Showing titles in Travel Writing & Commentary

Bob Geldof first visited Africa in 1984. The following year, Live Aid inspired a generation to raise millions for the starving in Africa.

Over 20 years on, passion undiminished, Geldof returns to what he calls the Luminous Continent. This is his personal diary. Unflinchingly honest, Geldof in Africa paints a unique picture of this extraordinary and beautiful land.

Dead horses, armed border guards and furious Slavs stand in the way. Join Andy on his battered old Suzuki GS1000G as we cross Europe, and ride together through the Iron Curtain to reach the very edge of Asia. Filled with adventure and humor, poignant and accidentally informative, this true-life story tells of travel in an era long gone, when we read paper maps like pirates on the high seas, and friends were made and lost along roads less traveled.

In this follow-up to Clanlands Sam & Graham document their journey across New Zealand, a country Graham calls home and that Sam has longed to visit since learning it was a popular destination for Scottish immigrants to settle back in the 19th century. Follow the 'outlandish' pair as they explore the Scottish influence of New Zealand: connecting with the rich culture and Scottish heritage, sampling world-class food & drink, and being humbled by incredible landscapes and pulse-raising activities.

There was someone standing further along the beach, facing out to sea. An old man dressed in...I blinked...battle fatigues? Second World War US by the looks of the helmet. I looked on for a moment, squinting into the sun-streaked coconut smoke. "You won’t like Bonga’s Guest House, I can tell you now. Maximo Bonga," said the fisherman’s wife. She was lost for words, shaking her head. "Maximum Bongo?" I asked. "Bonga," she said. "It means flamboyant." Based on a true story.

Every year upon arriving in Plobien, the small Breton town where he spends his summers, American writer Mark Greenside picks back up where he left off with his faux-pas-filled Francophile life. Mellowed and humbled, but not daunted (OK, slightly daunted), he faces imminent concerns: What does he cook for a French person? Who has the right-of-way when entering or exiting a roundabout? Where does he pay for a parking ticket? And most dauntingly of all, when can he touch the tomatoes?

Here is William Dalrymple's highly praised and greatly entertaining account of his 1986 trip made while a student at Cambridge, which retraced Marco Polo's route across land from Jerusalem to Xanadu. With him, he took a phial of Holy Oil, 600 pounds and Laura until Lahore, and Louisa from there to Xanadu.

Ever since Fred Sirieix boarded a P&O ferry bound for Dover with a one-way ticket and just two suitcases, he has been in love with the UK. Working as a waiter at the famous three-Michelin-starred restaurant La Tante Claire in Chelsea aged just 20, he learned English, met people from all walks of life, and went dancing until dawn. From the pastel-coloured beach huts on the Southwold Promenade to the coast of Oban; and from deciphering regional expressions to loving a woman say ‘je t’aime’ like Jane Birkin – this is Fred’s mission to debunking French myths about the Brits.

In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled the country, tracking how the automobile and improved roads were transforming China.

Named one of Time Magazine International's 30 most important people of 2005, Maud Fontenoy presents us with a terrific, entertaining adventure story on the high seas as she challenges the Pacific Ocean - a feat no woman before her ever accomplished. Already the first woman to row alone across the North Atlantic, Maud raised the bar to defy the elements, the daunting solitude, and the circling sharks of the South Pacific on her second solo voyage.

Bienvenue les amis ! The Easy French podcast was made for you if you love learning French while entertaining yourself with funny and educational content. In it, we explore cultural and day-to-day topics in a light-hearted way. While listening to us, you will learn tons of French expressions, phrases, and even slang to help you grasp French as spoken by the locals! And because we love interacting with French learners, we will also answer your questions and invite you to send us voice messages that may be broadcasted on the show! And for those who want to jump to the next level and become ...

Couchsurfer, hitchhiker, and rogue wanderer Jamie Ma"lin embarks on a couchsurfing adventure to the homeland of "firebrand", "populist", "anti-American” president Hugo Chavez: the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Alone in the crime capital of the world (with a murder rate higher than Iraq's), Maslin immediately finds himself in trouble - arrested by knife-wielding police officers and inoculated with an unwanted vaccination. After a terrifying start in Caracas, he soon leaves the teeming city and travels to the places tourists never see, staying on the couches of people he befriended online just days earlier.

After accelerating their studies and graduating high school early, two teenagers set off from their hometown in Minnesota to embark on a 2,200-mile canoe journey up the heart of North America. Their destination: the permafrost shores of Hudson Bay. Inspired by a passion for the simple life, where gadgets and schedules are replaced by nature and its harsh beauty, the duo found something that many believe is lost: a true adventure.

In a bid to uncover the unique spirit of the single malt whisky, author lain Banks has decided to undertake a tour of the distilleries of his homeland. His tour of Scotland combines history, literature and landscape in an entertaining and informative account.

Goethe was probably the greatest universal genius who ever lived. Although known primarily as a poet, playright, and novelist, he was also known for his work in anatomy, botany, color, art criticism, and jurisprudence. Many people are deterred from attempting to read anything by Goethe because of his extremely penetrating intelligence and dense prose. But his travel diary, Italian Journey, is by far easier to digest than anything else by him.

Whether you're a Vegas regular or have only heard the city's tales through whispers, this book will surprise and astound you... It's not just the five-star dining, or the casinos, or the clubs, or the crowds. It's the electrifying chemistry of America's most round-the-clock city. In this dazzling 24-hour journey, James Patterson lifts the lid on America's notorious hub of gambling and excess. Fuelled by original interviews and in-depth reporting, What Happens in Vegas uncovers the vice, crime and entertainment that made Sin City an infamous desert mecca.

After Justin and Linda Tyers lost everything in a devastating house fire, they rebuilt their lives by building a classic wooden yacht from scratch - starting by felling the trees. This story was told in their first book, Phoenix from the Ashes. This sequel follows their voyage from the Scottish Islands across to Ireland, down the Irish Sea to Cornwall and thence to Brittany, meeting interesting, curious and larger-than-life characters along the way.

It's 1989, and Emma and her best friend, Dee, head to the USA to make their fortune. But completely inept and virtually unemployable, they discover that they can't even get a job in McDonald's. Forced to travel from California to New York with only pennies in their pockets, they bounce from scrape to scrape, surviving on their wits and the kindness of strangers. Bad luck and misfortune throw everything their way - snakes, earthquakes, black magic and incontinent dogs.

The author of Bad Land realizes a lifelong dream as he navigates the waters of the Mississippi River in a spartan sixteen-foot motorboat, producing yet another masterpiece of contemporary American travel writing.

Lisa and her husband Graham's hilarious trip saw them buying snacks from "voodoo vendors" in Taiwan, almost drowning off a Philippine beach, stumbling across "death porn" in Thailand and meeting The Bogeyman in a Pushkar restaurant. While abroad they contracted a serious case of travel seekness - an irresistible urge to go in search of places to be, people to see and strange stuff to eat - which compelled them to do World Heritage Shites in Egypt, evade Guinness-swigging swingers in a Dublin pub and fly to Cuba with a suspected terrorist.

Growing up a 90-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, Kung Fu. While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism.