Adventure - Travelers' Tales

A Hard Place to Leave

Vogue's Best Books of 2022

Restless to leave, eager to return: this memoir in essays captures the unrelenting pull between the past and the present, between traveling the world and staying home.

Starting in a dreary Moscow hotel room in 1983, weaving back and forth to rural New England, and ending on a West Texas trail in 2020, Marcia DeSanctis tells stories that span the globe and half a lifetime. With intimacy and depth, over quicksand in France, insomnia in Cambodia, up a volcano in Rwanda, spinning through the eye of a snowstorm in Bismarck, and atop a dumpster in her own backyard, this New York Times bestselling author, award-winning essayist and journalist for Vogue and Travel + Leisure immerses us in places waiting to be experienced and some that may be more than we’re up for. She encounters spies, angels, leopards, shoes, the odd rattlesnake, a random head of state, and many times over, the ghosts of her past. Each subsequent voyage leads to revelations about her search for solitude, a capacity for adventure, and always, a longing for home.

The Temporary European

“Vivid, funny, perceptive, intimate, and charged with a love of travel and a deep sense of humanity.” —Rick Steves, from the Foreword

20+ Years as Rick Steves’ Right-Hand Man

A candid account of how the sausage gets made in the travel business—told with affection, warts-and-all honesty, and a sense of humor.

What is it like to write guidebooks, make travel television, and lead bus tours for a living? Find out with Cameron as he samples spleen sandwiches at a Palermo street market, stews in Budapest’s thermal baths, survives driving in Sicily without going insane, and much more. Along the way, he shares many lessons learned from his favorite Europeans. You’ll also get a reality check for what seems to be a traveler’s dream job—working with Rick Steves and his merry band of travelers. Not just for Rick Steves fans but for anyone who loves Europe, The Temporary European is inspiring, insightful, and fun.

La Dolce Vita University – 2nd Edition

Come travel with La Dolce Vita University (L◆D◆V◆U) to the heart of Italian culture in the seductive spirit of la dolce vita. L◆D◆V◆U is the perfect sampler to indulge anyone curious about—or already in amore with—Italy and its remarkably rich trove of cultural treasures. In dozens of entertaining yet authoritative mini-essays, including 60 new stories and 40 new illustrations in this fully updated 2nd edition, L◆D◆V◆U lets you explore, at your leisure, fascinating aspects of Italy’s cuisine, history, art, traditions, style, legendary personalities, and so much more.

The book is organized alphabetically, but nothing is ever quite that straightforward when it comes to Italy. Even if you choose to read these mini-essays sequentially, you may very well feel as though you’re wandering the mysterious alleys of a medieval town, the hidden vicoli of a larger city, or even along the serpentine canals of La Serenissima.

The End of the World Notwithstanding

“Every word the right word, this book is a genuine keeper.” —Kirkus Reviews***Starred Review***

Rife with misadventure, brushes with death, and moments of existential insight, The End of the World Notwithstanding is a hilarious and reflective look at the emotional experiences that make everyday life exciting—and the physical ones that remind us we’re lucky to be alive. These nail-biting stories, all true, fill the reader with wonder, as in, “How do any of us survive?”

Encounters with wildfire, hideous insects, psychotic house pets, bad weather, gravity, predators, bullies, and the most potent force of all—fear—unfold in remote landscapes of the American West; on neon-splashed Hollywood sidewalks; in a Catskills summer camp for actors; in the Boston apartment of a famous senator; on a cliff high above the Mediterranean; beneath the streets of Paris. Goodwin looks for and finds meaning, if not security, in a clear-eyed acknowledgment of the human condition—and in the saving grace of laughter.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 12

As Andrew McCarthy wrote in The New York Times Book Review, “For more than 20 years, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing books that might best be described as the literary equivalent of a group of travelers sitting around a dim café, sipping pints or prosecco and trading their best stories.”

Now comes The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 12: True Stories from Around the World—the latest collection in the best-selling, award-winning series that invites you to ride shotgun alongside intrepid female nomads as they wander the globe discovering new places, faces, and facets of themselves.

