Customer Reviews

The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this book expecting to find something other than what it is. Instead of the subtitle "How to travel around the world" maybe it should have been subtitled "What you need to know before you travel around the world." The author is very knowledgable and the book offers a lot of valuable insight. It's been helpful for me planning my own global crossing. But not helpful in a pragmatic "here's what you need to do" kind of way. It was helpful in educating me about travel industry practices, paperwork preparation, and conditions in certain areas of the world.
However, I'm a bit dismayed by two aspects of the book. Hasbrouck seems to tout train travel on almost every page. He has a real love of trains I guess. He even said on one page that given the same distance (up to about 600 miles) he'd take the train over flying because, he says, they're more comfortable, the food is better, and you meet interesting people. Maybe my travel experience is vastly different than his, but I don't hold the same romantic fondness of trains. My experience has been they're a crowded, hot, time-consuming confinement with people that looked a bit sketchy. And I consider myself an adventurous traveler. I'm not one to watch the world from the bay window of a luxury cruise liner.
It also becomes annoying how the author seems to inject his political opinion into every page, almost every paragraph. He seems to editorialize on everything - capitalism, socialism, class bias, feminism, health and disease, food distribution, etc. I happen to agree with a lot of his opinion but to have it be so ubiquitous is droning.
Overall, this is a helpful book, probably one of the better ones out there for general around-the-world information. But if you're looking for the nuts and bolts "how to" information, find something else.

Planning an independent trip, this book is quickly becoming our "bible". It is packed full of useful, neccessary information that will save us a lot of grief and headaches once we are on the road. I am very glad to have stumbled across this very valuable resource.

While this book had a few good travel suggestions, I found it annoying that the author kept interjecting his personal opinions about every and all subjects. His accusations and conclusions were never supported with actual facts. He seems to view himself as a concerned citizen of the world with a strong social conscience, but he comes off as didactic and offensive. Very distasteful. There are many better books out there.

I had read some essays by Hasbrouck before and I enjoyed them. So I thought I'd read his book. The information he provides is helpful and fascinating...and fairly well organized considering the details that go into planning a trip. However, he fails to address about a quarter of his target audience, "Women traveling alone made up 24 percent of all our customers." He states this at the beginning of the book, but ignores the needs of that 24%. I even checked the index and table of contents for advice for women travelers, only to find three, brief resources, about which he says, "On the whole, most of these resources are more oriented toward tours..." In the preface, Hasbrouck says he collected all of his information from "experiences of thousands of travelers..." Were they all men? Even if he can't address issue that female travelers might face, at least he could have drawn on those "experiences of thousands of travelers."

If you are planning, or dreaming of planning, an extensive trip - if you yearn to explore other countries and cultures in a way that just does not seem to happen on a one or two week tour, you must have this book. I read it before travelling for 14 weeks through Asia, and it was full of very practical, invaluable advice. Actually, I bought it after hearing Edward speak - without this talk and book, I might never have left the secure confines of American life for such an adventure. Now I am ready to go again. Reading this book could change your life!

As I began planning my RTW travels two years ago I kept hearing the refrain from family and friends, "buy the nomad book!" So, being an open minded sort of gal, I decided to try it on for size. Much to my disappointment this book was less about helpful travel tips and tales and more of Mr. Hasbrouck's long-winded but short-sited opinions. Like a previous reader said, I'd buy this book maybe for the airfare info--which is a bit outdated--and that's all. On second thought, you can get most of the airfare info from the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide books. I bought the nomad book... and was glad I left home without it.

This book really intrigued me. I was hoping it would be just the thing for offbeat solo travelers such as myself. To some extent, it is: it contains much useful information and pithy anecdotes, and it's an enjoyable read. However, I can't help but feel that the research and editing are a bit slipshod -- pages and pages are devoted to relatively simple issues, while other topics that are at least as important get glossed over with a couple of sentences.

I question the quality of the information that's in the book, too. In the section on North American road travel, Hasbrouck states that the American Automobile Association's TourBooks are generally poor, while their CampBooks are generally excellent. In my own experience (including a 7-week, 12 000-mile trip from New York to Alaska), the reverse is so. Hasbrouck further claims that AAA's CampBooks are the only series of camping directories that cover all of the United States, when in fact there are several others (notably Woodall's). On my trip to Alaska, I had both AAA's and Woodall's directories with me, and Woodall's was more comprehensive almost everywhere.

I could cite other examples, but you get the idea. I really wanted to like this book, but it needs some more work before it lives up to its potential. Hasbrouck seems to know a lot about travel; if his research and editing skills were on a par with his knowledge, this would be a five-star book.

A final thought: judging from the anecdotes in the book, Hasbrouck has been all over the globe. Yet he himself says, "People who seem to have been everywhere generally haven't been anywhere long." Makes one wonder.

I wanted to get all pumped up about my trip around the world, and this one put me to sleep. Sorry Edward, but you are far from a "travel guru" as you are so apt to call yourself. Your book is weak -- too full of your opinions and repetitive information -- I wouldn't recommend this one, folks. Try "World Stompers" instead.

We not only used the book as a guide for our 15 month trip to four continents, we also booked many of our tickets through Hasbrouck. Of course, the book had great value without the author's direct involvement. It isn't the type of book that you need to bring on an extended trip--it is more like the Bible for the 3 months that you spend preparing for that trip. It helps focus your thoughts on what kind of trip you'd like and how to go about achieving it. It is probably most useful for those who feel that experiencing other cultures, as opposed to serial sightseeing, is the most important element of an extended journey. Also, Hasbrouck' extensive experience as a travel agent shines through the extraordinarily useful section on how airfares work and how to find the best one (not necessarily the lowest one) for your needs. Highly recommended.

This book really helped me get through the most difficult aspect of planning a WW trip - air travel! It is also very helpful in laying out other important elements in the planning of such a trip. I would highly recommend this book to anybody partaking this endeavor. Plus, the author is available to personally assist you through his website - something I found to be icing on the cake!

Edited Nov. 3, 2001. Having returned from an 8-month long RTW trip, I can now say that I could have had as much success without using the 1st Edition of this book. I found the material dated, often times inaccurate (particularly about attaining visas) and too often based on opinion as opposed to fact. From my own experience, I found it much easier to buy air tickets on the road. It provided me with better pricing and much more flexibility. Please note, this was in SE Asia, you mileage may vary.

The sad thing is (...)he demonstrated little interest towards gaining the latest FACTS about the very issues detailed in this book. It is puzzling as to why he would not encourage his readers to augment the book through some type of interactive dialogue of fresh info. that easily could be maintained on the web or otherwise. If for nothing else, than to provide a "notebook" for future editions. That, and the fact that it has been a LONG time since the author has actually travelled extensively, left me questioning his credibility (and the credibility of the 2nd edition). Sorry, Edward - this is my experience. It's time to get back on the road, the world has changed!