Lynne's reads as of December 25, 2007: (most-recent additions are marked with a *) (P.S. Thanks to M.S. for the suggestion of doing a rating system--I will try that soon!)
Adventure Capitalist: Profitable Lessons from a Record-Setting Drive Around the World, by Jim Rogers, 2003: Rogers and his wife Paige took three years to drive all over all the continents except Antarctica, and he describes highlights of each country. Some countries, such as Indonesia, are dealt with in about half a page, which seems a little unfair....I'd like to read a book by Paige, as she would be more likely to give all those details that women are known to be fascinated by....But at least we find out from Jim which countries are good bets for investment (not many....).
*Adventures of a Continental Drifter: An Around-the-World Excursion into Weirdness, Danger, Lust, and the Perils of Strange Food, by Elliot Hester, 2005: Here's a collection of light-weight travel stories by this journalist who decided a life on the road was superior to a life spent trapped in 9-5 groove.
All Elevations Unknown: An Adventure in the Heart of Borneo, by Sam Lightner, Jr. 2001: This is basically two stories in one book, and both are quite compelling. One is the story of climber Sam Lightner and his climbing buddies who mounted an expedition, complete with film crew, to climb the isolated Batu Lawi peak in Sarawak. The other is the World War II story of how Major Tom Harrisson trained a large group of Kelabit tribesmen in the same area to fight against the Japanese and force them off Borneo.
Amazon Extreme, by Colin Angus, 2001: This book kept me awake at night because I couldn't stop reading it. In 1999 Angus and two buddies began a mega-adventure hiking through desert and over mountains to the source of the Amazon River. They then rafted through extreme whitewater down to the jungle and all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, this book is inspiring to slightly crazy people like me who think such a trip would be a great idea and might some day try to do it too. Only problem is, half the people who do try end up dying. Hmmm.
Anthem: an American Road Story, by Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn, 1997: Shainee and Kristin hit the road to film interviews with Americans whom they feel are having a good influence on the culture and society. They are quite concerned with finding out what the American Dream is all about in today's context. Fresh and thoughtful.
Around the Edge: A Journey Among Pirates, Guerrillas, Former Cannibals, and Turtle Fishermen Along the Miskito Coast, by Peter Ford, 1991: Look at a map of the eastern coast of Central America, and you won't see many big towns or roads. A few years ago, it was even more isolated than now, and there was still a low-level war happening between Sandinistas and Contras. Journalist Peter Ford travelled along the coast putting himself and his sanity at risk, and the result is this sometimes hilarious and always very entertaining narrative about his adventures, and the colourful characters he met. Probably the best book I've read about Central America!
Around the World in 78 Days, by Nicholas Coleridge, 1984: Imagine trying to do this without using airplanes; Coleridge tries it, and it's a funny story.
*Baghdad Express: A Gulf War Memoir, by Joel Turnipseed, 2003: What happens when a bookworm goes to Iraq? Here you'll find out. The first gulf war took a lot of planning, involving getting huge numbers of trucks and equipment into the right places at the right time; this is where Turnipseed came in. Fairly enlightening about what it's like to be in a non-combatant role in the U.S. Army.
Baghdad without a Map, and other Misadventures in Arabia, by Tony Horwitz, 1991: What exactly is it like in the Middle East? Horwitz tells his version.
Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd, by Karsten Heuer, 2006: Heuer and his wife Leanne decide the only way to really understand why development in the far north is absolutely wrong is to actually follow a humongous herd of caribou to their calving grounds. They start off at the tail-end of winter, and stay until fall. It's quite a story, and what they come to realize is a lot more than just a simple idea that the caribou need to be saved.
Beyond the Coral Sea, by Michael Moran, 2003: Head-hunting and cannibalism no longer take place in Papua New Guinea, but that's what this country is most famous for. Moran travels around the islands, avoiding the highlands, and meets charming, interesting, articulate people. He also recounts a lot of the history of each island, which naturally features cannibalism and imperialism gone wrong...
Beyond the Silver River: South American Encounters, by Jimmy Burns, 1989: A journalist based in Argentina travels around the continent meeting a plethora of colourful characters.
