyme in the fields or the glory of a leisurely lunch is no less than inspiring.

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Mediterranean Summer - David Shalleck & Erol Munuz Cover Art

Mediterranean Summer

Mediterranean Summer A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella by David Shalleck & Erol Munuz

An alluring, evocative summer voyage on the Mediterranean and into the enchanting seaside towns of France and Italy by a young American chef aboard an Italian billionaire couple’s spectacular sailing yacht. Having begun his cooking career in some of New York’s and San Francisco’s best restaurants, David Shalleck undertakes a European culinary adventure, a quest to discover what it really means to be a chef through a series of demanding internships in Provence and throughout Italy. After four years, as he debates whether it is finally time to return stateside and pursue something more permanent, he stumbles upon a rare opportunity: to become the chef on board Serenity , the classic sailing yacht owned by one of Italy’s most prominent couples. They present Shalleck with the ultimate challenge: to prepare all the meals for them and their guests for the summer, with no repeats, comprised exclusively of local ingredients that reflect the flavors of each port, presented flawlessly to the couple’s uncompromising taste—all from the confines of the yacht’s small galley while at sea.   Shalleck invites readers to experience both place and food on Serenity ’s five-month journey. He prepares the simple classics of Provençal cooking in the French Riviera, forages for delicate frutti di mare in Liguria to make crudo , finds the freshest fish along the Tuscan coast for cacciucco , embraces the season of sun-drenched tomatoes for acqua pazza in the Amalfi Coast, and crosses the Bay of Naples to serve decadent dark chocolate-almond cake at the Isle of Capri. Shalleck captures the distinctive sights, sounds, and unique character of each port, the work hard/play hard life of being a crew member, and the challenges of producing world-class cuisine for the stylish and demanding owners and their guests.   An intimate view of the most exclusive of worlds, Mediterranean Summer offers readers a new perspective on breathtaking places, a memorable portrait of old world elegance and life at sea, as well recipes and tips to re-create the delectable food.

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Airplane Mode - Shahnaz Habib Cover Art

Airplane Mode

Airplane Mode An Irreverent History of Travel by Shahnaz Habib

Winner of the New American Voices Award Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medals of Excellence This witty personal and cultural history of travel from the perspective of a Third World-raised woman of color, Airplane Mode, asks: what does it mean to be a joyous traveler when we live in the ruins of colonialism, capitalism and climate change? The conditions of travel have long been dictated by the color of passports and the color of skin. The color of one’s skin and passport have long dictated the conditions of travel.  For Shahnaz Habib, travel and travel writing have always been complicated pleasures. Habib threads the history of travel with her personal story as a child on family vacations in India, an adult curious about the world, and an immigrant for whom roundtrips are an annual fact of life. Tracing the power dynamics that underlie tourism, this insightful debut parses who gets to travel, and who gets to write about the experience. Threaded through the book are inviting and playful analyses of obvious and not-so-obvious travel artifacts: passports, carousels, bougainvilleas, guidebooks, trains, the idea of wanderlust itself. Together, they tell a subversive history of travel as a Euro-American mode of consumerism—but as any traveler knows, travel is more than that. As an immigrant whose loved ones live across continents, Habib takes a deeply curious and joyful look at a troubled and beloved activity.

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Full Tilt - Dervla Murphy Cover Art

Full Tilt

Full Tilt Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy

When Dervla Murphy was ten, she was given a bicycle and an atlas, and within days she was secretly planning a trip to India. At the age of thirty-one, in 1963, she finally set off and this book is based on the daily diary she kept while riding through Persia, Afghanistan and over the Himalayas to Pakistan and India. A lone woman on a bicycle (with a revolver in her trouser pocket) was an almost unknown occurrence and a focus of enormous interest wherever she went. Undaunted by snow in alarming quantities, and using her .25 pistol on starving wolves in Bulgaria and to scare lecherous Kurds in Persia, her resourcefulness and the blind eye she turned to personal danger and extreme discomfort were remarkable.

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The American Scene - Henry James Cover Art

The American Scene

The American Scene by Henry James

The American Scene - Henry James - The American Scene is a book of travel writing by Henry James about his trip through the United States in 1904-1905. Ten of the fourteen chapters of the book were published in the North American Review, Harper's and the Fortnightly Review in 1905 and 1906.