“In story after story,” McCarthy wrote about the previous volume of The Best Women’s Travel Writing, “the refreshing absence of bluster and bravado, coupled with the optimism necessary for bold travel, create a unifying narrative that testifies to the personal value and cultural import of leaving the perceived safety of home and setting out into the wider world.”

The essays in this volume are as diverse as the destinations, exploring themes of kindness, transformation, nature, friendship, family, strength, and resilience.

How To Shit Around the World — 2nd Edition

“Straightforward advice...a great bathroom read.” —The Washington Post

“A cheery and common-sensical guide.” —The Independent

“Worth digesting.” —Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel

“Likely to remain the definitive guide.” —The Bookseller

With an Introduction by Kathleen Meyer, author of How To Shit in the Woods

International travel is rewarding and fun, but sometimes it exacts a price. Activities we take for granted—eating, bathing, and going to the toilet—can range from challenging to risky in unfamiliar territory. In this second edition of How to Shit Around the World, Dr. Jane Wilson-Howarth takes a sympathetic and funny approach to the most basic human activity, interweaving hilarious anecdotes from fellow travelers with sensible tips and techniques. More than just a how-to, this book inspires the traveler to be adventurous in dealing with foreign toilets, and to heed the fascinating cultural lessons to be learned from the simple act of using the bathroom.

Strange Tales of World Travel

“This book contains some of the most astonishing tales I’ve ever encountered. One after another. They make for obsessive reading.” —Tim Cahill, author of Jaguars Ripped My Flesh

“The entire point of travel is to encounter the unimaginable. Gina and Scott Gaille have collected some of the most remarkable tales to ever see the light of day. A hoot to read.” —J. Maarten Troost, author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen or experienced?

Gina and Scott Gaille have traveled to more than 100 countries. Wherever they go, they ask this question. Strange Tales of World Travel recounts 50 of these amazing encounters, including:

Daring Diplomat, who ate the flesh of the venomous cobra bird in the Sahara Desert
Pearl Trader, who survived a fever through a harrowing "human honey" treatment in Oman
Agent Ghost, who was shot and left to die in a garbage dump in Africa
Death-Defying Instagrammer, who stepped on the tail of the world’s sixth most venomous snake in Australia to take a better photo
Human Pet, who became a prince’s prisoner in Qatar
Imperial CEO, who made a minion fly twelve hours to Paris from Abu Dhabi to buy clean underwear
Gorilla Doll, who broke the rules of visiting Rwandan gorillas and got dragged up the side of a volcano

Billy Gogan, Gone fer Soldier

New from Solas House Fiction: Billy Gogan, Gone fer Soldier

“...a sweeping epic saga of one Irish immigrant’s coming of age from boy to man.” —John J. Kelly, Detroit Free Press reviewer

The adventures continue for Billy Gogan in this sequel to the award-winning novel Billy Gogan, American. Young Billy, an intrepid Irish-American immigrant, enlists in the U.S. Army on the eve of the Mexican-American War after fleeing New York for his life. Amidst the bloodshed he encounters the Texas Rangers, Ulysses S. Grant, and friends who fight alongside him. Billy navigates a dangerous path through gambling dens, wealthy estates, mysterious women, and sweltering heat. While challenged to follow meaningless orders, he struggles to escape a threat more imminent than war.

The China Option

Sophia Erickson graduated from college with an apparently useless degree in European history. She faced crippling student loans, but after an anxious couple of months waiting tables in her small Massachusetts town, she bought a one-way ticket to China. Over the following two years she had deeply enriching cultural experiences, paid off nearly half her student loans, and visited China from Heilongjiang to Hainan, as well as neighboring countries Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Singapore. The China Option: A Guide for Millennials: How to work, play, and find success in China is a manifesto for recent college grads to pay off debt while living a stimulating, adventurous life, and to pave the way for a successful future.

