Travel literature makes the perfect gift for friends and loved ones
Santa Claus doesn’t wear those hidden mini socks in his boots. His costume is the same as always, and even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) hasn’t yet come out against his fur-trimmed red suit. What’s in his sack should be just as old-fashioned, so here are some delightful books you should consider giving as gifts in the coming months.
The first, National Geographic’s “Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World’s Greatest Trips,” just shouts to the world: “Someone really loves me!”
How could the gift-giver not? He or she will have to wrestle this massive five-pound tome into wrapping paper, and then lug it to the tree.
It is the type of good, oldtimey coffee table book that makes you wish for a rainy day, so that you have an excuse to curl up on the couch with it and dream.
The book is divided into sections to better highlight all of the travel adventures that are out there.
First up is travel by mode of transportation (“Across Water,” “By Road,” “By Rail,” “On Foot”), followed by different impetuses for hitting the road (“In Search of Culture,” “In Gourmet Heaven,” “Into the Action”), with the final chapters devoted to destinations that are best seen from above, and itineraries that follow in the footsteps of a notable person. It works better than it sounds like it would, the pithy prose giving the reader just enough info to start planning a trip.
And since this is a National Geographic book, the photos are spectacular, transporting the reader to the Seychelles Islands, or the Orient Express, or to the beer-making facilities of Belgium’s Trappist monasteries.
If you have an avid traveller on your list, pair Nat Geo’s book with a new hardback from journalist Seth Kugel (formerly the New York Times’ “Frugal Traveler”) called “Rediscovering Travel: A Guide for the Globally Curious.”
It is, in many ways, the antithesis of the first book — a witty, philosophical look at the problems with how most of us travel today. Kugel’s biggest beef is with technology, which he thinks is leaching the mystery from travel.
“Not only is every place in the world documented to within an inch of its life, but that documentation — which comes dressed as both fact and opinion — is overwhelmingly and immediately available, thanks to pervasive technology,” writes Kugel.
But the book is not a downer. Instead, Kugel offers savvy advice on how to escape the overly Instagrammed travel experience, and get back to a more authentic form of wandering (with much discussion of what “authentic” actually means).
To keep it lively, Kugel weaves through the text his own, often oddball, travel experiences.
A final, yes, self-serving suggestion: Give a travel guide to your sweetie.
There’s no more charming way to announce to someone you love that you’re going to take him or her on the adventure of a lifetime. (And it’s also the easiest, smartest way to plan for that adventure).