One for the Road: Crying with Cockroaches

South African born Marianne Du Toit had limited equestrian experience, but that did not deter her from embarking on a journey that would take her – and two horses – almost two years to travel from Argentina to New York City. Crying with Cockroaches tells the story of her undertaking, one that many considered downright mad. She titled her trip TATA: Travels Across The Americas, and from her home in Ireland, began planning this trek of personal discovery. But as the project evolved, she realized that she could also use the adventure as a way to raise awareness for the need of therapeutic riding facilities in Ireland.

The book is over 400 pages, and includes over 100 color photographs, mostly from the author’s collection of her trip, which was inspired by the writer, Aimé Tschiffely, who undertook a the most famous equestrian journey of the 20th century. Marianne’s expedition took place from May 2002 through March 2004. This fall, she’s been touring the US, and will appear in Rochester next Saturday, December 1. She’ll give a lecture at the George Eastman House, complete with photos and stories from her amazing solo adventure through the Americas, with two horses by her side.

One for the Road: Burton Holmes Travelogues

Do you know who coined the term “travelogue”? Until today, I didn’t know that it was this guy. Burton Holmes is known as America’s most famous travel showman, and even has his very own Hollywood star. A camera enthusiast from a young age, Holmes dropped out of school at sixteen and began traveling, first to Europe with his grandmother, and then to Japan. Early film clips from his travels are recognized as the very first travelogues. He soon established a travel film production company and began capturing the world.

There’s much more to the story, and a good place to continue learning about this travel pioneer is between the pages of Burton Holmes Travelogues: The World’s Greatest Traveler, which was released last fall by Taschen. Holmes took over 30,000 photos and 500,000 feet of film during the course of his travels through every continent. This 300+ page archive has collected the very best of his work.

Bonus for folks in the Rochester, NY area: Author and editor Genoa Caldwell will be giving a presentation about Burton Holmes at the George Eastman House tomorrow, Oct. 18 at 6 pm, as part of their Wish You Were Here travel photography lecture series.