Day: January 8, 2014

This is a tale of a couple who circumnavigate the globe without flying in a plane. I picked up this book because I I really liked Stevenson’s prose. He appears more than once in the Best American Travel Writing series. His sense of humour seems closely aligned to mine. It’s sometimes dry, often observant and understated

The way he describes horrible travel conditions is hilarious, even when it shouldn’t be. I love travel as much as Stevenson does, but is is quite awful yet wonderful all at once. At the same time, the book offers some intelligent observations about cultures and above all else, transportation and means of travel.

While this book was written about seven years ago, the discussion about the airline industry and flying is still relevant. Flying sucks, and like Stevenson, I much prefer trains or even boats. He also has criticism against cruises in general. All of this inspires me that if I had the means, I would do a similar travel voyage around the world with as few flights as possible.

Read January 5, 2014.