Maybe you noticed that we did not upload new blog posts for a little while. After our trip to Namibia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and other exciting new (for us) places, we are spending the early summer months at home before heading off on new adventures.
We have been reading many books and adding some to our BOOKS page. So do check out the list of countries and associated books regularly!
But we specifically wanted to highlight some of our summer reading that we loved and that pertains to travel. We’ve probably all heard of Rick Steves. Many of you might follow his TV shows on PBS or his own website and Facebook pages with travel news. Or carry his travel guides with you as you travel. I recently read two of his books that we particularly love:
• On The Hippie Trail is an enjoyable read which describes one of his first travel adventures, in the 1970's, via Istanbul to Kathmandu. Rick was 23 years old when he set out, with a friend, to travel from America through Europe and the Middle East to Asia. It's fun to read about the early travels of this adventurer who was to become a well known world traveler - from experimenting with pot to making friends in many different cultures.
I love this quote, when Rick expressed his frustrations with the unreliable train schedules in India as compared to those of Europe: "I treat time like money, I even talk about it like money: I spend it, save it, waste it, and invest it. But in India, time is like bubble gum... it's a mix of worthless and forever. You just fiddle with it. "
Besides learning about his specific travels, it's a good book to learn about ethics and how to handle new situations.
The same is also true for his earlier book, Travel as a Political Act. This is not one of Rick Steves' many travel guides. It does not mention best hostels or affordable hotels. Rather, this is a philosophy of how to travel respectfully and in such a manner that you become a better world citizen. The book is largely aimed at encouraging Americans to expand their horizons and broadening their perspectives by traveling and seeing how their nation fits in to today's world.
For this purpose, he selected seven destinations around the world and explains that country's geography, culture, economy and political system, comparing it to the USA and showing its connections to that country. Also for non-Americans, this book can be quite an eye-opener to the interconnectiveness of economies and politics in different countries and how travel effects us all.
I really enjoyed how he explains differences and similarities between Christians and Muslims, hoping to dispel unfound fears about religions that people might not be familiar with. Rick encourages everyone to travel in order to become familiar with the unknown and thus feel at ease in many different situations and places around the world. Our next blog posts will come from Italy, Spain and Egypt so stay tuned!
Happy summer reading!
On the Hippie Trail, ISBN 978-1-64171-643-7, Avalon Travel, Hachette Book Group
Travel as a Political Act, ISBN 978-1568584355, Nation Books
Rick Steves: https://www.ricksteves.com/