Bill Bryson's African Diary, by Bill Bryson, 2002: It's a tiny little book with a few excellent photos, and it's packed with details about Kenya. Funny travel writer Bryson travelled with CARE officials, who wanted to show him what life in places such as the Nairobi slums and the refugee camps on the Kenyan border are like. Although he found life to be rather grim, he was impressed with the warmth and resilience of the people. And of course he still manages to squeeze in some humour.
Black Power: A Record of Reactions in a Land of Pathos, by Richard Wright, 1954. This is a classic work by a black American novelist who went to Ghana just before it became the first British colony in Africa to become independent. Wright's poetic sensibilities and his keen powers of observation make this a memorable piece of travel and political journalism.
The Bone Museum: Travels in the Lost Worlds of Dinosaurs and Birds, by Wayne Grady, 2000: Grady, a science journalist with a keen personal interest in dinosaurs, travels to dinosaur digs in Chile and Alberta, taking part in the digs, and hanging out with the scientists. This book is part travelogue and part science info, and it's pretty interesting. My only criticism is that there are too many mundane details of Grady's days.
Borderlines, by Charles Nicholl, 1988: A trip around Southeast Asia, seen through Nicholl's jaundiced eye.
The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca, by Tahir Shah, 2006: What a fabulous book! I loved it. You wouldn't expect a story about moving into a crumbling old Moroccan mansion to be so amazing, but Thahir brings all the local characters and culture hilariously to life. His descriptions of the people and his encounters with them, in a classic culture clash, are craftily written and fun to read.
Castaway, by Lucy Irvine, 1983: If you've ever dreamt of dropping out of society and going to live on a small, isolated tropical island, this book will cure you of that idea.
Cathay: a Journey in Search of Old China, by Fergus Bordewich,1991: An American who actually speaks Chinese travels around talking to the survivors of the Cultural Revolution and looking at the buildings and cultural artifacts that have survived with them.
Chasing the Dragon, by Christopher R. Cox, 1996: As a reporter for a Boston newspaper, Cox was smuggled into Burma and spent time as General Khun Sa's guest at a mountain-top village. Khun Sa was at the time the biggest drug lord of the Golden Triangle, and Cox interviewed him about his political and social beliefs. Surprisingly, Khun Sa's village was drug free; he only profited from the heroin trade in order to finance the guerrilla war of the hilltribe minorities against the very non-Buddhist Burmese government.
Chimpanzee Travels: On and Off the Road in Africa, by Dale Peterson, 1995. If, like me, you love travel and you love animals, you will adore this book. Peterson, who has a keen interest in chimpanzee survival, goes into the bush in various African countries to report on how chimps live and how they are surviving an increasingly dire situation where their habitat is being destroyed. His descriptions of the chimps and African life are brilliant and wonderful.
Cobra Road: Khyber to Cape Comorin, by Trevor Fishlock, 1999: There's a lot of culture and history in this book, but it's told in a very engaging and far-from-boring way by Fishlock as he travels around India.
Congo Journey, by Redmond O'Hanlon, 1996: The hilarious O'Hanlon travels through the jungles of Congo with a number of colourful characters, to find a mythical lake monster.
*Cork Boat,, by John Pollack, 2004: Pollack and his friends and family collect wine bottle corks for years, and eventually, Pollack and his partner figure out a way to construct a boat made from the corks lashed together. It's a crazy idea, but the boat floats, all along the Douro River in Portugal.
Coups and Cocaine: Journeys in South America, by Anthony Daniels, 1986: Is there anything more to South America than coups and cocaine? The inimitable Daniels investigates this issue.
The Craic: a Journey Through Ireland, by Mark McCrum, 1998: McCrum, an Englishman of some Irish ancestry, travels first through Ireland, and then ventures to Northern Ireland. The differences are stark, and McCrum's observations are trenchant and witty.
Danziger's Travels: Beyond Forbidden Frontiers, by Nick Danziger, 1987: Travelling at ground level across Asia, Danziger encounters Afghan mujahedeen, Uigher peasants, Tibetan Lamas, and Chinese Communist party members. An unforgettable experience.
Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town, by Paul Theroux, 2003: (Not available in stores in Canada--you have to order it over the 'Net....) The master of travel literature is back with a book that lets you see, hear, smell, and feel this huge continent that's never ceased to perplex white people. Through the senses of Theroux, this African trip is always entertaining and compelling. Although he sounds a bit crotchety in places, you can't help agreeing with most of his strong opinions. Well worth waiting for...
