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David Gessner’s new book is not just a bird book, like his previous one: Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond is quite definitely a travel book too, and not something that only bird lovers will appreciate. His journey follows the migration of the osprey he knows from Cape Cod all the way down to Venezuela.

A great hand-drawn map opens this book with a neat warning: “This map is for literary, not navigational, purposes”. This is followed by a note to the reader, explaining that the story is not simply one about birds but it is about human nature too, and especially the forces of migration and freedom. When he went on this trip, Gessner had just moved house and started a new job and with these themes on his mind, he decided to follow osprey south.

The “Fidel” of the title is one of the osprey that Gessner particularly tries to follow, but this story is not just a tale of seeing birds. It’s also about not seeing birds, and meeting all kinds of interesting people in the process, through parts of North, Central and South America. Fighting a self-proclaimed battle with the British Broadcasting Corporation who also happened to be filming a documentary on the topic, Gessner tries to make his journey unique, while surreptitiously using some of the information the BBC gathered to help him track the birds on their migration path. It’s a journey worth following.

In the tradition of WhereAmIWearing.com, New Zealand writer Joe Bennett bought a pack of five pieces of underwear from his local mega-market and then wondered where they really came from. Thus began a journey into China and beyond to find out Where Underpants Come From, subtitled From Checkout to Cotton Field - Travels Through the New China. (more…)

Terry Darlington might be the new Bill Bryson. His first travel narrative, Narrow Dog to Carcasonne, is a hilarious read and a real page-turner. Darlington and his wife Monica are a retired English couple who’ve bought a narrow boat to take on vacations, and they get quite addicted to the lifestyle of traveling along England’s canals. The narrow dog of the title is their whippet, Jim, who somewhat reluctantly tags along on their travels. (more…)

It’s always good to know something about the etiquette and customs of the country you’re going to travel to - and Mark McCrum’s newest book Going Dutch in Beijing: How to Behave Properly When Far Away From Home is an entertaining way to get informed. (more…)

Lonely Planet’s Micro Nations is a travel guide book with a difference. It’s a tour of the world’s “micro nations” - tiny pieces of land that think they’re legitimate nations. Technically speaking, some of them are, at least according to a 1993 convention, but neither the United Nations or any other “real” country agree. (more…)

The Call of the Weird

A road trip often makes for a good travel story, and Louis Theroux’s strange drive around the United States to create his book Call of the Weird is no exception. The book’s subtitle, “Encounters with Survivalists, Porn Stars, Alien Killers and Ike Turner” gives you a taste of what Theroux came across during his trip.

It all harks back to the 1990s TV series called “Louis Theroux’s America”, in which Theroux set out to meet some of the weirdest people around - such as those who believe in aliens, a group of staunch white supremacists, and a bunch of porn performers. Ten years later, Theroux wondered what his subjects were doing, and set out on a road trip to catch up with them all.

That makes this a combination of a travel book and an interesting insight into the lives of people who are, well, different to most of us. Theroux’s narrative is detailed and fair - he manages to deal with all of his interviewees without ridicule. Like his travel writer father Paul, Louis Theroux isn’t afraid to have his own opinions out there in black and white, regardless of what others might think about them. As a whole, the book will give any traveler around the United States a whole new outlook on what might be found on your journey.

A Voyage Long and Strange

Tony Horwitz has got a new book out, and before you even open it you can have a strong feeling that it’s going to be a good read. Horwitz is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who likes to get out and about in the world, and to look back into history as well. (more…)

Travel guide book writer Thomas Kohnstamm is probably delighted with the media storm that surrounded the recent release of his book Do Travel Writers Go To Hell?. Its long subtitle, A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism seems to sum up what’s been reported about Kohnstamm and the book lately. (more…)

Did you think they spoke English in Australia? Well, sometimes they do, but the “Aussie” language has quite a few differences to American or British English. The third edition to Lonely Planet’s phrasebook came out last year and it’s both an interesting and a useful book to take with you on a journey Down Under. (more…)

If you haven’t read Frances Mayes Under the Tuscan Sun, you’ll at least have heard of it or its several sequels. Mayes and her husband renovated an old villa in Tuscany and she quickly became known as the travel writing queen for all things Tuscan. But recently, she released a new book called A Year in the World which, for once, barely touches on Tuscany at all. (more…)