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Travels with Charley in Search of America - John Steinbeck & Jay Parini Cover Art

Travels with Charley in Search of America

Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck & Jay Parini

An intimate journey across and in search of America, as told by one of its most beloved writers, in a deluxe centennial edition In September 1960, John Steinbeck embarked on a journey across America. He felt that he might have lost touch with the country, with its speech, the smell of its grass and trees, its color and quality of light, the pulse of its people. To reassure himself, he set out on a voyage of rediscovery of the American identity, accompanied by a distinguished French poodle named Charley; and riding in a three-quarter-ton pickup truck named Rocinante.   His course took him through almost forty states: northward from Long Island to Maine; through the Midwest to Chicago; onward by way of Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana (with which he fell in love), and Idaho to Seattle, south to San Francisco and his birthplace, Salinas; eastward through the Mojave, New Mexico, Arizona, to the vast hospitality of Texas, to New Orleans and a shocking drama of desegregation; finally, on the last leg, through Alabama, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey to New York.   Travels with Charley in Search of America is an intimate look at one of America's most beloved writers in the later years of his life—a self-portrait of a man who never wrote an explicit autobiography. Written during a time of upheaval and racial tension in the South—which Steinbeck witnessed firsthand— Travels with Charley is a stunning evocation of America on the eve of a tumultuous decade. This Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition also features French flaps and deckle-edged paper. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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Goodbye to a River - John Graves Cover Art

Goodbye to a River

Goodbye to a River A Narrative by John Graves

In the 1950s, a series of dams was proposed along the Brazos River in north-central Texas. For John Graves, this project meant that if the stream’s regimen was thus changed, the beautiful and sometimes brutal surrounding countryside would also change, as would the lives of the people whose rugged ancestors had eked out an existence there. Graves therefore decided to visit that stretch of the river, which he had known intimately as a youth. Goodbye to a River is his account of that farewell canoe voyage. As he braves rapids and fatigue and the fickle autumn weather, he muses upon old blood feuds of the region and violent skirmishes with native tribes, and retells wild stories of courage and cowardice and deceit that shaped both the river’s people and the land during frontier times and later. Nearly half a century after its initial publication, Goodbye to a River is a true American classic, a vivid narrative about an exciting journey and a powerful tribute to a vanishing way of life and its ever-changing natural environment.

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Fugitives and Refugees - Chuck Palahniuk Cover Art

Fugitives and Refugees

Fugitives and Refugees A Walk in Portland, Oregon by Chuck Palahniuk

Want to know where Chuck Palahniuk’s tonsils currently reside? Been looking for a naked mannequin to hide in your kitchen cabinets? Curious about Chuck’s debut in an MTV music video? What goes on at the Scum Center? How do you get to the Apocalypse Café? In the closest thing he may ever write to an autobiography, Chuck Palahniuk provides answers to all these questions and more as he takes you through the streets, sewers, and local haunts of Portland, Oregon. According to Katherine Dunn, author of the cult classic Geek Love , Portland is the home of America’s “fugitives and refugees.” Get to know these folks, the “most cracked of the crackpots,” as Palahniuk calls them, and come along with him on an adventure through the parts of Portland you might not otherwise believe actually exist. No other travel guide will give you this kind of access to “a little history, a little legend, and a lot of friendly, sincere, fascinating people who maybe should’ve kept their mouths shut.” Here are strange personal museums, weird annual events, and ghost stories. Tour the tunnels under downtown Portland. Visit swingers’ sex clubs, gay and straight. See Frances Gabe’s famous 1940s Self-Cleaning House. Look into strange local customs like the I-Tit-a-Rod Race and the Santa Rampage. Learn how to talk like a local in a quick vocabulary lesson. Get to know, I mean really get to know, the animals at the Portland zoo. Oh, the list goes on and on.

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The Geography of Bliss - Eric Weiner Cover Art

The Geography of Bliss

The Geography of Bliss One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner

Now a new series on Peacock with Rainn Wilson, THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS is part travel memoir, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide that takes the viewer across the globe to investigate not what happiness is, but WHERE it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Qatar, awash in petrodollars, find joy in all that cash? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? In a unique mix of travel, psychology, science and humor, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions.

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Three Tigers, One Mountain - Michael Booth Cover Art

Three Tigers, One Mountain

Three Tigers, One Mountain A Journey Through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Korea, and Japan by Michael Booth

A lively tour through Japan, Korea, and China, exploring their intertwined cultures and fraught history, by the author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People . There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, "Two tigers cannot share the same mountain." However, in East Asia, there are three tigers on that mountain—China, Korea, and Japan—and they have a long history of turmoil and tension with one another. In this entertaining and thought-provoking travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to discover how deep the enmity really is between these three "tiger" nations and what prevents them from making peace. Booth, long fascinated with the region, travels by car, ferry, train, and foot, experiencing the people and culture of these nations up close. No matter where he goes, the burden of history, and the memory of past crimes, continues to overshadow present relationships. An enlightening, entertaining and sometimes sobering journey, Three Tigers, One Mountain is an intimate and in-depth look at three fascinating countries and their cultures. Praise for Three Tigers, One Mountain "[An] enjoyable and information-packed travelogue. . . . [Booth] is a terrific observer of the region's educated youth, who make him an optimist. . . . His deft, accurate summaries of the contentious history in each place work well." — The Sunday Times (London) "An evenhanded, accessible, and pertinent work of Asian history and current affairs." — Kirkus Reviews "Cheerfully digressive and intellectually undisciplined, this enthusiastic account will whet readers' appetites for a more in-depth treatment of the political, cultural, and historical forces at play in the region." — Publishers Weekly