100 Places in Cuba Every Woman Should Go

The secret is out: Cuba is the world’s sexiest, most magnetic travel destination. What isn’t a secret is that folks from around the corner and around the globe have been exploring and falling in love with the largest Caribbean island for decades. Now you can too with 100 Places in Cuba Every Woman Should Go, written from the unique perspective of a New Yorker who has called Havana home for more than 15 years. The 100 places profiled in this book are the result of decades of travel, research, and living in Cuba by a US journalist with uncommon access, ensuring travelers incomparable experiences. Much more than a prescriptive list, these narratives incorporate adventures and mishaps, insider opinion, slang, gossip, and conversations with Cubans during a historic shift that saw Soviet support evaporate, Fidel Castro take his final bow, economic reforms whiffing suspiciously of capitalism, and quasi-normalization with the United States. Author Conner Gorry deciphers the mysteries of Cuba while describing the country’s most alluring sites, sounds, and off-the-beaten track locales. Go with her and discover this magical island for yourself.

Baboons for Lunch

Author and explorer James Michael Dorsey has spent two decades visiting the world’s most remote tribal cultures. In Baboons for Lunch and Other Sordid Adventures, he tells his remarkable travel stories in rollicking accounts that keep readers off balance and eager for more. Many stories are funny, others are poignant, and quite a few are heart stopping, while others are unique insights into remote ways of life most of the world does not know exists. In this book the reader will climb a remote volcano in Ethiopia, cross the Sahara Desert with nomads, undergo a tribal exorcism, and visit shamans, healers, witch doctors, and holy men. This is not your average travel book, but an entree to some of the world’s remote corners and people.

Mother Tongue

What is your mother tongue? Sometimes the simplest questions take a book to answer. Such is the case with Tania Romanov. Mother Tongue is an exploration of lives lived in the chaos of a part of the world known as the Balkans. It follows the lives of three generations of women—Katarina, Zora, and Tania—over the last 100 years. It follows countries that dissolved, formed, and reformed. Lands that were conquered and subjugated by Fascists and Nazis and nationalists. Lives lived in exile, in refugee camps, in new worlds. The country of birth listed on Tania’s American passport changed four times in four successive renewals. Until the first time, she believed your country of birth was a fixed point. Today she knows better. Go with her as she journeys through time and history looking for answers, and finding some.

The Soul of a Great Traveler

Since 2006 the editors of Travelers’ Tales have run a writing competition to find the best travel story of the year: The Solas Awards. Over those years, thousands of stories have come across their desks, from writers famous and unknown, covering all corners of the globe with stories of adventure and discovery, love and loss, humor and absurdity, grief and joy. In this collection appear all of the top prize winners of the first ten years, stories that bring readers along for journeys that are inspiring, uplifting, and, very often, transformative. These tales are powerful, moving testaments to the richness of our world, its cultures, people, and places.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 11

The Best Women's Travel Writing, Volume 11 presents stimulating, inspiring, and uplifting adventures from women who have traveled to the ends of the earth to discover new places, peoples, and facets of themselves. The common threads connecting these stories are a female perspective and fresh, compelling storytelling to make the reader laugh, weep, wish she were there, or be glad she wasn't. The 31 true travel stories in this year's collection are, as always, wildly diverse in theme and location. They tell of places like California and Cuba, Switzerland and Singapore, Iran and Iceland, Montana and Mexico and Mongolia and Mali, our own back yards and some of the farthest, most extreme corners of the world. They are the personal stories we can't help but collect when we travel, stories of reaching out to embrace the unfamiliar and creating cross-cultural connections while learning more about ourselves.

The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11

CELEBRATING GREAT TRAVEL WRITING Travelers’ Tales publishes books about the world and life-changing experiences that happen on the road. The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11 is our latest collection of great stories guaranteed to ignite your wanderlust. Includes Grand Prize Winners, Solas Awards Introduction by Rolf Potts

The Way of Wanderlust

Explore the World with a Legendary Travel Writer Don George has been captivating readers with chronicles of his wandering adventures for four decades. Here you’ll find his best stories and essays, from climbing Kilimanjaro and contemplating the magic of Uluru to exploring the jungles of Cambodia and the backcountry temples of Shikoku. Let Don open your eyes to the wonders of the world as he falls in love in Greece, encounters whales in Mexico and elephants in East Africa, makes roof tiles in Peru, dances like a South Seas warrior on Aitutaki, and much more. With a Foreword by Pico Iyer.