The Demonic Comedy: Some Detours in the Baghdad of Saddam Hussein, by Paul William Roberts, 1997: As a Canadian, Roberts is not spreading propaganda for the U.S. government; even with this perspective, he still paints a picture of Iraq as a horrible place where the people are dispirited and oppressed. His interview with Saddam, while on ecstasy, makes for bizarre reading, and his descriptions of being in Baghdad during the 1991 allied bombing are frightening and nerve-racking. Apart from Roberts' sometimes overly sarcastic tone, this book is excellent.
Dinner with Persephone, by Patricia Storace, 1996: Storace, an American poet, lives in Greece for one year, and writes a long, fluid, poetic account about the Greek people, culture, history and quirks. After reading this book, you will think Greece is a strange place quite different from the rest of Europe.
*Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, by Elizabeth Gilbert, 2006: After Gilbert's marriage breaks up, she is devastated. The first part of the book spends a lot of time giving all the details of how horrible she felt. Then she gets a grip and decides to heal herself by travelling to countries with great food, great spiritual traditions, and great possibilities for falling in love again. Interesting, but a bit emotionally overwrought.
Eat the Rich: a Treatise on Economics, by P.J. O'Rourke, 1998: O'Rourke travels around the world to try and find out why some countries "prosper and thrive, while others just suck." His need to know takes him to Albania, Sweden, Cuba, Russia, Tanzania, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. More biting wit and razor-sharp observations from the master of funny travel writing.
Empire of the Soul: Some Journeys in India, by Paul William Roberts, 1997: This book spans 20 years of Roberts' relationship with Mother India, from his days as a '70s spiritual seeker to his return in the '90s to find out what everything he learned really meant. A nice blend of incredibly colourful and detailed descriptions of people and culture with history lessons. The first chapter is hilarious and will make you want to immediately go to India.
The Ends of the Earth, by Robert D. Kaplan, 1996: An American journalist travels through the hopeless spots of West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia to figure out why these places are falling apart.
Exploring the Islands of Indonesia, by Annabel Sutton, 1994: Sutton and another woman, both tall and blond, travel from island to island, narrowly avoiding marriage and other mishaps. One of the few funny travel literature books by women.
Facing the Congo: A Modern-Day Journey into the Heart of Darkness, by Jeffrey Tayler, 2000: This is a really amazing book in which Tayler shares not only the journey he took up the Congo River on a barge and the reverse trip back down the giant river in a dugout canoe, but also his feelings about being a "rich" white man in a desperately poor country. For anyone who's ever travelled in equatorial countries, his evocative descriptions of his emotions, the people, and the natural environment will bring it all back to you. For anyone who's never been to the rainforest and the tropics, this book might make you yearn for a similar adventure.
Falling off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World, by Pico Iyer, 1993: Iyer goes to places you've never heard of and finds out what they're like.
The Follow, by Linda Spalding, 1997: Spalding goes off to Borneo to find out all about the orangutan reserve there that was founded by Canadian scientist Birute Galdikas. There she meets a lot of orangutans but not Galdikas. The book says a lot about disappearing culture and nature in Borneo.
Four Corners: One woman's solo journey into the heart of Papua New Guinea, by Kira Salak, 2001: In her early 20s, Salak decides to go into the interior of PNG by herself to meet people who are unlike herself, to find those other, exotic cultures she read about in National Geographic when she was a kid. She throws herself into situations that a lot of women would avoid, such as trekking up a jungle mountain in a storm, going into a war zone, and rafting down the Sepik River. Being a PhD. candidate for creative writing, her tales are compelling and readable.
The Fracture Zone: A Return to the Balkans, by Simon Winchester, 1999: Winchester travelled from Vienna to Istanbul at the end of the 1999 NATO bombing campaign in Jugoslavia, attempting to figure out exactly why this part of the world has become so blood-soaked and fractious. He remained perplexed, but at least he got to meet a lot of people and find out what they thought.
500-Mile Walkies, by Mark Wallington, 1986: Wallington and his klutzy (and smelly) dog go on a walking and camping tour of England.