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Off The Rails - Chris Hatherly & Tim Cope Cover Art

Off The Rails

Off The Rails 10,000 km by Bicycle across Russia, Siberia and Mongolia to China by Chris Hatherly & Tim Cope

This is the true story of two twenty-year old Australians who travelled for fourteen months on recumbent bicycles from Russia, across Siberia and Mongolia, to Beijing. It is as much a story of perseverance, passion, and belief as it is about the people and remarkable landscapes of Siberia and Mongolia. Tim and Chris are not just fearless adventurers but philosophers on wheels, willing and able to open themselves up to everything from the voice of the Steppes to the Russian villagers and the nomads of the Gobi desert. From this they draw an often funny, moving and inspirational tale of living out a dream. Mixed into this journey is the story of their tumultuous relationship as two opposing wills battle it out in the midst of heat, snow and hunger.

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The Sweet Life in Paris - David Lebovitz Cover Art

The Sweet Life in Paris

The Sweet Life in Paris Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City by David Lebovitz

From the New York Times bestselling author of  My Paris Kitchen and L'Appart, a deliciously funny, offbeat, and irreverent look at the city of lights, cheese, chocolate, and other confections. Like so many others, David Lebovitz dreamed about living in Paris ever since he first visited the city and after a nearly two-decade career as a pastry chef and cookbook author, he finally moved to Paris to start a new life. Having crammed all his worldly belongings into three suitcases, he arrived, hopes high, at his new apartment in the lively Bastille neighborhood. But he soon discovered it's a different world en France . From learning the ironclad rules of social conduct to the mysteries of men's footwear, from shopkeepers who work so hard not to sell you anything to the etiquette of working the right way around the cheese plate, here is David's story of how he came to fall in love with—and even understand—this glorious, yet sometimes maddening, city. When did he realize he had morphed into un vrai parisien ? It might have been when he found himself considering a purchase of men's dress socks with cartoon characters on them. Or perhaps the time he went to a bank with 135 euros in hand to make a 134-euro payment, was told the bank had no change that day, and thought it was completely normal. Or when he found himself dressing up to take out the garbage because he had come to accept that in Paris appearances and image mean everything. Once you stop laughing, the more than fifty original recipes, for dishes both savory and sweet, such as Pork Loin with Brown Sugar–Bourbon Glaze, Braised Turkey in Beaujolais Nouveau with Prunes, Bacon and Bleu Cheese Cake, Chocolate-Coconut Marshmallows, Chocolate Spice Bread, Lemon-Glazed Madeleines, and Mocha–Crème Fraîche Cake, will have you running to the kitchen for your own taste of Parisian living.

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World Travel - Anthony Bourdain & Laurie Woolever Cover Art

World Travel

World Travel An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain & Laurie Woolever

A guide to some of the world’s most fascinating places, as seen and experienced by writer, television host, and relentlessly curious traveler Anthony Bourdain Anthony Bourdain saw more of the world than nearly anyone. His travels took him from the hidden pockets of his hometown of New York to a tribal longhouse in Borneo, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai to Tanzania’s utter beauty and the stunning desert solitude of Oman’s Empty Quarter—and many places beyond. In World Travel, a life of experience is collected into an entertaining, practical, fun and frank travel guide that gives readers an introduction to some of his favorite places—in his own words. Featuring essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid, World Travel provides essential context that will help readers further appreciate the reasons why Bourdain found a place enchanting and memorable. Supplementing Bourdain’s words are a handful of essays by friends, colleagues, and family that tell even deeper stories about a place, including sardonic accounts of traveling with Bourdain by his brother, Christopher; a guide to Chicago’s best cheap eats by legendary music producer Steve Albini, and more. Additionally, each chapter includes illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook. For veteran travelers, armchair enthusiasts, and those in between, World Travel offers a chance to experience the world like Anthony Bourdain.

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Carsick - John Waters Cover Art

Carsick

Carsick John Waters Hitchhikes Across America by John Waters

Carsick is the New York Times bestselling chronicle of a cross-country hitchhiking journey with America's most beloved weirdo. John Waters is putting his life on the line. Armed with wit, a pencil-thin mustache, and a cardboard sign that reads "I'm Not Psycho," he hitchhikes across America from Baltimore to San Francisco, braving lonely roads and treacherous drivers. But who should we be more worried about, the delicate film director with genteel manners or the unsuspecting travelers transporting the Pope of Trash? Before he leaves for this bizarre adventure, Waters fantasizes about the best and worst possible scenarios: a friendly drug dealer hands over piles of cash to finance films with no questions asked, a demolition-derby driver makes a filthy sexual request in the middle of a race, a gun-toting drunk terrorizes and holds him hostage, and a Kansas vice squad entraps and throws him in jail. So what really happens when this cult legend sticks out his thumb and faces the open road? His real-life rides include a gentle eighty-one-year-old farmer who is convinced Waters is a hobo, an indie band on tour, and the perverse filmmaker's unexpected hero: a young, sandy-haired Republican in a Corvette. Laced with subversive humor and warm intelligence, Carsick is an unforgettable vacation with a wickedly funny companion—and a celebration of America's weird, astonishing, and generous citizenry.