The Best Travel Writing, Volume 10

CELEBRATING GREAT TRAVEL WRITING Travelers’ Tales publishes books about the world and life-changing experiences that happen on the road. The Best Travel Writing, Volume 10 is our latest collection of great stories guaranteed to ignite your wanderlust. Includes Grand Prize Winners of the Solas Awards.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 10

“Tell me,” poet Mary Oliver once wrote, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Oliver’s quote opens the The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 10: True Stories from Around the World. And to answer the question, thirty celebrated and emerging writers invite you to ride shotgun as they travel the globe to discover new places, people, and facets of themselves. The essays are as diverse as the destinations, the common thread being fresh, compelling storytelling that will make you laugh, weep, wish you were there, or thank your lucky stars you weren’t. The Best Women’s Travel Writing speaks to the reasons why we travel—and how travel changes our lives.

Marco Polo Didn’t Go There

Rolf Potts has taken his keen postmodern travel sensibility into the far reaches of five continents as a travel writer for such prestigious publications as National Geographic Traveler, Salon.com, and The New York Times Magazine. This book documents his boldest, funniest, and most revealing journeys—from getting stranded without water in the Libyan Desert, to crashing the set of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie in Thailand, to learning the secrets of Tantric sex in a dubious Indian ashram.

Marco Polo Didn't Go There is more than just an entertaining journey into fascinating corners of the world. It is a unique window into travel writing, with each chapter containing a "commentary track"—humorous endnotes that reveal the ragged edges behind the experience and creation of each tale. Offbeat and insightful, this book is an engrossing read for students of travel writing as well as armchair wanderers.

The Best Travel Writing, Volume 9

bestv9 CELEBRATING GREAT TRAVEL WRITING Travelers’ Tales publishes books about the world and life-changing experiences that happen on the road. The Best Travel Writing, Volume 9 is our latest annual collection of great stories guaranteed to ignite your wanderlust.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 8

bwtw2012_s Includes stories by Susan Orlean, Ann Hood, and Laura Fraser Since the publication of A Woman's World in 1995, Travelers' Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women's Travel Writing, Volume 8, the latest collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day.

Kin to the Wind

“A most diverting and picaresque tale, one that reads like a sentimental journey of a hundred years ago.” —the late Norman Cousins In the early 1960s, a young, self-taught musician set out to travel the world with no money, equipped only with his guitar, his voice, and his belief in the goodness of people. Along the way, blown by the winds of fortune, guided by instinct, he played for kings and paupers, soldiers and servants, artists and terrorists. His name is Moro Buddy Bohn, and his unlikely and powerful story will uplift you and inspire you to live the life you want. His audiences have included Queen Elizabeth II of England, King Frederick IX of Denmark, Pablo Picasso ...

The Best Travel Writing 2011

Th-Best-Travel-Writing-2011 The Best Travel Writing 2011 is the eighth volume in the annual Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing—from Nobel Prize winners to emerging new writers. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2011

bwtw2011_s "Travelers' Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free." —ForeWord Magazine Since the publication of A Woman's World in 1995, Travelers' Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011, the seventh collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day.

The Best Travel Writing 2010

The Best Travel Writing 2010 is the seventh volume in the annual Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing—from Nobel Prize winners to emerging new writers. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

Wild with Child

“Kids are natural born adventurers, just itching to get outside. Open the door and follow them out.” —from the Foreword by Mark Jenkins, author of The Hard Way There’s nothing tame about being a parent! Are you eager to set off with your family into the great outdoors, where wild weather, rugged roads, and creepy critters sometimes call the shots? The families in this rough-and-ready collection of true stories do just that. Whether they are just starting on the path of wild parenting or looking back at the trail taken, they don’t accept Disneyland as the final frontier.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010

bwtw2009_s "Travelers' Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free." —ForeWord Magazine Since the publication of A Woman's World in 1995, Travelers' Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women's Travel Writing 2010, the sixth collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day.