Fielding's The World's Most Dangerous Places, by Robert Pelton Young, Coskun Aral, and Wink Dulles, 1997: This band of adventurers travels to the really scary places of the world, interviews the key players in the conflicts and politics, and reports back to the inquisitive or the equally adventurous about what it's like to go there. Countries covered include Somalia, Angola, Burma, and Chechnya. The next edition will no doubt include Kosovo.....
Five Journeys from Jakarta, by Maslyn Williams, 1966: A snapshot of what was going on in Indonesia just before Suharto came to power. Necessary reading in view of the recent events in Indonesia.
Fried Eggs with Chopsticks: One Woman's Hilarious Adventure into a Country and a Culture not her own, by Polly Evans, 2005: China is a difficult country to travel through on your own, if you're not Chinese. Ms. Evans takes us with her as she blunders from one crazy situation to another. Interestingly, by the time she gets to the end of the narrative, she seems to have come to a better understanding of China.
From Yukon to Yucatan: a journey of discovery in the footsteps of America's first travellers, by I. Allan Sealy, 1995: This Anglo-Indian novelist writes about his travels through the small towns and countryside of Canada, America, and Mexico. A good read except for the too-long section on taxidermy...
The Fruit Palace, by Charles Nicholl, 1985: Only a lunatic would take on an assignment to write about Colombian drug dealing, and here's his tale.
Gecko Tales: a journey through Cambodia, by Carol Livingston, 1996: Livingston decides to be a freelance journalist in Cambodia, of all places, during the 1991 elections. She writes wittily about her personal experiences there, and intelligently about the politics and culture of the place, though I'm still confused about Cambodian politics....
Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu, by J. Maarten Troost, 2006: Troost, a restless American, and his pregnant wife decide to leave it all behind and move to the South Pacific. This is the story of their acclimatization and lives in places quite different from home. He's a good writer, but there is nothing really amazing here, either in his stories or his style.
The Gods Drink Whiskey: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment in the Land of the Tattered Buddha, by Stephen T. Asma, 2005: Professor Asma, a bespectacled, backpacking young teacher from the States, spends time teaching Buddhist philosophy in Cambodia, to Cambodians! His book is an intriguing combination of travelogue and textbook. Really good if you want a down-to-earth explanation of what the pure form of Buddhism is all about.
The Green Labyrinth: Exploring the Mysteries of the Amazon, by Sylvia Fraser, 2003: Fraser, a well-respected Canadian journalist and novelist, goes to Peru to stay at the camps of various Amazonian shamans and take part in ayahuasca ceremonies. Her experiences are fascinating, and she describes them in a very personal style that makes you feel you're right there with her. Her descriptions of the rainforest and of the ancient cities in the Andes mountains are also very evocative.
Guatemala: Eternal Spring, Eternal Tyranny, by Jean-Marie Simon, 1987: Read it and weep. Graphic details, in photos and text, of how a beautiful country came to have the worst human-rights record in Latin America.
The Happy Isles of Oceania, by Paul Theroux, 1992: A wonderful book about kayaking around the Pacific islands, by the master of travel literature writing.
Heat Treatment: The Oriental Travels of an Amorous Hypochondriac, by Justin Wintle, 1988: Wintle travels with an ironic sense of humour throughout Asia.
Holidays in Hell, by P.J. O'Rourke, 1988: Read this hilarious book about O'Rourke's journalistic misadventures in obscure countries, and you might never want to leave home.
House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost Inca City, by Tahir Shah, 2004: Shah is obsessed with finding a lost city in the jungles of South America, and he takes off against warnings from the police with a cast of partly insane characters. A well-told tale of how people and order can break down on a stressful journey away from the city.
Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski, 1990: A Polish journalist's 40,000-mile journey through the former Soviet Union. The account of his clandestine trip to Nagorno-Karabakh is truly gripping. One of the best works of geopolitical journalism around.
In Bolivia, by Eric Lawlor, 1989: Lawlor's encounters with hookers, shamans, and soldiers, and the altitude of La Paz, make for a funny travelogue.
Inca Cola: a Traveller's Tale of Peru, by Mathew Parris, 1990: What happens when a Brit and his two buddies try to travel around Peru without any problems.