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The Lost Continent - Bill Bryson Cover Art

The Lost Continent

The Lost Continent Travels in Small Town America by Bill Bryson

“The kind of book Steinbeck might have written if he’d traveled with David Letterman.” — New York magazine An inspiring and hilarious account of one man’s rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town.  Following an urge to rediscover his youth, Bill Bryson left his native Des Moines, Iowa, on a cross-country road trip that would take him across 38 states. Lucky for us, he brought a notebook. With a razor wit and a kind heart, Bryson serves up a colorful tale of boredom, kitsch, and beauty when you least expect it. From Times Square to the Mississippi River to Williamsburg, Virginia, Bryson's keen and hilarious search for the perfect American small town is a beloved travelogue straight into the heart and soul of America. He was looking for the idyllic America of his youth. What he found was—something else entirely. Travel Humor: Experience Bryson’s legendary wit as he navigates the kitsch, beauty, and sheer absurdity of America's forgotten corners. Small Town America: Join the hilarious, heartfelt search for the perfect small town—and the stranger-than-fiction reality of what’s really out there. A Nostalgic Journey: A poignant and funny look at coming home, this trip through 38 states is a rediscovery of the country Bryson left behind. Classic Americana: From bizarre tourist traps to the surprising soul of the nation, it’s a loving, laugh-out-loud tribute to the heart of America.

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Tales of a Female Nomad - Rita Golden Gelman Cover Art

Tales of a Female Nomad

Tales of a Female Nomad Living at Large in the World by Rita Golden Gelman

The true story of an ordinary woman living an extraordinary existence all over the world. “Gelman doesn’t just observe the cultures she visits, she participates in them, becoming emotionally involved in the people’s lives. This is an amazing travelogue.” — Booklist At the age of forty-eight, on the verge of a divorce, Rita Golden Gelman left an elegant life in L.A. to follow her dream of travelling the world, connecting with people in cultures all over the globe. In 1986, Rita sold her possessions and became a nomad, living in a Zapotec village in Mexico, sleeping with sea lions on the Galapagos Islands, and residing everywhere from thatched huts to regal palaces. She has observed orangutans in the rain forest of Borneo, visited trance healers and dens of black magic, and cooked with women on fires all over the world. Rita’s example encourages us all to dust off our dreams and rediscover the joy, the exuberance, and the hidden spirit that so many of us bury when we become adults.

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In Patagonia - Bruce Chatwin & Nicholas Shakespeare Cover Art

In Patagonia

In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin & Nicholas Shakespeare

The masterpiece of travel writing that revolutionized the genre and made its author famous overnight   An exhilarating look at a place that still retains the exotic mystery of a far-off, unseen land, Bruce Chatwin’s exquisite account of his journey through Patagonia teems with evocative descriptions, remarkable bits of history, and unforgettable anecdotes. Fueled by an unmistakable lust for life and adventure and a singular gift for storytelling, Chatwin treks through “the uttermost part of the earth”—that stretch of land at the southern tip of South America, where bandits were once made welcome—in search of almost-forgotten legends, the descendants of Welsh immigrants, and the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy. An instant classic upon publication in 1977, In Patagonia is a masterpiece that has cast a long shadow upon the literary world. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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A Course Called Ireland - Tom Coyne Cover Art

A Course Called Ireland

A Course Called Ireland A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee by Tom Coyne

An epic Celtic sojourn in search of ancestors, nostalgia, and the world?s greatest round of golf In his thirties, married, and staring down impending fatherhood, Tom Coyne was well familiar with the last refuge of the adult male: the golfing trip. Intent on designing a golf trip to end all others, Coyne looked to Ireland, the place where his father had taught him to love the game years before. As he studied a map of the island and plotted his itinerary, it dawned on Coyne that Ireland was ringed with golf holes. The country began to look like one giant round of golf, so Coyne packed up his clubs and set off to play all of it. And since Irish golfers didn?t take golf carts, neither would he. He would walk the entire way. A Course Called Ireland is the story of a walking- averse golfer who treks his way around an entire country, spending sixteen weeks playing every seaside hole in Ireland and often battling through all four seasons in one Irish afternoon. Coyne plays everything from the top-ranked links in the world to nine-hole courses crowded with livestock. Along the way, he searches out his family?s roots, discovers that a once-poor country has been transformed by an economic boom, and finds that the only thing tougher to escape than Irish sand traps are Irish pubs. By turns hilarious and poetic, A Course Called Ireland is a magnificent tour of a vibrant land and a paean to the world?s greatest game.

