American Traveler

Randy Wayne White demonstrates by example in this collection of more than a dozen essays that the fun, the drama, and the craziness of exploration—both internal and external—are singularly important parts of the human experience.
Although White’s journeys lead to exotic and often dangerous adventures, his love and concern for his two sons, who are traveling with him, generate powerful and subtle undertones that carry throughout the book, and make this far more than a collection of travel-adventure narratives.
White hangs out in Australia with the Crocodile Hunter; he dives with great white sharks in South Africa; he writes about the late Peter Blake and the New Zealand sailing team; he jogs the Mayan ruins of Guatemala; and he battles insects in his backyard garden. He’s the lead sledder for an entry in the U.S. toboggan championships; he explores Vietnam (and gets lost jogging in Hanoi)—and just as powerfully explores what it’s like to reach middle age.