India: a Million Mutinies Now, by V. S. Naipal, 1990: This is a huge journalistic book, about the problems and personalities of India, that definitely doesn't make you want to go there.
Irish at Heart, by Marie Gray, 2000: Gray and her husband David, a painter, travel around Ireland and Northern Ireland by car for months, talking to Irish people and experiencing the country that has its own unique and wonderful atmosphere.
The Innocent Anthropologist: Notes from a Mud Hut, by Nigel Barley, 1983: This is Barley's first expedition into the jungle, and it's funny as well as informative about the Dowayos of northern Cameroon.
In Patagonia, by Bruce Chatwin, 19?: Only a master story teller such as Chatwin could make this part of South America come alive in such a magical way.
*In Search of King Solomon's Mines, by Tahir Shah, 2002: This is a bizarre tale of Shah's quest for ancient gold mines in Ethiopia. Assisted by a cast of mostly strange characters, he traverses the country by any means necessary.
Into the Heart of Borneo, by Redmond O'Hanlon, 1984: A truly witty classic about O'Hanlon's adventures with the indigenous tribes and the leeches of Borneo.
The Invention of Primitive Society, by Adam Kuper, 1988: An anthropologist looks at the way patriarchal Western society decided other societies were "primitive."
Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, 1997: This is an excellent first-hand account by a member of the Mount Everest climbing expedition from which four people died in the spring of 1996. Krakauer is a talented writer, as well as a climbing expert, so his book is especially enthralling.
In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson, 2000: Bill Bryson loves Australia. He spent a lot of time travelling around it, in a rental car and by public transportation, and he's written a book about these trips. It's quite charming and amiable, and has a few laughs mixed in with the intriguing little historical, political, geological and zoological tidbits. Since he lacks a sidekick most of the time, however, the writing doesn't have as witty an edge as some of his other books.
In Xanadu, by William Dalrymple, 1989: A scholar, a wit and a keen observer, Dalrymple goes on a quest to follow Marco Polo's 700-year old route from Jerusalem to Xanadu, the summer palace of Kubla Khan.
Islands of Fire, Islands of Spice: Exploring the Wild Places of Indonesia, by Richard Bangs and Christian Kallen, 1988. Photos and stories about quirky and exotic places in the archipelago.
The Lands of Charm and Cruelty: Travels in Southeast Asia, by Stan Sessor: Sessor tries to makes sense of how the Cambodian killing fields and the East Timorese genocide could happen in countries where the people are SO NICE.
Looking for Lovedu: Days and Nights in Africa, by Ann Jones, 2001: Who are the Lovedu? Ann Jones reads about this southern African tribe headed by a female queen, and decides to make a journey from Morocco to South Africa to meet this unusual woman. She travels overland in a couple of different Land-Rover-type vehicles, first with a young English man who insists on driving as fast as possible for as long as possible, and then with a couple of women who want to take an extremely relaxed pace. Lots of history and information here. My only quibble is that this type of journey really isolates you from the people who live in the countries you're zooming through.
Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan, by Alan Booth, 1995. Booth picks three isolated areas of Japan, and tours them on foot, recording reactions from the people he meets. Witty and wise. The only bad thing about this book is knowing that Booth died two years before it was published! He was only 46, and died of stomach cancer, leaving his wife and child without him.
Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River, by Colin Angus, 2003. The Canadian adventurer who rafted the Amazon decided he wanted more of the same, except this river--the Yenisey--leads from the mountains of Mongolia to the Arctic Ocean. The story of this trip makes a good read, especially the earlier part where Angus really is hopelessly lost.
Maple Leaf Rag: Travels across Canada, by Stephen Brook, 1987: Never before has Canada and its people seemed so interesting.
Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling through Castro's Cuba, by Christopher P. Baker, 2001: While Baker was researching a travel guide, he took a lot of notes, and decided to write a travelogue about his 3-month, 7,000-mile trip all over Cuba. This book gives a good taste of Cuba, the sensuality and generosity of the people who keep their true selves intact despite economic setbacks and some political weirdness.
Muddling Through in Madagascar, by Dervla Murphy, 1985: This is Murphy's funniest travel book, about how she and her daughter Rachel got into numerous adventures in this amazing island country.
