AWOL on the Appalachian Trail

AWOL on the Appalachian Trail


In 2003, software engineer David Miller left his job, family, and friends to fulfill a dream and hike the Appalachian Trail. AWOL on the Appalachian Trail is Miller's account of this thru-hike along the entire 2,172 miles from Georgia to Maine. On page after page, readers are treated to rich descriptions of the valleys and mountains, the isolation and reverie, the inspiration that fueled his quest, and the life-changing moments that can only be experienced when dreams are pursued. While this book abounds with introspection and perseverance, it also provides useful passages about safety and proper gear, with a view into a professional hiker's preparations and tenacity. This is not merely a travel guide, but a beautifully written and highly personal view into one man's adventure and what it means to make a lifelong vision come true.

Great Travel narratives books for your trip to Italy

Great Travel narratives books for your trip to Italy http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/travel-tips-and-articles/66656?affil=fb-fan



An Italian Education (Tim Parks). Parks takes a witty and observant look at the society around him as he watches his children navigate the Italian school system. In an earlier work, Italian Neighbours, he viewed a wider panorama, observing everything from Catholicism to racism.

Heel to Toe: Encounter in the South of Italy (Charles Lister). Lister explores the glory and sadness of the south in his trip aboard a clapped-out moped.

Travel Narrative of the Day: Quest for the Sublime: Finding Nature's Secret in Switzerland by @richardbangs

Travel Narrative of the Day: Quest for the Sublime: Finding Nature's Secret in Switzerland by @richardbangs http://tinyurl.com/SwitzBook

In addition to being a picturesque setting for organized tours into the wild, Switzerland has long been considered the birthplace of adventure travel and the wellspring of eco-tourism. Byron, Shelly, Keats, and Wordsworth all traveled to Switzerland, and upon reaching the Swiss Alps the word they chose to describe what they saw was, not surprisingly, sublime. Here, Richard Bangs embarks upon a new adventure to discover what sublime truly meant to those early travelers and to know how the experiences of past poets and artists transformed the concept of travel. Along the way Bangs examines questions surrounding natural resources, finding answers in Switzerland that may serve as examples for the rest of the world.

With Few Reservations: Travels at Home and Abroad by Peter I. Rose

With Few Reservations is a collection of forty-eight engaging commentaries that were written by the sociologist, traveler, and photographer, Peter Rose, editor of the magazine, SoGoNow.com. They offer lively takes on what a travel writer does, "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves", and vivid descriptions of what it is like to enjoy "Austrian Ambiance in the Green Mountains of Vermont" and "Italian Culture in a Swiss Canton." He helps us to understand the reason so many people are "Stoop-Shouldered in Sanibel" and have conversions in the Arizona desert.

How do you enjoy "Moorish Arches and Other Spanish Delights" or spend quality time in "Sarajevo Today?" Come along on a "Northwest Passage across Europe," or take a cruise in "Liner Luxury" and sail on windjammers "Plain and Fancy." Visit many special venues - from Cape Cod to Cape Horn and Arizona to Zeeland, in the Netherlands. Go "Behind the Scenes" in the travel business with a knowledgeable expert. Several photo essays offer new insights relating to places and people-and offer some hindsight as well. These sojourns form the core of the forty-eight stories in With Few Reservations.

With Few Reservations: Travels at Home and Abroad
Peter I. Rose

A Time to Keep Silence

The current top seller in Travelogues at Amazon is A Time to Keep Silence(New York Review Books Classics) by Patrick Leigh Fermor http://tinyurl.com/TimeToKeepSilence



A Time to Keep Silence (New York Review Books Classics)

While still a teenager, Patrick Leigh Fermor made his way across Europe, as recounted in his classic memoirs, A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water. During World War II, he fought with local partisans against the Nazi occupiers of Crete. But in A Time to Keep Silence, Leigh Fermor writes about a more inward journey, describing his several sojourns in some of Europe’s oldest and most venerable monasteries. He stays at the Abbey of St. Wandrille, a great repository of art and learning; at Solesmes, famous for its revival of Gregorian chant; and at the deeply ascetic Trappist monastery of La Grande Trappe, where monks take a vow of silence. Finally, he visits the rock monasteries of Cappadocia, hewn from the stony spires of a moonlike landscape, where he seeks some trace of the life of the earliest Christian anchorites.

More than a history or travel journal, however, this beautiful short book is a meditation on the meaning of silence and solitude for modern life. Leigh Fermor writes, “In the seclusion of a cell—an existence whose quietness is only varied by the silent meals, the solemnity of ritual, and long solitary walks in the woods—the troubled waters of the mind grow still and clear, and much that is hidden away and all that clouds it floats to the surface and can be skimmed away; and after a time one reaches a state of peace that is unthought of in the ordinary world.”

An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington

You've seen the show, now read the book: An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington http://t.co/VUU9PFL via @amazon

The companion guide to the hysterical television show of the same name, in which Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant force their arrestingly simple pal Karl Pilkington on a global journey

"He'd have been happier in medieval times in a village where you didn't travel beyond the local community." —Stephen Merchant
A cult celebrity due to his role in The Ricky Gervais Show, the most-downloaded podcast ever, Karl Pilkington has been accused of being a comic creation, so unburdened is he by complex thought—but that is truly just him. The trio's newest project mines Karl massive provinciality: put simply, Karl is not big on traveling. Given the choice, he'll go on vacation to Devon or Wales or, if pushed, eat English food on a package tour of the Mediterranean. So what happened when he was convinced by Gervais and Merchant to go on an epic adventure to see the Seven Wonders of the World? Does travel truly broaden the mind? Find out in Karl Pilkington's hilarious travel diaries.

Book List

great list of travel books: http://tinyurl.com/8zcku including Over the Top & Back Again by Brandon Wilson, Life is a Trip by Judith Fein.