The Best Travel Writing 2009

The-Best-Travel Writing-2008 “Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.” —ForeWord Magazine With an Introduction by Tony Perrottet The Best Travel Writing 2009 is the sixth volume in the annual Travelers’ Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world’s best travel writing—from Nobel Prize winners to emerging new writers. These 29 stories cover the globe, from riding horseback across Mongolia to discovering Hemingway’s ghost in Cuba to driving the long red road through equatorial Africa. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009

bwtw2009_s "Travelers' Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free." —ForeWord Magazine With an Introduction by Faith Adiele Since the publication of A Woman's World in 1995, Travelers' Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women's Travel Writing 2009, the fifth collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day.

The Best Travel Writing 2008

The-Best-Travel Writing-2008 “Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.” —ForeWord Magazine With an Introduction by Sara Wheeler. The Best Travel Writing 2008 is the fifth volume in the annual Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing—from Nobel Prize winners to emerging new writers. These 29 stories cover the globe, from discovering a piece of the past in Beirut to probing the layers of Flamenco in Spain to submitting to psychic surgery in the Philippines. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2008

bwtw2008_s “Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.” —ForeWord Magazine With an Introduction by Linda Ellerbee Since the publication of A Woman’s World in 1995, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2008, the fourth collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day. These 35 stories cover the globe, from kayaking a wild river in Patagonia, learning to drive a tuk-tuk in Thailand to finding Eros in Venice. The perspectives are global and themes encompass spiritual growth, high adventure, romance, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

Encounters with the Middle East

danger_s “There are as many impressions of the Middle East as there are visitors fortunate enough to travel there, and this book earnestly and engagingly samples a wide swath of them." — Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us. A dizzying amount of media coverage bombards us from the Middle East, yet little filters through about the experiences of ordinary people. Encounters with the Middle East tells their stories through interactions with 30 writers who go beyond the usual reporting to reveal the simple and poignant ways that life goes on. These writers’ experiences with the people and places of the region remind us that the Middle East is blessed with astounding cultural and historical treasures, and offer moving glimpses of lives unfolding behind the headlines.

A Woman’s World Again

Explore the World in the Company of Women Way back in the ’90s, readers and critics alike loved the stories of women travelers in A Woman’s World, which won a Lowell Thomas Gold Medal for Best Travel Book. Twelve years later, best-selling author and editor Marybeth Bond continues to champion women’s travel in A Woman’s World Again with thirty-three remarkable journeys ranging from the middle of nowhere to middle America. Whether they are exploring identity in Ireland, sharing tea with a carpet seller in Turkey, or apprenticing with the silversmiths of Niger, these women will inspire you to create your own adventures. Learn the samba and keep the rhythm in Brazil, Reach the summit of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Get the makeover of your life from the women of the Dominican Republic, Discover the appeal of the Virgin Mary in Mexico, Encounter an alternative view of death and dying in India, Feel the hunger pangs of Hemingway while studying in Paris, Flirt and get that warm fuzzy feeling on a Sicilian farm…and much more.

Antarctica

"What is it like to live and work in the coldest, harshest climate on Earth? The stories in this book reveal the challenges and rewards of exploring the otherworldly continent of Antarctica. Through a rich range of wise and funny essays, twenty writers introduce us to a wild cast of characters, share intimate details of daily life on the Ice, take us into a fantastic landscape, and capture the spirit of a fascinating, forbidding land. Explore places where your footprints will outlive you, Survive a blizzard of historic proportions, Find dinosaur bones while on a hunt for krill, Contemplate the fate of the Adélie penguin, Live through the “day it rained chickens”, Search for meteorites emerging from the ice, Spend your honeymoon working on Antarctica’s only newspaper, Take the dreaded “psych test” all Antarctic workers must endure, Watch the sun rise for the first time in six months at the South Pole…and much more.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2007

bwtw2006_s “Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.” —Foreword Magazine Since the publication of A Woman’s World in 1995, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2007, the third collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day. These 32 stories cover the globe, from wandering the Sinai desert with small children, learning to salsa in Cuba to climbing a volcano in Ecuador. The perspectives are global and themes encompass spiritual growth, high adventure, romance, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

