The Expeditioner's Guide to the World [Paperback]

There's so much travel writing out there - how do you find the good stuff? You can ask your friends, do your research, or find sites that recommend books. Here's a book that exemplifies the Best of travel writing. The Expeditioner's Guide to the World: Intrepid Tales of Awesomeness from the Open Road IS pure awesomeness!

I opened it late at night, and have to admit that I read until 4am. Yes, it is ONE OF THOSE BOOKS. The kind where you can't stop reading, where you recommend it to everyone you know (like I am doing right now), and where in the morning, you re-read the bits that made you laugh late at night and they STILL make you laugh. Yes.

Filled with stories, poems, and truly honest travel writing, this book is a GEM.

Let me start by hanging my bias on the line. I am one of the book's three editors. So obviously, I think you should buy this book. I think that buying this book is the best idea you have ever had. I can't really imagine anyone finding happiness or true love without this book.

But you don't have to go off just what I think. Let me start by me sharing feedback with you that I have received for the book.

Mothers have come to me cradling their newborn infants in their arms and they've pleaded with me, "Will you sign this book for my baby? I want to keep it for him and give it to him as soon as he learns to read."

When Barack Obama called me and asked if I would read parts of the book before his cabinet, I had to tell him that I was just too busy trying to promote the book to make it to Washington. But my not going to Washington caused quite a stir. My Editor, Matt Stabile, from The Expeditioner dot Com told me that not speaking before Barack Obama's cabinet was a wasted opportunity to promote the book and the website. Jon Wick, the other Editor for the book, sent me an email saying that he had agreed with Matt Stabile. He told me that he had never missed an opportunity to read before the president's cabinet and that I had made a big fat mistake. I felt like both of them were teaming up on me. They both seemed angry at me and I thought this was unfair.

So for a while I didn't send any emails to Matt and Jon. I gave them three whole days of "The Internet Silent Treatment". But, as the old proverb goes: "When you write a book with someone you can never stay mad at that person forever. You are bound by a force so strong that eventually you settle any disagreements that come between you. You have to, because if you are sharing the royalties for the book, you have a strong mutual interest and so for practical reasons are forced to stay friends."

As another Proverb goes, "Proverbs are always right." So it was. Soon Jon, Matt and I settled our differences. After three days of "Internet Silent Treatment" I extended the digital olive branch towards them: I sent them a Photoshopped picture of me milking a goat. I hoped they would see the photo of me and that it would make them laugh and remember all the good times we had had on Skype. I figured this would patch the dents in our relationship. It worked. And since I live in Guatemala, they probably thought that it was a real photograph.

So, now that Matt and Jon and I are best buds again(on Skype), we are going to start promoting this book. We are going to do it like crazy. After you read this review you will hear about this book everywhere. You won't be able to turn on the Super Bowl without having this book promoted. Our goal is that the Superbowl make The Expeditioner's Guide to the World the Official Travel Book of the Superbowl. And it's all in the Superbowl people's hands. Because we don't have any money to pay for it. So they would have to let this book be that for free. If any people in charge of the Superbowl are reading this, don't worry, there's something in it for you. If you made us the official travel book of The Superbowl, we would write about it on the Expeditioner's website, and people who would already be watching the Superbowl might still watch the Superbowl.

In closing, we can't tell you enough how awesome we think this book is. We know it is because before we wrote it we had a Skype meeting and agreed that the book we were going to write would be awesome. And all throughout the writing process, we surveyed focus groups across the world asking them if they felt what they were reading was awesome. The focus groups agreed. The focus groups actually wrote most of the book, since the stories in the book were written by over 30 of the world's most Intrepid Travelers. And that made our jobs easier, because we didn't have to write the whole book. The book was written by the people for the people. And like the constitution of the United States it's a book you want to take with you on your travels.

Even when you are stuck at home, reading this book will make you feel like you are out on the intrepid road.

The end result of compiling the greatest book since the Bible is a book that even the very elderly can enjoy. I wouldn't recommend it to real little kids, because real little kids can't read. But then again, sometimes the very very elderly can't read anymore either. But even if you can't read, The Expeditioner's Guide to the World has pictures in it and a fun section where you can play "Backpacker Bingo" (Matt, we should get that term trademarked).

After you buy The Expeditioner's Guide to the World, make sure you check out my other other book from World Library's Secret Stash. You can get it right here on Amazon. It's called "iPoems for the Dolphins to Click Home About." Even real little kids will love the treasure map that comes with it.

Thanks for reading through all of this shameless self promotion,

-Luke Maguire Armstrong

THE EXPEDITIONER'S GUIDE: SURPRISES AND EPIPHANIES

BY JOHN M. EDWARDS

Matt Stabile showed excellent taste by including my essay "Java Journey: in The Expeditioner's Guide to The World.

All the other essays are good too.

Read it, buy it, and "dare to dream with your eyes wide open," as T. E. Lawrence so aptly put it.

John M. Edwards, 2011

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  5.0 out of 5 stars