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To Build a Fire - Jack London Cover Art

To Build a Fire

To Build a Fire And Other Stories by Jack London

To Build a Fire and Other Stories is a collection of essential short stories by Jack London. The title tale is the best known of the London short works with its reflection of his experience in the frigid Northwestern Yukon territory with a husky wolf-dog.

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Bill Bryson's African Diary - Bill Bryson Cover Art

Bill Bryson's African Diary

Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson

From the author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Body comes a travel diary documenting a visit to Kenya. All royalties and profits go to CARE International.   In the early fall of 2002, famed travel writer Bill Bryson journeyed to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, the charity dedicated to working with local communities to eradicate poverty around the world. He arrived with a set of mental images of Africa gleaned from television broadcasts of low-budget Jungle Jim movies in his Iowa childhood and a single viewing of the film version of Out of Africa . (Also with some worries about tropical diseases, insects, and large predators.) But the vibrant reality of Kenya and its people took over the second he deplaned in Nairobi, and this diary records Bill Bryson’s impressions of his trip with his inimitable trademark style of wry observation and curious insight.   From the wrenching poverty of the Kibera slum in Nairobi to the meticulously manicured grounds of the Karen Blixen house and the human fossil riches of the National Museum, Bryson registers the striking contrasts of a postcolonial society in transition. He visits the astoundingly vast Great Rift Valley; undergoes the rigors of a teeth-rattling train journey to Mombasa and a hair-whitening flight through a vicious storm; and visits the refugee camps and the agricultural and economic projects where dedicated CARE professionals wage noble and dogged war against poverty, dislocation, and corruption.   Though brief in compass and duration, Bill Bryson’s African Diary is rich in irreverent, poignant, and morally instructive observation. Like all of this author’s work, it can make the reader laugh, think, and especially, feel all at the same time.

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The Log from the Sea of Cortez - John Steinbeck & Richard Astro Cover Art

The Log from the Sea of Cortez

The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck & Richard Astro

A Penguin Classic In the two years after the 1939 publication of Steinbeck’s masterful The Grapes of Wrath , Steinbeck and his novel increasingly became the center of intense controversy and censorship. In search of a respite from the national stage, Steinbeck and his close friend, biologist Ed Ricketts, embarked on a month long marine specimen-collecting expedition in the Gulf of California, which resulted in their collaboration on the Sea of Cortez . In 1951, after Ricketts’ death, Steinbeck reissued his narrative portion of the work in memory of his friend and the inspiration for Cannery Row ’s “Doc”. This exciting day-by-day account of their journey together is a rare blend of science, philosophy, and high-spirited adventure. This edition features an introduction by Richard Astro. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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Travels in Siberia - Ian Frazier Cover Art

Travels in Siberia

Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier

A Dazzling Russian travelogue from the bestselling author of Great Plains In his astonishing new work, Ian Frazier, one of our greatest and most entertaining storytellers, trains his perceptive, generous eye on Siberia, the storied expanse of Asiatic Russia whose grim renown is but one explanation among hundreds for the region's fascinating, enduring appeal. In Travels in Siberia , Frazier reveals Siberia's role in history—its science, economics, and politics—with great passion and enthusiasm, ensuring that we'll never think about it in the same way again. With great empathy and epic sweep, Frazier tells the stories of Siberia's most famous exiles, from the well-known—Dostoyevsky, Lenin (twice), Stalin (numerous times)—to the lesser known (like Natalie Lopukhin, banished by the empress for copying her dresses) to those who experienced unimaginable suffering in Siberian camps under the Soviet regime, forever immortalized by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in The Gulag Archipelago . Travels in Siberia is also a unique chronicle of Russia since the end of the Soviet Union, a personal account of adventures among Russian friends and acquaintances, and, above all, a unique, captivating, totally Frazierian take on what he calls the "amazingness" of Russia—a country that, for all its tragic history, somehow still manages to be funny. Travels in Siberia will undoubtedly take its place as one of the twenty-first century's indispensable contributions to the travel-writing genre.

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Lost on Planet China - J. Maarten Troost Cover Art

Lost on Planet China

Lost on Planet China The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid by J. Maarten Troost

The bestselling author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals returns with a sharply observed, hilarious account of his adventures in China—a complex, fascinating country with enough dangers and delicacies to keep him, and readers, endlessly entertained. 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. Lost on Planet China finds Troost dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai; eating Yak in Tibet; deciphering restaurant menus (offering local favorites such as Cattle Penis with Garlic); visiting with Chairman Mao (still dead, very orange); and hiking (with 80,000 other people) up Tai Shan, China’s most revered mountain. But in addition to his trademark gonzo adventures, the book also delivers a telling look at a vast and complex country on the brink of transformation that will soon shape the way we all work, live, and think. As Troost shows, while we may be familiar with Yao Ming or dim sum or the cheap, plastic products that line the shelves of every store, the real China remains a world—indeed, a planet--unto itself. Maarten Troost brings China to life as you’ve never seen it before, and his insightful, rip-roaringly funny narrative proves that once again he is one of the most entertaining and insightful armchair travel companions around.

