Travel Unscripted

by Mark Murphy

WARNING: Are you easily offended by the “F” word? Do you find it hard to read a collection of stories written by someone who might have some off color humor, tells it like it is, and genuinely wants you to feel like you are there with him rather than experiences that are sugarcoated? Then Travel Unscripted is not for you. If you’re looking for a guide book, a book of travel tips, or a reference guide to take with you when you travel, this isn’t it. What is guaranteed is a real look at what happens with local cultures in various countries when the cameras stop rolling. It’s travel. It’s unscripted. And you have been warned.

This highly entertaining multimedia travelogue, complete with exclusive, unpublished video outtakes,focuses Mark Murphy's witty and perceptive lens on the culture of traveling,chronicling the dicey, humorous,sometimes bizarre and always entertaining experiences he encounters in far-flung locales around the world.

"If Anthony Bourdain wrote a travel book, this would be it. Mark Murphy brings a conversational voice, an impertinent 'tude', and a wry eye to life on the road. Read it twice!" - Rudy Maxa, travel journalist and host of the public television series Rudy Maxa's World

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Memoir, Humor, Biography Memoir, Essays, Ebooks

322 pages, Hardcover

First published January 9, 2012

About the author

Mark Murphy is a modern-day Renaissance man with a thriving drive for all things travel. From being a trusted travel expert to a best-selling author and skilled business leadership speaker, Murphy is recognized by his peers as an innovator at the forefront of digital entrepreneurship, online publishing, social media, advertising, and brand marketing.

As a travel industry veteran, Mark has a vast, up-to-the-minute understanding of the trade as a whole and its rapidly changing media landscape. He is the founder and CEO of travAlliancemedia, a cutting-edge travel trade media group that provides both agents and their customers unparalleled customer-driven solutions. travAlliancemedia is also the publisher of two top industry publications, Agent@Home and Vacation Agent magazines as well as TravelPulse.com, the most visited travel trade website in the world.

When he's not in front of the camera reporting on breaking travel news or delivering a keynote to like-minded entrepreneurs, Mark feeds his own wanderlust appetite - sometimes literally! Balut, anyone? He has hiked, sailed, climbed, kayaked, Segued and rickshawed his way through more than 70 countries around the world, and brings his extraordinary first-hand experiences to the travel veteran and amateur alike.

Mark provides professional commentary for both consumer and business travelers and is a frequent expert guest on major networks and news stations such as The Today Show, CNN, FOX Business, FOX News, and ABC, CBS, and The Travel Channel.

Reviews

[Carol Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disclosure: Won on GoodReads.

I don't have cable TV and have never heard of Mark Murphy before. I signed up to win his book solely because a) I love travel, and b) the title is a surefire hook. The best travel is unscripted travel. The best moments in travel are generally those that are either unplanned or those that throw up obstacles to one's plans. I thought, "This book is totally gonna be up my alley!"

Given the stated premise of both the author's business and the book itself, I was expecting unscripted travel on steroids. After all, the book purports to be those crazy unscripted things that occur while already filming unscripted travel adventures.

Don't know about you, but my idea of unscripted travel doesn't include Sandals Resorts, cruise ships, and tour guides. This is definitely not my idea of unscripted travel:

On one recent trip to Spain, one that was scheduled months in advance, we received our final itinerary only the day before we left. Such last-minuteness boggles the mind, but again, this is pretty typical of what happens as we try to plan our adventures. I've been known to show up at the airport where I'm met by a representative waving a stained, printed document outlining a two-week trip. Believe it or not, up to that point we often are still unsure of many of the stops, special opportunities or even the hotels where we will be staying (p. 58).

Nothing deep here, folks. Just random man-child chatter about high-tech toilets, cussing bosses, bouts of diarrhea, and unhygienic airline seatmates.

Oh - most of the videos that accompany this "interactive e-book" aren't unscripted outtakes. The majority are polished output from his production company, complete with elevator music.

I really hate to wax so negative about a book I won for free. I even had to hassle the publisher for it because they never sent the book to me and several other winners. I just don't think the author and I share the same travel philosophy. Or the same notion of what makes a book worth reading.

[Barry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring, poorly written. Shouldn't be a book... it was barely a blog.

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway, and that fact has no effect on my review.

I just honestly really did not enjoy this book. I won it in a giveaway and feel so badly to write a review that's this bad, but I want to be completely honest. The book was not the least bit interesting or funny to me, and I normally like travel topics and funny tales from authors' personal experiences. I'm really disappointed. It was just really boring and it started off that way and I kept hanging in there waiting for it to get better, but none of the stories engaged me. I don't know what else to say or how to elaborate, it just wasn't funny or interesting and that's it. I felt it was poorly written and seemed unprofessionally arranged. The jokes fell flat and the people the author talks about are not entertaining....the Zsa Zsa the Bore Granny aka GILF? What was the point? Or going on for so long about a man passed out in the hallway in Vegas, with the author checking his ID in his wallet and looking him up on Facebook. So many pointless stories that are not that crazy hilarious or insane, exotic or interesting or wayyyyy off script.