The Best Travel Writing 2007

“Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.” —ForeWord Magazine The Best Travel Writing 2007 is the fourth volume in the annual best Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing—from Nobel Prize winners to emerging writers. These 29 stories cover the globe, from probing the depths of a culture in Jerusalem to riding the rails in India and trying to save a life in Costa Rica. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, absolute hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

100 Places Every Woman Should Go

100places_s “An amazing feat…Griest manages to impart the essence of some of the world’s most remarkable places. Reading the book is like catching the colors of a tropical sunset, a whiff of an almost tree in bloom, a hint of a melody from a late night jazz bar.” — Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of Omega Institute and author of Broken Open. Seeking the tranquility of a Buddhist meditation center? The raucousness of a rumba club? 100 Places Every Woman Should Go will not only inspire but compel you to hit the road—in a group, with a friend, or solo. Divided into sections such as “Powerful Women and Their Places in History,” “Places of Indulgence,” and “Places of Adventure,” this guidebook includes contact information, resources, and recommended reading. Its “Ten Tips For Wandering Women” features safety advice and pointers on how to stop departing airplanes and avoid getting tossed off Trans-Siberian trains.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2006

bwtw2006_s “Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.” —Foreword Magazine Since the publication of A Woman’s World in 1995, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2006, the second collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day. These 34 stories cover the globe, from riding on horseback from Senegal to Mali, reclaiming your life on a pilgrimage in Tibet to cooking an unexpected Thanksgiving turkey in Italy. The perspectives are global and themes encompass spiritual growth, high adventure, romance, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

A Mile in Her Boots

boots_s "A delightful addition to the literature of women and wilderness." — Annick Smith, author of Homestead. Work Awhile on the Wild Side! Beyond the bounds of society’s more common professions, women are tackling tests of courage and stamina. They’re employed as pilots, park rangers, scientists, and smokejumpers, and their work requires the guts to get up in the morning and face whatever whim Mother Nature has to offer. It's not about showing up the guys, the real challenge for these women is breaking ground within themselves because they love what they do. In this unique collection, editor Jennifer Bové introduces you to 28 professional outdoorswomen, each of whom extends her hand and welcomes you to explore the gritty details of her trade. Tighten up your bootlaces and come along!

The Best Travel Writing 2006

The-Best-Travel-Writing-2005 —ForeWord Magazine “Even as a veteran traveler, I found new revelations here.” —Herbert Gold, from the Introduction The Best Travel Writing 2006 is the third volume in the annual best Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing—from Nobel Prize winners to emerging writers. These 33 stories cover the globe, from sailing with pirates in the Java Sea to surviving a sandstorm in the Sahara and wrestling with sex addiction in Thailand. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, absolute hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2005

bwtw_s “Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.” —Foreword Magazine Since the publication of A Woman’s World in 1995, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2005, the first collection in an annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day. These 30 stories cover the globe, from kayaking 600 miles of the Niger River to Timbuktu to encountering the devil in Malaysia to finding your ancestral home in China. The perspectives are global and themes encompass spiritual growth, high adventure, romance, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

The Best Travel Writing 2005

The-Best-Travel-Writing 2005 “Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.” —ForeWord Magazine The Best Travel Writing 2005 is the second volume in the annual best Travelers’ Tales series launched last year to celebrate ten years of publishing the world’s best travel writing—from Nobel Prize winners to complete unknowns. These 27 stories cover the globe, from recreating the “Rumble in the Jungle” in a makeshift boxing ring in Malawi to discovering the secret to life and chicken in a humble Parisian restaurant to encountering the ghost of Odysseus and your own past in the Aegean. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass spiritual growth, high adventure, romance, women’s solo journeys, absolute hilarity and misadventure, stories of service to humanity, family travel, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

Women in the Wild

wild_s "A spiritual, moving and totally female book to take you around the world and back." —Mademoiselle Building on the phenomenal success of A Woman's World, Women in the Wild shares the adventures of renowned women as they foray into the wilderness—kayaking, flying, swimming, hiking, camping, and climbing their way around the globe. Notable authors include: Alice Walker, Jane Goodall, Robyn Davidson, Gretel Ehrlich, and Annie Dillard.

