Readings from the Road: New Travel Books for Your Next Long Train Ride

Niche travel anthologies are risky. They run the risk of being so specific in their audience that, well, yes, all 13 interested in it love it, but the rest… Thankfully, Whose Panties Are These? (Travelers’ Tales; $14.95), a collection of travel misadventures by women writers isn’t niche, it’s freakin’ hilarious.

Jen Leo has collected destructively funny stories of everything that can go really wrong on the road to women, from having to buy velour panties in a very public Indian market, to attacking an exhibitionist in Japan, to having to wonder about the groundshaking question “Is my butt too small?” in Senegal.

Though the stories are all by women, and many address very gender-related adventures (like Cynthia Barnes’s story, Blame It on Rio, about the dangers of a Brazilian wax), there’s also a balance of stories that appeal to anyone who has made a gender-neutral ass of themselves on the road (Deborah J. Smith’s A Tale of Two Churches). Laughing at, and with, these gals’ misadventures is good karma for everyone. You’re probably next.
By Jeff Booth

It feels a little unfair to pick on a book as well-conceived, well-written, and well-packaged as 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List (Workman Publishing; $18.95), by the veteran travel writer Patricia Schultz. The concept is obvious: pick the top spots around the world worth visiting, from Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace to Ol Donyo Wuas in the Kenyan wilderness to the Mall in Washington, D.C.; whittle each down to a tight 400 words worthy of any high-end travel magazine; then throw in hotels, prices, Websites, phone numbers, and scheduling issues. Presto! An instant New York Times best-seller.

1,000 Places is obviously put together with love and a sense that travel provides a near-infinite range of experiences. But why does it leave me so cold? Perhaps it’s because of the eerie feeling I got that thousands of Americans would read it and, having pithy, vibrant descriptions of the world before them, never even attempt to visit a fraction of the destinations—or worse, visit only those 1,000 places, ignoring everywhere else in a crazed rush to check off every box before death permanently cancels their passports.

On my desk lies a London Times atlas from 1967. Many of the countries on its maps no longer exist, or have changed their names, or been annexed in wars, or declared independence. Still, most of the innumerable cities, towns, and villages in its comprehensive index remain, along with more mountains, rivers, oceans, and deserts than mortality will let me explore. Best of all, the atlas contains not a single phone number, hotel name, or Website—I can live without them.
By Matt Gross

If you’ve ever been insanely jealous of globe-trotting authors whose best-selling books taunt you with a life lived large and mostly out of suitcases, be prepared to turn green.

Michael Shapiro’s interviews in A Sense of Place (Travelers’ Tales; $18.95) with 18 of the world’s top travel writers (though he finds that term too limiting for their broad scope of skills and content) are a pleasant form of self-torture for those of us inspired to travel and write. Why can’t my travel journals become the next Under the Tuscan Sun, or who says Bill Bryson is funnier than my e-mails back home?

These honest, insightful interviews show exactly why Bryson and Tim Cahill are more hilarious, and Pico Iyer’s and Peter Matthiessen’s observations are sharper than most postcard scribblings. In the best interviews Shapiro coaxes these icons of travel literature to explain their craft and their travels—and most importantly makes them seem like they might take their backpacks off and sit beside you on your next train ride.

Even if you’re not aware of Jan Morris’s stellar reputation as a writer of the world, or of any of the other authors, there’s much to be learned from, as Shapiro says, “what influenced their choices of place and whether being rooted somewhere helped them understand the world.”
By Jeff Booth

Amy Chavez’ Guidebook to Japan: What Other Guidebooks Won’t Tell You (GOM Press; $20.95 print, $1 e-book) is the second edition of an honest, often hilarious account of living in Japan from an expatriate’s point of view. This new e-book edition from mooooshop.com/MooooBooks/order/index.htm, contains hundreds of resources and Weblinks. Chavez has lived in Japan 11 years as an English teacher and columnist for The Japan Times, and shares, often sarcastically, her experiences trying understanding the essence of the country.

Rather than a Let’s Go style listing of hostels and museums, Chavez breaks the book down into sections of her personal essays on understanding Japanese culture, and tidbits on the many strange and few free things to find in Japan. It also has excellent sections on teaching English in Japan, including a breakdown of types of institutions one can teach at, typical lesson plans, and how to connect with Japanese students. But if Japan’s just a watering hole on an Asian whirlwind jaunt, this book won’t list all the bars for you. But it might teach you the best way to toast someone for their karaoke skills.

In the chapter “But Isn’t Japan Expensive?” Chavez gives savvy tips for creating a life in Tokyo (Tip One: Live in an old house) rather than securing a bunk for one night. She continues with interesting chapters on festivals throughout the year, dealing with doctors, and how to avoid the Japanese Yakuza gangsters (or more importantly, what to do if you meet them.)

For only a buck, this is a great book to download to read on your Palm Pilot on the plane over to Japan for your study/teach/extended travel experience. But if you need quick, practical advice, look elsewhere.
By Eric Tiettmeyer