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Bicycle Diaries - David Byrne Cover Art

Bicycle Diaries

Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

“...an engaging book: part diary, part manifesto.”— The Guardian A round-the-world bicycle tour with Talking Heads co-founder David Byrne, one of the most original artists of our day. Urban bicycling has become more popular than ever as recession-strapped, climate-conscious city dwellers reinvent basic transportation. In this wide-ranging memoir, artist/musician and co-founder of Talking Heads David Byrne—who has relied on a bike to get around New York City since the early 1980s—relates his adventures as he pedals through and engages with some of the world's major cities. From Buenos Aires to Berlin, he meets a range of people both famous and ordinary, shares his thoughts on art, fashion, music, globalization, and the ways that many places are becoming more bike-friendly. Bicycle Diaries is an adventure on two wheels conveyed with humor, curiosity, and humanity.

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Holy Cow - Sarah Macdonald Cover Art

Holy Cow

Holy Cow An Indian Adventure by Sarah Macdonald

In her twenties, journalist Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty. So when an airport beggar read her palm and told her she would return to India—and for love—she screamed, “Never!” and gave the country, and him, the finger. But eleven years later, the prophecy comes true. When the love of Sarah’s life is posted to India, she quits her dream job to move to the most polluted city on earth, New Delhi. For Sarah this seems like the ultimate sacrifice for love, and it almost kills her, literally. Just settled, she falls dangerously ill with double pneumonia, an experience that compels her to face some serious questions about her own fragile mortality and inner spiritual void. “I must find peace in the only place possible in India,” she concludes. “Within.” Thus begins her journey of discovery through India in search of the meaning of life and death. Holy Cow is Macdonald’s often hilarious chronicle of her adventures in a land of chaos and contradiction, of encounters with Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, Sufis, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians and a kaleidoscope of yogis, swamis and Bollywood stars. From spiritual retreats and crumbling nirvanas to war zones and New Delhi nightclubs, it is a journey that only a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life—and her sanity—can survive.

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I'm Off Then - Hape Kerkeling Cover Art

I'm Off Then

I'm Off Then Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago by Hape Kerkeling

“Written with a gentle, wry humor that recalls Bill Bryson,” ( The New York Times ), this international bestseller about a modern pilgrimage by one of Germany’s most popular comedic entertainers has struck a nerve. Overweight, overworked, and physically unfit, Kerkeling was an unlikely candidate to make the arduous hike across the French Alps to the Spanish Shrine of St. James, a 1,200-year-old journey undertaken by nearly 100,000 Christians every year. But that didn’t stop him from getting off the couch and walking. Along the way, lonely and searching for meaning, he began the journal that turned into this utterly frank, engaging book. Simply by struggling with his physical limitations and the rigors of long-distance walking, he discovered a deep sense of peace that transformed his life and allowed him to forgive himself, and others, more readily. He learned something every day, and he took to finishing each entry with his daily lessons. Filled with quirky fellow pilgrims, historic landscapes, and Kerkeling’s self-deprecating sense of humor, I’m Off Then is an inspiring travelogue, a publishing phenomenon, and a spiritual journey unlike any other.

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Great Plains - Ian Frazier Cover Art

Great Plains

Great Plains by Ian Frazier

National Bestseller Most travelers only fly over the Great Plains--but Ian Frazier, ever the intrepid and wide-eyed wanderer, is not your average traveler. A hilarious and fascinating look at the great middle of our nation. With his unique blend of intrepidity, tongue-in-cheek humor, and wide-eyed wonder, Ian Frazier takes us on a journey of more than 25,000 miles up and down and across the vast and myth-inspiring Great Plains . A travelogue, a work of scholarship, and a western adventure, Great Plains takes us from the site of Sitting Bull's cabin, to an abandoned house once terrorized by Bonnie and Clyde, to the scene of the murders chronicled in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood . It is an expedition that reveals the heart of the American West.

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Horizon - Barry Lopez Cover Art

Horizon

Horizon by Barry Lopez

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: THE NEW YORK TIMES  • NPR •  THE GUARDIAN From pole to pole and across decades of lived experience, National Book Award-winning author Barry Lopez delivers his most far-ranging, yet personal, work to date. Horizon moves indelibly, immersively, through the author’s travels to six regions of the world: from Western Oregon to the High Arctic; from the Galápagos to the Kenyan desert; from Botany Bay in Australia to finally, unforgettably, the ice shelves of Antarctica.   Along the way, Lopez probes the long history of humanity’s thirst for exploration, including the prehistoric peoples who trekked across Skraeling Island in northern Canada, the colonialists who plundered Central Africa, an enlightenment-era Englishman who sailed the Pacific, a Native American emissary who found his way into isolationist Japan, and today’s ecotourists in the tropics. And always, throughout his journeys to some of the hottest, coldest, and most desolate places on the globe, Lopez searches for meaning and purpose in a broken world.

