From Here to There, Armchair Travel

November 12, 2010

The seasons are changing, and as the days get shorter and cooler, there is less time to do things outdoors. What a perfect time to curl up in your comfortable armchair and literally do a bit of "armchair travel".  You can plan a trip for the next traveling season, or - if you can’t take a trip in the near future, it’s almost as much fun to read travel stories.  Travel literature, as opposed to guidebooks, has been around for a very long time. There’s something about reading true travel adventures that is almost as good as being there. Some have such an immediate impact that you are instantly drawn into the story.

Bill Bryson is widely recognized as one of the world’s most entertaining travel writers. His book , In a Sunburned Country, deals with travel in Australia, and A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail will both take you out of your armchair and into a different place, if only for awhile. While you’re waiting for warmer, perhaps better weather, you can begin now to plan your next big trip, next road trip, or next weekend getaway. The library has resources for all types of trips. There are guidebooks and history books on the places you might visit…trail guides and more. Besides books, there are travel videos to give you an instant "view" of the place you might want to visit.

If you can’t travel, reading about it is the next best thing.

Book Lust To Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds and Dreamers by Nancy Pearl. 

A Year of Adventures: a Guide to the World’s Most Exciting Experiences by Andrew Bain.

My Cool Caravan: An Inspirational Guide to Retro-Style Caravans by Jane Field-Lewis.

Letters Written From America 1849-1853 by Leo Lesquereux.

And …my "perfect fantasy" book is on order and is titled Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying at Home by Phil & Carol White.   Ah, if it could only live up to the title!

So, bottom line…enjoy your library, whether for practical or fanciful reasons this autumn!

Rox P.
North Independence Branch