The Best Travelers’ Tales 2004

“Here in these pages is wonder and delight writ large—and a series of affirmations of a magnificent world…This book is a vivid and delightful testament to just why the world is in essence a wonderfully pleasing place, how its people are an inseparable part of its countless pleasures, and how travel is not so much hard work as wondrous fun….” —From the Introduction, by Simon Winchester

Trader Horn

The latest addition to the popular Travelers' Tales Classics series, Trader Horn is one man’s account of his wild youth as an ivory trader in Central Africa. Stories of thrills and danger abound, as do wild beasts, serpents, and savages. The book was a best-seller in 1927 and was also released as an MGM major motion picture. Follow Trader Horn as he journeys into jungles teaming with buffalo, gorillas, and man-eating leopards, frees slaves, meets Cecil Rhodes (founder of Rhodesia) and liberates a princess from captivity.

Kite Strings of the Southern Cross

Read an interview with Laurie Gough. This is a passionate journey of love, discovery, and serendipity that radiates from a remote beach in Fiji to the far reaches of the globe. Author Laurie Gough boldly embraces the pilgrimUs road with wisdom beyond her years. Her story is heartwarming, funny, and wise...a profound testament to the lessons of the road. Related Titles: Travelers' Tales: A Mother's World, Travelers' Tales: A Woman's World, Travelers' Tales: Gutsy Women, Travelers' Tales: Gutsy Mamas, Travelers' Tales: Women in the Wild, Safety and Security for Women Who Travel, A Woman's Passion for Travel, Visit Laurie Gough's web site at www.lauriegough.com.

The Fire Never Dies

In these wide-ranging tales from a life on the road, Vietnam vet and "adventure eater" Richard Sterling takes the reader deep into the heart of cultures from Asia to Africa to North America. Whether breaking bread with a murderer in the Baja desert, or enjoying a shipboard dalliance with a mysterious new acquaintance on the South China Sea, Sterling's faith in humanity is continually renewed through the sharing of food, drink, and passion. Provocative and testosterone-edged, his writing is also poignant and hilarious.

The Way of the Wanderer

Award-winning author David Yeadon uses the world as his catalyst for inner exploration, reflecting upon those experiences that have deeply opened him to life and led him to discover his many hidden selves. Whether it's the hero, the coward, the clown, the warrior, the gourmet cook for the dancer, all are unveiled through travel and serendipity.

The Royal Road to Romance

"When Richard Halliburton graduated from college, he chose adventure over a career, traveling the world with almost no money. The Royal Road to Romance chronicles what happens as a result, from a breakthrough Matterhorn ascent to being jailed for taking forbidden pictures on Gibraltar.

Take Me With You

The uplifting, hilarious, and poignant story of Newsham's fulfillment of a promise made to himself two decades earlier. He believed that the best way to share his passion for travel was to invite a stranger to come to the U.S. for a one-month, all expenses paid adventure. Who does Newsham invite? Follow in his footsteps as he meets the candidates on a 100-day journey to the Philippines, India, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

Storm

Begun as a grand adventure, Storm tells the story of a trip that quickly became a tumultuous test of endurance. This is a riveting tale of love, struggle, and ferocious weather, as the author and his girlfriend travel by motorcycle around the Baltic Sea.

Testosterone Planet

Men. You've encountered them before—the most foolhardy, annoying, courageous, and dangerous creatures on the planet. Share the madness and the laughs as you:

Scuba dive the world's deepest cave
Visit the world's most dangerous girlfriend
Set traps for bad guys in Central Park
Fly a plane through a cyclone
Feel the perfect punch in the face

Danger!

Here are 28 awe-inspiring stories of danger and survival, guaranteed to get your adrenaline flowing. Whether trapped in an underwater cave, escaping an avalanche, fending off a thug, or surviving a storm at sea, each author faces moments of raw terror and finds deep reserves of courage. Notable authors include: Sebastian Junger, Eric Hansen, Peter Maass, Bill Buford, Janine Jones, and William T. Vollmann.