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What Really Happens in Vegas - James Patterson & Mark Seal Cover Art

What Really Happens in Vegas

What Really Happens in Vegas True Stories of the People Who Make Vegas, Vegas by James Patterson & Mark Seal

The world's #1 bestselling author shows the real Vegas in a dazzling journey through Sin City.   What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas—until now.   ​In What Really Happens in Vegas , James Patterson and Vanity Fair contributing editor Mark Seal transport readers from the thrill of adrenaline-fueled vice to the glitter of A-list celebrity and entertainment.   Las Vegas is on Luxury Standard Time: every clock in the airport is a Rolex. No dream is too big, no wish is too small—the VIP hosts in Vegas fulfill guests’ every (legal) desire. Jackpots hit when least expected.   The Nevada Gaming Control Board has days to find a man who unknowingly won over $200,000 at the slots.   The inventor of the Elvis impersonator wedding and the drive-thru wedding has performed hundreds of marriages—and believes in them all.   Glamorous yogis take a helicopter across the desert to the Valley of Fire, where they perform sun salutations to the glory of Las Vegas.   A gambling VIP “whale” loses $1 million at the casinos, yet still leaves saying, "Had a great time. I'll be back".   “Wild and wonderful…The magic of Sin City doesn’t just happen. Patterson and Seal tell its secrets in beautifully presented snippets that often overlap not just surprisingly, but charmingly too.” — Telegraph (UK)  

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How to Win at Travel - Brian Kelly Cover Art

How to Win at Travel

How to Win at Travel by Brian Kelly

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Turn your wanderlust into reality with expert strategies from Brian Kelly, the founder of The Points Guy —the leading voice in travel and loyalty programs—with this ultimate resource for everything from leveraging airline and credit card points to planning your dream itinerary. In How to Win at Travel , Brian Kelly shares his greatest tips and strategies to experience the world in ways you never thought possible. This compre­hensive guide is a road map with all of the knowledge and tools you need to become an expert traveler. Get practical advice on a range of topics, including how to find the cheapest flights; effectively leverage airline, hotel, and credit card loyalty programs; conquer your fear of flying; beat jet lag; and score free flights and upgrades. Kelly also covers the ins and outs of travel insurance and getting the right credit cards to make your travel more affordable and enjoyable. He discusses the art of dealing with travel mishaps, speaks to the technology you need to manage modern travel, and shares ideas for pinpointing the best destination for you. Whether you’re a young adult traveling solo, a road warrior business traveler, a growing family looking for new experiences, or a retiree ready to explore the world, reach for this guide to plan an unforgettable trip. Easy to read, informative, and inspirational, How to Win at Travel is the definitive travel guide for your next adventure, no matter how big or small.

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Off the Road - Jack Hitt Cover Art

Off the Road

Off the Road A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim's Route into Spain by Jack Hitt

When Jack Hitt set out to walk the 500 miles from France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, he submitted to the rigorous traditions of Europe's oldest form of packaged tour, a pilgrimage that has been walked by millions in the history of Christendom. Off the Road is an unforgettable exploration of the sites that people believe God once touched: the strange fortress said to contain the real secret Adam learned when he bit into the apple; the sites associated with the murderous monks known as the Knights Templar; and the places housing relics ranging from a vial of the Virgin Mary's milk to a sheet of Saint Bartholomew's skin. Along the way, Jack Hitt finds himself persevering by day and bunking down by night with an unlikely and colorful cast of fellow pilgrims -- a Flemish film crew, a drunken gypsy, a draconian Belgian air force officer, a man who speaks no languages, a one-legged pilgrim, and a Welsh family with a mule. In the day-to-day grind of walking under a hot Spanish sun, Jack Hitt and his cohorts not only find occasional good meals and dry shelter but they also stumble upon some fresh ideas about old-time zealotry and modern belief. Off the Road is an engaging and witty travel memoir of an offbeat journey through history that turns into a provocative rethinking of the past.

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The Great Railway Bazaar - Paul Theroux Cover Art

The Great Railway Bazaar

The Great Railway Bazaar By Train Through Asia by Paul Theroux

The acclaimed author recounts his epic journey across Europe and Asia in this international bestselling classic of travel literature: "Compulsive reading" (Graham Greene).   In 1973, Paul Theroux embarked on a four-month journey by train from the United Kingdom through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. In The Great Railway Bazaar , he records in vivid detail and penetrating insight the many fascinating incidents, adventures, and encounters of his grand, intercontinental tour.   Asia's fabled trains—the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express—are the stars of a journey that takes Theroux on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian. Brimming with Theroux's signature humor and wry observations, this engrossing chronicle is essential reading for both the ardent adventurer and the armchair traveler.

