One for the Road: Blue Horizons – Dispatches from Distant Seas

by Kelly Amabile on

The National Outdoor Book Awards announced their 2007 winners this week, and Blue Horizons – Dispatches from Distant Seas was honored in the Outdoor Literature category. Released in 2006, this collection of sailing stories shares personal stories of inner journeys, and courageous tales of outward expeditions.

After a 3-year, 35,000 mile circumnavigation with her partner, Beth Leonard realized that life on shore was not working — the sea was calling her back. So, four years later, they set out again, this time on a 50,000 mile journey that lasted for six years. This book chronicles that voyage — a compilation of inspiring vignettes from Beth’s columns in Blue Water Sailing magazine, which she wrote throughout the journey.

Leonard has sailed more than 85,000 blue water miles over the past thirteen years, ranging from tropical oceans to Tasmania, Cape Horn, and the arctic seas north of Iceland. Blue Horizons includes dispatches from their sailing adventures to Newfoundland, Iceland, Norway, the Caribbean, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, the South Pacific and British Columbia.

One for the Road: Around the World – The Grand Tour in Photo Albums

by Kelly Amabile on

Long before the birth of travel blogs, online trip journals or digital cameras, there were photo albums and paper scrapbooks. Remember those? Sure you do, and of course, plenty of folks still use these traditional forms to chronicle and capture their travels. But today’s Moleskines and Kodak Photogallery albums are modern day versions of an artistic journaling phenomenon that dates back to the invention of photography.

A new book from Princeton Architectural Press traces the history of the travel photo album with an impressive collection of snapshots, postcards and passenger lists that capture the stories of early voyages. Around the World – The Grand Tour in Photo Albums includes amateur photos, diary entries, ship menus and newspaper clippings that transport readers back to the dawn of world travel. Read author Barbara Levine’s Confessions of an Armchair Traveler essay to learn more about how travel tales were chronicled at the turn of the twentieth century. And pick up a copy of this book to be whisked away on a vintage journey full of classic travel ephemera.

One for the Road: A Tale of 12 Kitchens

by Kelly Amabile on

This cookbook gem came out last year but, I stumbled across some rave reviews recently, and thought it deserved a mention, especially as the holiday cooking season heats up! A Tale of 12 Kitchens: Family Cooking in Four Countries follows Jake Tilson on food adventures around the world, including stops in New York, Tuscany and Scotland.

Tilson used his artistic eye (he’s a photographer and painter) to create a one-of-a-kind “cookbook-cum-scrapbook” that doubles as a travel journal. Readers are invited into Tilson’s inner circle — his foodie family is a collection of colorful characters obsessed with cooking. In unique fashion, the book celebrates the possibilities of food, and the deeply personal aspects of communal meal preparation. The eighty recipes included in the book are gathered from all corners of the globe, but the real treasure of these kitchen tales is the original and refreshing way in which they are presented.

Tilson will appear in New York on December 5 as part of The James Beard Foundation’s Beard on Books series.

One for the Road: The Unheard

by Kelly Amabile on

A few weeks ago I heard Josh Swiller speak about his new memoir on NPR, and I’ve been meaning to mention it ever since. The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa is Swiller’s account of his experiences as a hearing-impaired American serving in the Peace Corps in Zambia. Sick of feeling like an outsider as a deaf man in the U.S., Swiller headed to Africa, where he was placed in the remote village of Mununga. He was the first white man to live in the impoverished community, and also the first person there with a hearing aid.

Swiller’s travels to Africa was much more than a do-good trip. His true journey was an inner one, during which he learned “just to be grateful for each moment.” His primary assignment to dig wells soon became secondary to more pressing needs of the village that he called home for two years. Swiller has received much praise for his debut memoir, a gripping account of an experience that was much more than cultural immersion. You can read one review here, from our friends at World Hum.

One for the Road: Maps – Finding Our Place in the World

by Kelly Amabile on

Since geography is a theme that will get extra notice this week, I went with a cartographic selection for today’s book. Maps: Finding Our Place in the World is a new book that accompanies the current exhibit of the same name at Chicago’s Field Museum.

The book introduces readers to a wide range of maps from different time periods and cultures, focusing on the specific functions that maps do and have done in the past. This comprehensive volume examines the history and uses of mapping from ancient through modern times, and is sure to be a treat for map lovers.

There is also an online collection of unusual maps that was created in conjunction with the book’s release: What is a Map? The first page of the feature includes a selection of unique journey-themed maps.

(via The Map Room)