*The Naked Tourist: In Search of Adventure and Beauty in the Age of the Airport Mall, by Lawrence Osborne, 2006: Osborne covers some big themes here, such as, what exactly are we looking for when we travel? He takes us from the middle of booming Dubai and its huge urban developments to the middle of Irian Jaya. I found his honesty and observations refreshing and accurate.
Native Stranger, by Eddy L. Harris, 1991: An excellent book by a black American who travels through Africa. What he ends up feeling about the home of his ancestors may surprise you.
Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson, 1996: Bryson travels around Great Britain and writes about all the funny people he meets and quirky British things he loves. For example, he notes that British people are really easy to make happy, especially when it comes to a nice cup of tea--that's all it takes to make them ecstatic.
No Horizon is too Far: Two Women and their Extraordinary Journey Across Antarctica, by Liv Arneson and Ann Bancroft (with Cheryl Dahle), 2003: This is the story of the first two women to successfully ski/hike/sail across the frozen, beautiful continent of Antarctica. They take turns with the narrative, and let readers know how they felt and what was going through their minds during their journey. An inspiring and well-written read. The only thing I didn't like was the jumps in chronology; personally, I prefer linear narratives to flashbacks and jumps.
Not a Hazardous Sport, by Nigel Barley, 1988: Barley, a British anthropologist, wit, and excellent writer, spends a lot of time with the Toraja people of South Sulawesi.
No Touch Monkey! And other Travel Lessons Learned too Late, by Ayun Halliday, 2003. Here's an amusing collection of stories Halliday wrote based on travels all over the world, including Romania and Bali. Good to see humourous travel writing from a woman, of course, but sometimes the best travel writing erupts when you travel alone; Halliday is always with a boyfriend....
Of Cats and Kings, by Clare de Vries, 2002: After British writer de Vries' Siamese cat dies, she decides to go to Burma and Thailand to find a replacement who has the same markings and temperament. The politics and poverty of Burma make her despair, and in Thailand she finds many cats with whom she doesn't bond. How she eventually finds the right pet is a charming story in itself, but the travelling in between is equally intriguing and entertaining. A great read!
Of Tigers and Men: Entering the Age of Extinction, by Richard Ives, 1996: Ives travels through the last remaining spots in Asia where the tiger still lives, and becomes obsessed with encountering a tiger face to face on foot. A bit of a depressing read for nature lovers...
On Celtic Tides: One Man's Journey Around Ireland by Sea Kayak, by Chris Duff, 1999: Here's a story by a great adventurer who has infinite physical strength, amazing kayaking skills, and a gift with words. He gives all the details about what it was like to paddle 1,200 miles around Ireland by himself, surrounded by huge waves, birds, headlands, cliffs, beaches, and ruins on deserted islands. A good read!
On Foot Through Africa, by Ffyona Campbell, 1994: How a young Australian woman walked from South Africa to Morocco.
Paddle to the Amazon, by Don Starkell, 1987: The tale of an obsessive Canadian who canoed with his son from Manitoba all the way south to the mouth of the Amazon River. Incredible and inspiring.
The Panama Hat Trail, by Tom Miller, 1986: Panama hats do not come from Panama; they come from Ecuador. Miller explores Ecuador and finds out about more than just hats.
*Paradise with Serpents: Travels in the Lost World of Paraguay, by Robert Carver. 2007: How much do you know about Paraguay? Probably not much! Since the dictator Alfie Sroessner left the helm, this country has spiralled into Albania-like chaos. Carver insinuates himself into the middle of this melee, with fascinating and comic results.
The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean, by Paul Theroux, 1995: Theroux travels along the coast of the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Syria, and then back around to Morocco.
Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now, by Jan Wong, 1996: An autobiography by a Canadian-born woman of Chinese descent, who falls in love with Maoism in her teens and goes to China because she figures it's a utopian paradise. Years later, her idealism comes to a final halt during the Tiananmen Square massacre, which she observes as a Globe & Mail reporter. This is an excellent book about China, by someone who knows it like the back of her hand.
Riska: Memories of a Dyak Girlhood, by Riska Orpa Sari, 1999: This is an excellent autobiographical book about a young Dyak woman. It begins with her childhood in the rainforest and ends with her at the age of 30 living single in Bali and working as a guide. It's a really good portrayal of modern Indonesian life, told from the viewpoint of someone who's on the edge of assimilation but refuses to give up her culture completely.
