“Modern travel is the hunt for the random mundane,” Rolf Potts wrote in Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, and, although this may seem at first to be a real buzz kill of a statement, approaching the world from this angle has the potential to increase its radiance exponentially. The interconnected “globalized” world has eased some of the stark contrasts between cultures, but the subtle interplay of various societies, technologies, and worldviews in collision has been magnified many fold. As Rolf put it: “Platonic ideals aside, the world remains a fascinating place for anyone with the awareness to appreciate its nuances. Social critics who proclaim that “real travel” is dead are just too lazy to look for complexities within an interconnected planet… “There is a new art to traveling in the postmodern world, and Rolf Potts teaches it vividly in Marco Polo Didn’t Go There.
Top Five Travel Books It has been a long time since I have read a good travel book, so I presented the topic to the Vagabond Journey travel writing community: What are your top five travel books? Emery from Reader Travels Vagabond Edition wrote the first wave of her top travel books at A Singular [...]
OxTravels – Meetings With Remarkable Travel Writers by Collaborative Writers Ever wanted to buy a book that will give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside? Then this is the book for you! All royalties from this book published by Profile Books on 26th May 2011 will go to Oxfam to support their life changing work around the [...]
‘In the Mountains of Heaven: True Tales of Adventure on Six Continents’ by Mike Tidwell 230 pp. The Lyons Press (2003) Reviewed by Michael McGuire Mike Tidwell’s “In the Mountains of Heaven” is a six part, nineteen story collection of essays that read – depending on the page – as travelogue, cultural critique, forlorn nostalgic rebuff, ethnographic [...]
These are the days that must happen to you (also sold as Endless Horizons) by Dan Walsh Review by Rich Poulter Before I start this review I should fill you in on a little history which may explain my passion for this book. My dad is motorbike mad and when I was a kid he used [...]
Wild Coast: Travels on South America’s Untamed Edge by John Gimlette Review by Rich Poulter John Gimlette is a sometime Lawyer sometime Travel Writer and this is his fourth book but the first I have had pleasure of reading. He has been described as a “historian of the absurd” and is highly acclaimed by reviewers [...]
1001 Historic Sites You Must See Before You Die is a giant compilation of photographs and short descriptions of great historic sites around the world. As the title alludes to, the book is close to a thousand pages long, weighs as much as – and sort of looks like – a brick, and was put [...]
“Man builds houses not only for shelter,but also to define and show himself to others. In this sense, the architecture he produces is the best indicator of how he perceives his world. Architecture which is a measure of the complexity, the maturity, and the health of a given society; architecture which serves to interpret the [...]
“The Vagabond life is the logical life to lead if one seeks the intimate knowledge of the world we were seeking.”-Richard Halliburton, The Royal Road to Romance The Royal Road to Romance was the first work of the adventurous, horizon chasing romantic, Richard Halliburton. It, essentially, is an account of a Walkabout around the world [...]
A Vagabond Journey Around the World by Harry Franck A Vagabond Journey Around the World is the classic, seminal work of Harry A. Franck, who was life long traveller and writer. Of his twenty or so books that describe his travels through nearly the entire planet, this is his first and, and in my opinion, [...]
