One for the Road: The Neighborhoods of Queens

by Kelly Amabile on

Last night I took three connecting subway lines and a bus to get from Manhattan to my brother’s new apartment in Queens. This morning I commuted back into the city with his wife, taking another bus, as well as three different subway lines. Without revealing which neighborhood they live in, you can surmise that it’s not the easiest one to reach. But the options for getting there are as diverse as the neighborhoods that comprise this bountiful borough, a characteristic that makes the inconvenient commute much easier to accept. The best part though, is that their location affords them plentiful opportunities to discover the colorful neighborhoods that make up this fantastic and often overlooked borough.

As a housewarming gift, I brought along copy of The Neighborhoods of Queens, a thoroughly researched and well documented tour through 99 neighborhoods of “the Gateway to America”, as Queens has been dubbed. Home to two of New York’s busiest international airports (La Guardia and JFK), Queens is also the most diverse county in the world. This wonderful book celebrates that diversity with an alphabetical arrangement stretching from Astoria to Woodside. Each section includes photographs, neighborhood profiles, facts, a map and a historical summary. There are also over 50 new maps that chart precise boundaries between the neighborhoods. Written by a South American immigrant who herself entered America via Queens, this well-done guide celebrates the enormity of all that the borough offers to both residents and visitors. The book, and the borough, are definitely worth checking out.

Condé Nast Traveler names 86 best travel books of all time

by Neil Woodburn on

Just in time for Christmas, Condé Nast Traveler has released a very detailed list of the 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time. (Actually, the list came out in the September issue, but now is a far more appropriate time to be looking for gifts, don’t you think?)

So how does one pick the very best travel books of all time?

By relying on a panel of experts, naturally. Condé Nast Traveler asked 45 of the magazine’s “favorite authors for their favorite nonfiction travel titles–the ones that changed the way they considered a certain culture or place or people, that inspired them both to write and to get out into the world themselves.”

The result is a rather exhaustive list that has been sorted alphabetically, leaving no room for the “very best travel book of all time.” The list does, however, mention which author has recommended a book and provides a few lines about the reason why.

The following is just a small smattering of what to expect:

Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger (nominated by Paul Theroux)
Great Plains by Ian Frazier (nominated by John McPhee)
In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin (nominated by Adrienne Miller)
The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz (nominated by Sebastian Junger)
Siren Land by Norman Douglas (nominated by Gore Vidal)
A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor (nominated by Colin Thubron)

One for the Road: Nomad’s Hotel

by Kelly Amabile on

In the past week, I’ve come across two different thumbs up for a collection of travel essays by Dutch writer Cees Nooteboom. I’ve now added Nomad’s Hotel: Travels in Time and Space to my 2008 “really-must-read” list and wanted to give all of you list-loving readers a chance to do the same. Here’s what I’ve gathered:

First, in the latest issue of Geist, Michael Kozlowski describes the pieces in Nomad’s Hotel as “meditations” and calls it “…less a book of travel stories than a collection of Nooteboom’s musings on travel and impressions of places.” My interest was piqued. Then I found it listed among Rory Maclean’s 2007 recommended reads, where he praises it as, “…a jewel of a travel book, free of pretension, full of easy adventure, fresh with childlike wonder for the world.” Rory wrote a much longer review of the book for the Guardian earlier this year. These two positive reviews were enough for me to take notice of Nooteboom, but if you need more, check out this in-depth look at the fascinating “traveling writer.”

Famous tourist destinations made more famous by literature

by Neil Woodburn on

I’ve always felt that movies have a much larger impact on a location than a book ever does, attracting tourists by the tour busload to see for themselves the wonderful images portrayed in a particular film.

But books have their draw as well. Earlier today, for example, we shared with you the Tolkien Trail in Birmingham, England where fans of Lord of the Rings can explore the landscape which inspired Middle Earth.

Condé Nast Traveler seems to have books on their mind as well. The recent September issue highlights a list of places where literature has had a dramatic impact on tourism–the most famous example being the annual increase of 800,000 visitors to the Louvre since The Da Vinci Code was published.

Condé Nast Traveler dives into eight other examples–such as Kefalonia, Greece where Corelli’s Mandolin takes place–that makes me want to read and travel much, much more. I hope their list inspires you to do the same–although you can easily cheat since most of these books have also been made into movies.

The Tolkien Trail: Touring the real life inspiration behind Middle Earth

by Neil Woodburn on

Although the classic Lord of the Rings Trilogy was shot in New Zealand, the real life inspiration behind some of Tolkien’s most fantastic landscapes came from Birmingham, England.

This is where Tolkien grew up and spent his childhood exploring mysterious places like Moseley Bog which, according to the local Birmingham website, “is recalled in The Lord of the Rings as the ‘Old Forest’, last of the primeval woods in which Tom Bombadil lived.”

Just down the road from the bog is the Sarehole Mill (above) where Tolkien played as a young child and also where Bilbo Baggins did the same.

As you might imagine, the local community has latched on to their favorite son and now promote the “Tolkien Trail” where enthusiasts can check out landmarks that inspired Middle Earth and also visit Tolkien’s home, church, and other prominent locations from his childhood.

Personally, I’d rather check out New Zealand to get my Tolkien fix. But I would imagine Birmingham would be pretty cool as well.