The River's Tale: A Year on the Mekong, by Edward A. Gargan, 2002: Gargan, a New York Times reporter and former Vietnam war protester who spent two years in prison for refusing to fight, journeys from the Mekong River's source in Tibet to its huge delta in Vietnam. Through Tibet, China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam he interacts with local people and tells their stories, always fascinating, and sometimes harrowing.
The Roads to Sata: a 2,000-mile Walk Through Japan, by Alan Booth, 1985: Even though he'd lived in Japan for years, was married to a Japanese woman, and spoke the language fluently, Booth was constantly flummoxed by the bizarre attitudes of the Japanese who couldn't grasp that a Westerner was actually speaking their language.
Roots Schmoots: Journeys Among Jews, by Howard Jacobson, 1993: The ironic Jacobson goes on an international journey to find out what it means to be a Jew these days.
Rude Boy: Once Upon a Time in Jamaica, by Chris Salewicz, 2000: Salewicz, a Brit, was one of the scriptwriters on two iconic Jamaican movies, Dancehall Queen, and Third World Cop. His book is a combination of travelogue about his encounters with Jamaica and Jamaicans over a 30-year-period, and journalism, mostly about people in the entertainment business.
Savages, by Joe Kane, 1995: This is one of the best books about how the oil companies are having a terrible impact on the indigenous tribal people of Amazonia. Riveting and sad.
Scoop-Wallah, by Justine Hardy, 1999: Hardy, a young British journalist, decides that the best way to really get to know India is to work there for a year as a reporter on one of the country's three biggest English daily newspapers. Her book about her experiences is funny, well-written, and captivating.
Serpent in Paradise, by Dea Birkett, 1997: Dea Birkett, a professional writer from England, went to Pitcairn Island and tried to become an islander. She never told anyone she was a writer and might actually write about them, and her detailed travelogue gives many intimate details about what it's like to live on one of the most isolated islands in the world. Her skillful writing creates a compelling and somewhat creepy atmosphere. I couldn't put this book down--it's excellent.
Shabono, by Florinda Donner, 1982: A beautifully written first-person account of a woman who spends a part of her life living with the Amazonian Yamomama people. Stunning.
The Shadow of the Sun, by Ryszard Kapuscinski, 2001: This is another fantastic book by Poland's best foreign correspondent. It's a poetic, beautiful, and personal look at a few countries of Africa. If you've read the news stories about places such as Uganda and Liberia but not really understood what went on, Kapuscinski's intensive descriptions will bring it all to life for you. Riveting, and wonderfully translated from Polish by Klara Glowczewska.
The Size of the World: Once Around Without Ever Leaving the Ground, by Jeff Greenwald, 1995: Realizing he can only grasp the size of the earth by walking, floating, sailing, bussing and training across it rather than flying, Greenwald sets off on a journey that takes him through Mexico, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He's a likable person who not only shares his feelings and emotions about travelling and being away from home, but also gives a lot of insight into the people and cultures of the places he travels through.
Sick Societies: Challenging the Myth of Primitive Harmony, by Robert B. Edgerton, 1992: If you think all isolated tribal people in the wilderness live in an Eden-like bliss, this book will quickly disavow you of that idea.
Skullduggery, by Mark Shand, 1987: Shand journeys up a river in Irian Jaya to find out what some of the isolated native tribal people are like.
Smouldering Incense, Hammered Brass: a Syrian Interlude, by Heather Burles, 1999. Burles, a Canadian computer programmer with a bad case of wanderlust, spends a few months in Damascus, Syria, trying to learn Arabic, talking to Syrian people, and making a few trips to other parts of the country. The secret police always seem to be hovering on the sidelines...
Somebody's Heart is Burning: A Woman Wanderer in Africa, by Tanya Shaffer, 2003: This heartfelt, honest, and at times, quite humourous account of Shaffer's sojourn in Africa focuses mainly on the people she met: the women, children, and men who surrounded her in a big, warm embrace. Very affectionate and finely detailed.
The Songlines, by Bruce Chatwin, 19?: Eschewing the cities of Australia for the magical outback, Chatwin travels among the aborigines and writes about their myths and their lives.
*Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik: One Woman's Solo Misadventures Across Africa, by Marie Javins, 2006: If you're not actually putting yourself in danger and reporting on how it feels, then you should at least be extremely funny when you write about your travels. This collection of stories is pleasant but not particularly thrilling.
Staying Healthy in Asia, Africa, and Latin America: Your Complete Health Guide to Traveling and Living in Less-Developed Regions of the World, by Dirk Schroeder, 1988. I've used this book in all kinds of places while feeling many varieties of awful, and it's always helped me figure out what I've got and how to deal with it. An indispensable little book--and it hardly weighs anything, so it won't overload your backpack.
Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica, by Sara Wheeler, 1996: Imagine a beautiful place that belongs to everyone on Earth, where there are no wars, where mostly only good things are done, people get along and have fun doing meaningful work, and the environment is pristine--that's Antarctica, the last great wilderness. Wheeler fell in love with Antarctica as she spent months at a time living with the scientists and support staff who run the bases and camps on this isolated continent. This is an fantastic book by a true adventurer who's an amazing writer as well, a rare combination.
Throwim Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds, by Tim Flannery, 1998: Flannery, an Australian biologist, writes about his 20 years in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya researching mammals and staying with tribal people.
Tales from the Medicine Trail: Tracking Down the Health Secrets of Shamans, Herbalists, Mystics, Yogis, and other Healers, by Chris Kilham, 2000: Kilham, a self-described "medicine hunter" travels all over the world to find out about various plants and herbs used in traditional medicine. In Brazil he meets powerful old shamans with no apprentices. In India he visits ayurvedic clinics, and in the Pacific islands he hikes into the forest to check out wild-growing kava-kava trees. A great travelogue as well as a neat guide to herbal medicine.
Tap Taps to Trinidad, by Zenga Longmore, 1989: Longmore, a British woman of African and Russian descent, travels around the Caribbean having incredible and hilarious experiences.
Touch the Dragon: a Thai Journal, by Karen Connelly, 1993: A poetically written memoir by a young Canadian woman who spent a year living in a town in Thailand on a student exchange program.
Trading with the Enemy: a Yankee Travels through Castro's Cuba, by Tom Miller, 1992: A journalistic look at Cuba, including interviews with activists, artists, officials and ordinary people.
*Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of Peru, by Tahir Shah, 2001: Intrigued by tales and drawings of South Americans flying, Shah sets off on a quest to find out exactly who was flying, how, why and where.
Travels in a Thin Country: A Journey Through Chile, by Sara Wheeler, 1994: A warmup to Wheeler's better Terra Incognita Antarctica book, this is a description of her encounters with the outstanding scenery and the warm, friendly people of a not very well understood country.
The Unsavvy Traveler: Women's Comic Tales of Catastrophe, by numerous female writers: It's not often that you come across so many well-written, really funny travelogues written by women. This collection is a gem, full of hilarious tales of women trying to have a great trip and being stymied by other travelers, bad maps, seasickness, weird food, and other mishaps.
A Viking Voyage, by W. Hodding Carter, 2000: You may have heard about a group of adventurers who built a viking Knarr-ship replica and sailed it from Greenland across the Davis Strait to Baffin Island, and then south to the tip of Newfoundland. This book is written by the leader of the expedition, and it's a very charming, fascinating account of all the mishaps, near-misses, and eventual success of the voyage.
*The Water in Between: A Journey by Sea, by Kevin Patterson, 1999: Patterson's relationship breaks up so he decides to sail to Tahiti from Vancouver. Of course, he's not a sailor so he recruits another melodramatic dude to come with him. His descriptions of the two sailors in the Pacific "growing preposterous beards" and broodingly contemplating their lives are completely hilarious.
The Weather Prophet: a Caribbean Journey, by Lucretia Stewart, 1995: In a very personal style, Stewart gives insight on what makes each island country different, good, or bad.
Whose Panties are these? More Misadventures from Funny Women on the Road, edited by Jennifer L. Leo, 2004: Another collection of madcap stories from peculiarly female perspectives.
The Winners' Enclosure, by Annie Caulfield, 1997: Caulfield goes to Australia to discover what happened to all the Irish immigrants. What she finds out more about is the current situation between white Australians and Aboriginals. Witty and compelling reading.