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July 09, 2006
Wanderlust
One of my defining characteristics, and what probably sets me apart from most of my close friends, is an almost obsessive desire to travel. The more remote and more bizarre, the better. While I'm certainly not averse to sleeping in a pristine hotel room, I'm equally happy (and more able to afford) nights at a cheap hostel or sleeping overnight on a train. In fact, even now as I'm battling a major funk, I find that my brain has decided that the way to kick myself back into reality is to escape it altogether with an exotic trip somewhere.
Thankfully, cooler parts of my brain (and my pocketbook) prevail, and I'm not quite ready yet to jet off to another continent. Instead, I have been thumbing through some of my favorite travelogues (I didn't realize I had so many until I took a closer look at my bookshelves--clearly I've been sublimating more than I realized). So I was especially intrigued by an article in today's Washington Post: Expert's Picks: Travel & Adventure. The gist is that Tahir Shah -- an intrepid traveler -- lists which books best inspire wanderlust. And while reading the article did make me want to throw some things in a backpack and hit the Kenyan hillsides, I probably will just wander over to Barnes and Noble to pick up a couple of these gems:
-- Arabian Sands , by Wilfred Thesiger
-- Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft , by Thor Heyerdahl
-- The Songlines , by Bruce Chatwin
-- Seven Years in Tibet , by Heinrich Harrer
-- Danger My Ally , by F.A. Mitchell-Hedges
-- Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther Than the Eye Can See , by Erik Weihenmayer
Comments
I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. Airhitch.
http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400453.html
"Airhitch (airhitch.org) is the 35-year-old organization (it started in 1969 as a campus organization!) that will help you literally hitchhike your way across the Atlantic in either direction, any time (even at the peak of the summer travel season) for a remarkable $165, plus taxes and fees (the total comes to $210) provided you are flexible with the exact date of your departure and the exact European city where you'll start your trip."
Posted by: Red at July 9, 2006 10:08 AM
I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. Airhitch.
http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400453.html
"Airhitch (airhitch.org) is the 35-year-old organization (it started in 1969 as a campus organization!) that will help you literally hitchhike your way across the Atlantic in either direction, any time (even at the peak of the summer travel season) for a remarkable $165, plus taxes and fees (the total comes to $210) provided you are flexible with the exact date of your departure and the exact European city where you'll start your trip."
Posted by: Red at July 9, 2006 10:08 AM