I'm quite apologetic that I disliked this book so much, I was truly grateful to have a chance at winning a giveaway. I wanted to like it, I really did. I can't even make myself give it two stars because it's one of the most boring books I've ever read about someone's travels.

[Susan Visser · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book wasn't anything like I expected. I love to travel and everywhere I go I meet awesome people and add to my collection of stories. I fully expected this book to be somewhat the same as my experiences, but what I found was very disappointing:

Repetitive, judgmental, and whiny author: 3 or more stories about eating disgusting foods, one really disgusting story about the authors germ-phopia, easily 4 stories about bathrooms and what he left behind, 3 stories about people telling him what to do and why he refuses to allow that to happen, but 10 times the author says he loves what he's doing and feels lucky to get to travel so often.

I found it very insulting when the author said that everyone should know who Anderson Cooper is. I've never heard of him despite the apparent 99.9% international recognition score. Maybe he means American score? I don't watch much TV and never American news shows, yet I don't live in a cave somewhere.

I also found it insulting the number of times he viciously slammed another person. His guide in Russia likely got the most amount of slams, but it seemed to me that he was pretty disgusted with most people he met.

The one good thing about the book? He made me want to write my stories... which will be much more positive and a lot less lame!

[Rob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kindle material for a camp fire.

This book had so little about actual travel experiences that a hotel lobby brochure would be a better choice for reading material. There was a very long self-congratulating story about how the company got started mined with "hilarious anecdotes about the employees" which really were more like juvenile put-downs; I pity the people who work for this guy!
The stories about Vegas and the trip cruise with the "GILF" (he really did use that term) felt to me like they were written by an embittered frat boy rather than a successful business man.

The good thing is that I got this book as a free Kindle book.

Next destination: Delete from Library!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining look at the travel business. Only thing I got tired of was when he kept talking about how old someone was, or how large a person was. Otherwise I enjoyed this book and would read more by the author.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

i WON THIS AS A GOOD READS FIRST READS BOOK. this book is from Mark Murphy and his travels around the world for the last 20years. I get that since this is unscripted, we get to see him film places around the world as he comes across people he finds interesting. instead of rehearsed. he tries to use humor in this book that can be funny at times but more often NOT funny. some of Mark Murphy's writing I found annoying and even mean spirited { for example he goes in to detail about how ugly and unattractive he found some women}do we really need to know how ugly he finds some people? I also did not care how many times he got drunk. I got the book version and he has it arranged to see videos online. some of the videos could be good and informative.
there were some good parts learning about other countries. I wish he had some more nicer things to say. this is a 2.5 for me.

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not ever seeing any of Mark Murphy's Travel Unscripted shows, I had no idea what to expect. But these are the stories of his travels all over the world to unusual places with no script or plan in mind ("Don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness"). Everywhere Mark and his crew go, they try to do it off the cuff to get the unpredictable. It is written with some gory details about food he has tried, back roads and dark alleys he ventured on, with lots of humor thrown in. ("I expected our second stop to be a temple [in Taiwan], maybe an obligatory tour of Taipei or a historical monument. ... I assumed our tour guide would want to show us some ancient relics. She did. We went to a nursing home.")

This book is written in short chapters and is an easy read. I won this in the giveaway from Goodreads (Thank you!) and give it 3.5 stars.

[Santa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. I enjoyed reading about Mark's travel experiences from places around the globe. I felt like I was living vicariously through him. I've traveled some (US, Canada, Italy, many cruises) so could appreciate the cultural differences and food stories. Some of the things that he wrote about were so funny - you can't make up some of that stuff! I think it would be interesting if he wrote a book focusing on places right here in the USA. If he did write one on all places USA, I apologize for not doing my homework :-). I think we take a lot for granted living in this beautiful country and, personally, would like to see more of it. Overall great book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mark Murphy's tone and humor definitely reminded me of Anthony Bourdain, as many other reviewers have mentioned. It was pretty funny early on, but towards the end he started losing me. Some chapters seemed like rants about his own personal annoyances on the job, and those really made me lose interest and lost some ratings points from me. The interactive e-book was fun, since videos of the exact situations Mark talked about were able to be watched on my Kindle Fire without interrupting my reading experience. Fun read, but definitely glad I got it as a free rental through Amazon Prime; I would have been pretty disappointed if I'd paid for it.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this as part of a Goodreads FirstReads giveaway.
This book is chapters and chapters of the travela of Mark Murphy. I thought most of the anecdotes were pretty funny. Several of the foodstuffs described turned my stomach. And I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a little joy that some of his antics caused gastronomic discomfort (it's the green eyes jealousy monster that causes it). My biggest complaint is that the chapters almost seem more blog entry than book. They isn't a lot of connection or continuity to them. That aside, a quick enjoyable read.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the thought of traveling around the world and visiting so many of the countries reviewed by the author in this book. However, I learned a lot about what foods to avoid (the eel), which cities and areas of the cities to avoid (Bangkok). I love the idea behind Travel Unscripted - interviews and experiences with the locals, mostly off the beaten path. This Goodreads giveaway is a book I'll definitely hold on to and refer to when making future travel plans.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclosure: I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Thanks to the publishers for the opportunity to read this book for an unbiased review.

