One for the Road: ‘Three-Martini Family Vacation’

by Kelly Amabile on

Here’s a smarmy tongue-in-cheek guide for parents that should offer up plenty of laughs, as well as some smart travel advice. The Three-Martini Family Vacation is a collection of wickedly funny essays that will serve as a reminder to parents that family vacations can truly be fun — regardless of how much gets shaken or stirred along the way!

Christine Mellor’s latest ‘Field Guide to Intrepid Parenting’ offers helpful advice on harnessing the energy of toddlers-gone-wild on vacation, out to dinner or even just when grandmother stops by for a visit. Parents will relearn the art of traveling and how it can be done (sometimes) with well-behaved children in tow. This is my favorite bit of practical advice: Get those kids reading books as soon as possible — it’ll pay dividends in countless waiting rooms, cars and airports. Nothing funny about that one, but it sure is true!

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One for the Road: Down the Nile

by Kelly Amabile on

Publishers Weekly calls this one “travel writing at its most enjoyable.” Down the Nile: Along in a Fisherman’s Skiff is about a journey born from the simple love of rowing. Rosemary Mahoney decides to buy a small rowboat and make her way 120 miles along the Nile between the cities of Aswan and Qena.

What an awesome solo feat to attempt! Despite civil unrest and the fear of vexing local traditions, Mahoney sets out. She finds a seven-foot skiff with the help of a sympathetic Muslim sailor and proceeds to do what culture and history says she should not.

Egyptian women don’t row on the Nile, and tourists aren’t allowed to for safety’s sake. But Mahoney does it — she endures extreme heat, terrifying crocs and the challenging cultural encounters that confront issues of faith and sex. She also finds connections to past river travelers like Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert. The reviews agree that Mahoney’s global curiosity and creative wit will surely captivate readers of this new release.

One for the Road: The No-Nonsense Guide to Tourism

by Kelly Amabile on

This pocket-sized softbound guide from the folks at The New Internationalist is not your typical travel book. It’s a toughie. The No-Nonsense Guide to Tourism takes a harsh look at the often invisible impacts of global tourism and challenges readers to think about some of the big picture effects that travel has on the world. It basically demystifies one of the biggest industries in the world by examining things like labor conditions, the role of travel and vacations in western cultures, and trends like the popular gap year.

In short, concise language, the book covers the history of tourism, the psychological forces that drive Westerners to travel to exotic destinations, and the economic, political and social impact of the tourism industry. Author Pamela Nowicka is a journalist and consultant who has working with organizations such as Tourism Concern, a charity that works with communities in destination countries to reduce social and environmental problems. She has written on numerous tourism and ethics subjects.

One for the Road: The Short Bus – A Journey Beyond Normal

by Kelly Amabile on

Author Jonathan Mooney was a short bus rider–a derogatory term used for kids in special education and a distinction that told the world he wasn’t “normal.” Along with other challenged students (in his case, dyslexic and learning disabled), he grew up amid unfair labeling and skepticism surrounding his ability to succeed.

Mooney went on to graduate with honors from Brown University, but could never escape the pain from his past. What better cure than a road trip? To free himself and to learn how others had moved beyond labels, he decided to buy his own short bus and set out cross-country, looking for kids who had dreamed up creative and magical ways to overcome the obstacles that separated them from the so-called normal world.
The Short Bus is Mooney’s humorous and poignant record of his four-month, 35,000-mile epic journey. He meets thirteen people in thirteen states, including an eight-year-old deaf and blind girl who likes to curse out her teachers in sign language; and Butch Anthony, who grew up severely learning disabled but now owns the Museum of Wonder. Mooney learns from these folks that there’s no such thing as normal and that to really embrace life, each person must find their own special way to stay the course. He’ll be reading at NYC’s Half King on Monday night, June 25 at 7 PM.

One for the Road: The Art of Rough Travel

by Kelly Amabile on

Here’s another book I found while browsing the stacks at Oblong: The Art of Rough Travel from Mountaineer Books was originally published in a much larger version way back in 1855. It soon became “a bible of self-sufficiency for a host of now famous explorers.” Written by Sir Francis Galton, a British anthropologist, inventor, statistician and geographer (among other things), Galton’s journal now provides modern travelers a historical look at the culture of outdoor recreation over 150 years ago.

Subtitled “From the Peculiar to the Practical, Advice from a 19th Century Explorer“, this 2006 condensed edition recounts Galton’s adventures as one of the first Europeans to explore the interior of southwestern Africa. As one reviewer claimed, this delightfully dated book will teach you a bit about how things used to be, but probably leave you feeling forever thankful that we live in a more advanced travel age.