Lonely Planet Unpacked
Travel disaster stories by Tony Wheeler and other Lonely Planet authors
-
- $7.99
-
- $7.99
Publisher Description
Sometimes travel doesn't go according to plan - but that's what gives you best stories!
Around the world, these Lonely Planet writers encounter hurricanes, road accidents, secret police and nasty parasites – among other aspects of life on the dark side of the road.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This collection of 26 first-person essays by Lonely Planet writers includes tales that describe, in mostly self-effacing detail, the horrors and embarrassments that can befall even the most seasoned travelers. Getting into his car after a soul-cleansing hike in "Walking the Mount Kailash Circuit," Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet Publications, is startled when a drunk Tibetan repeatedly slams his head against the car windshield. In her Kafkaesque tale of her detention in a police station in Mirny, a desolate Siberian city, Suzanne Possehl writes: "I tell him I write for Lonely Planet; he looks at me like I'm from another planet." Andrew Draffen details in "The Local Cure" how he survived a case of Bicho Geographico, a parasite he picked up while walking (stoned) along a beach in Trancoso, in the northeast section of Brazil. He turned to native bartender Ulysses, who recommended a natural way to stop the parasite from burrowing too far into the travel writer's skin. The remedy? Draffen tied a huge block of ice to his foot and drank caiupirinhas till he was too soused to worry; eventually, the parasite froze "estupidamente gelada (stupidly cold)." Readers wanting a real look at what it's like to work in one of the most seemingly glamorous professions will find a wide variety of insider information and confessions of na vet and helplessness experienced in remote parts of the world.
Customer Reviews
Surprised That It Has Received So Many Negative Reviews
This 250-page book consists of travel disaster short stories that will make you laugh out loud at times and at other times totally gasp. It's evident that some of these travelers have different viewpoints from me, but many of the writers are very gifted. I always thought being part of the Lonely Planet team would be totally cool, but I don't think I would be into it all the time. They have a job to do that can certainly be not so relaxing at times. I do appreciate their guidebooks and never travel to a foreign nation without one. From 2001 to 2006 I used the following editions - Japan, China, London, Central Asia (for use in Kyrgyzstan), Korea, Thailand, Southeast Asia on a Shoestring Budget (for use in Singapore and Malaysia), Kyoto, and Vietnam. Thank you, Lonely Planet. The overseas traveling has stopped as a result of two little girls. :-)