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The Colossus of Maroussi - Henry Miller Cover Art

The Colossus of Maroussi

The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller

Henry Miller’s landmark travel book, now reissued in a new edition, is ready to be stuffed into any vagabond’s backpack. Like the ancient colossus that stood over the harbor of Rhodes, Henry Miller’s The Colossus of Maroussi stands as a seminal classic in travel literature.  It has preceded the footsteps of prominent travel writers such as Pico Iyer and Rolf Potts. The book Miller would later cite as his favorite began with a young woman’s seductive description of Greece. Miller headed out with his friend Lawrence Durrell to explore the Grecian countryside: a flock of sheep nearly tramples the two as they lie naked on a beach; the Greek poet Katsmbalis, the “colossus” of Miller’s book, stirs every rooster within earshot of the Acropolis with his own loud crowing; cold hard-boiled eggs are warmed in a village’s single stove, and they stay in hotels that “have seen better days, but which have an aroma of the past.”

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The Lady and the Monk - Pico Iyer Cover Art

The Lady and the Monk

The Lady and the Monk Four Seasons in Kyoto by Pico Iyer

When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today -- not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through literature, of the lunar Japan that still lives on behind the rising sun of geopolitical power. All this he did. And then he met Sachiko. Vivacious, attractive, thoroughly educated, speaking English enthusiastically if eccentrically, the wife of a Japanese "salaryman" who seldom left the office before 10 P.M., Sachiko was as conversant with tea ceremony and classical Japanese literature as with rock music, Goethe, and Vivaldi. With the lightness of touch that made Video Night in Kathmandu so captivating, Pico Iyer fashions from their relationship a marvelously ironic yet heartfelt book that is at once a portrait of cross-cultural infatuation -- and misunderstanding -- and a delightfully fresh way of seeing both the old Japan and the very new.

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Americana - Hampton Sides Cover Art

Americana

Americana Dispatches from the New Frontier by Hampton Sides

Harley-Davidson bikers • Grand Canyon river rats • Mormon archaeologists • Spelling bee prodigies • For more than fifteen years, the bestselling, award-winning author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers has traveled widely across the continent exploring the America that lurks just behind the scrim of our mainstream culture. This sparkling mosaic of our country, in all its wild and poignant charm, “may be the best road trip you’ll ever take—full of strange vision, hilarious detours, and sudden beauty in unlikely places” ( The New Yorker ).  Reporting for Outside , The New Yorker , and NPR, among other national media, the award-winning journalist has established a reputation not only as a wry observer of the contemporary American scene but also as one of our more inventive and versatile practitioners of narrative non-fiction. In these two dozen pieces, collected here for the first time, Sides gives us a fresh, alluring, and at times startling America brimming with fascinating subcultures and bizarre characters who could live nowhere else. Following Sides, we crash the redwood retreat of an apparent cabal of fabulously powerful military-industrialists, drop in on the Indy 500 of bass fishing, and join a giant techno-rave at the lip of the Grand Canyon. We meet a diverse gallery of American visionaries— from the impossibly perky founder of Tupperware to Indian radical Russell Means to skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. We retrace the route of the historic Bataan Death March with veterans from Sides’ acclaimed WWII epic, Ghost Soldiers . Sides also examines the nation that has emerged from the ashes of September 11, recounting the harrowing journeys of three World Trade Center survivors and deciding at the last possible minute not to "embed" on the Iraqi front-lines with the U.S. Marines.

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The Songlines - Bruce Chatwin Cover Art

The Songlines

The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin

International Bestseller: The famed travel writer and author of In Patagonia traverses Australia, exploring Aboriginal culture and song—and humanity's origins. Long ago, the creators wandered Australia and sang the landscape into being, naming every rock, tree, and watering hole in the great desert. Those songs were passed down to the Aboriginals, and for centuries they have served not only as a shared heritage but as a living map. Sing the right song, and it can guide you across the desert. Lose the words, and you will die.   Into this landscape steps Bruce Chatwin, the greatest travel writer of his generation, who comes to Australia to learn these songs. A born wanderer, whose lust for adventure has carried him to the farthest reaches of the globe, Chatwin is entranced by the cultural heritage of the Aboriginals. As he struggles to find the deepest meaning of these ancient, living songs, he is forced to embark on a much more difficult journey—through his own history—to reckon with the nature of language itself.   Part travelogue, part memoir, part novel, The Songlines is one of Bruce Chatwin's final—and most ambitious—works. From the author of the bestselling In Patagonia and On the Black Hill , a sweeping exploration of a landscape, a people, and one man's history, it is the sort of book that changes the reader forever.   This ebook features an illustrated biography of Bruce Chatwin including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's estate.  

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