Reads a bit like Dave Barry. Recommended for anyone who likes to read about travel.

Double recommended for anyone that likes to read about television production under unpredictable circumstances.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mark Murphy travels for his video blog, and he does it all without a script. This book includes many of his behind-the-story stories, and it is very funny. The digital book includes links to his short videos that he talks about in this book. When I get a hankering to travel and I don't have time, I like to read about other people's adventures, and this was fun.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on a goodreads giveaway. I found this book both very entertaining and informative. I watched the videos on-line after each chapter and I felt like I was right there with Mark and his crew.

[Lourdes · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me travelling to exotic places (even if it's just a few hours from where you live) always has adventures worth sharing with friends. This book maybe a little too honest, but I still like the idea of an "unscripted" travel book. A keeper.

[David Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the Goodreads first-read giveaway. I thought this was a really good travel book. It reads just like a collection of short stories, which I love. Some of the stories are really funny. Has some pictures and is quick to read.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting stories of experiences filming the videos for Travel Unscripted. I hadn't heard of the show prior to reading the book. I will have to look it up.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed Mr. Murphy's light-hearted taled about his travels associated with filming a travel show in a non-traditional manner. Good read!

[Vitaliy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting book which is both fun and entertaining. Every travelers must read :)

[Renaissance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, it was an entertaining, "lightweight" read, but not a book I'd recommend. Mainly 'Travel Unscripted" consisted of a number of short stories explaining the adventures (and misadventures) and observations of the narrator (a video travel host) who guides us through various locales and their foods, customs and cultural surprises. The writing is simplistic and many of the topics are predictable. Video links in the Kindle version don't work, but this no great loss. The premise is that this travel experience is "unscripted"--mainly one just shows up (with minimal pre-planning) and sees what happens--a good concept and a fun way to travel for those who dare. But I was disappointed in the writing and the book needs editing and polishing.

There are some humorous episodes and some "gross-out" experiences, but there are much better travel and adventure books out there.

[Anastasia Jaeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining

This book went quickly but I enjoyed it. It's very interactive . I've travelled to 4 countries and so the book was inspiring as well to push me to continue travelling. I would have liked to see more stories about Europe travels as well - a lot of the sections seemed to take place in Asia.

[Yuliya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm putting this on my DNF shelf; the stories are dull and not interesting and the humour is off-putting.

[Conrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light reading - a few amusing anecdotes about travel - not much of substance here.

[Marguerite Czajka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Given my love of traveling (24 countries and counting) and the way I like to travel (on my own), I thought I'd enjoy this book. I barely got through half. The author seems to be the type of traveler that give Americans a bad name. He takes a picture of a man passed out in a hotel hallway and posts it on the internet and publishes it in his book, along with trying to track the guy on Facebook. Not that I approve of drinking so much you can't reach your hotel room, but taking the picture is juvenile. He's critical of people older than him, makes fun of a family he meets on a boat cruise, makes fun of men making their living guiding tourists on donkeys, rants on about tour guides. Despite his constant claim to unscripted travel (on a cruise? really? that's pretty much as scripted as you can get!) and being a world traveler (with little tolerance for local custom and culture), I don't see him as either. Here's an example of an unscripted moment he presents: He and his photographer (whom he also criticizes constantly) go to catch the last tram off a hillside to get to their cruise ship and find a long line - too many to fit. So they run down the hillside. Of course he does it well, where his photographer loses his shoes (not being the marvelous specimen of manhood that the author is.) This is what he calls "just another day in an unscripted life". Wow! Such an adventure!

[pinK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads First Read. When I first won this book, I wondered why I even signed up for the giveaway. I think I was overzealous and not paying close attention, because this is definitely not my style of book. Since I had already won, and it was staring me in the face, I decided that I should read it anyhow.

I dug into the book expecting a long boring description of how the website started. I was pleasantly surprised, although there is a lot of information about the website (and if I highlighted the word "Unscriped" throughout this book, my marker would dry up), but there's a lot of really cute stories as well.

The book did seem disjointed. It didn't really mesh to me from chapter to chapter, but each chapter seemed to have at least one interesting story.

I think my favourite part was about the talking sheep. That was a very cute story, and it shows that even though he was on the road so much, he was very attached to his family, and would do anything for his kids.

This book definitely proves the point to not judge a book by it's cover. I feel that if I were the target audience for this book, I would have been able to rate it higher, but since it really was my first book of this type, I don't have much to judge it against.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book a series of unrelated travel anecdotes that would be best told over the fourth or fifth beer at a bar. Even then, only one or two at a time would be bearable. The stories are short, poorly written, and are in no way unique. The vast majority of these stories are variations of "kinda funny things that happened while I was traveling". Anyone who has done any traveling of their own has plenty of the same experiences, and they can probably spin a better story out of them.

It's also obvious that the author wrote each "chapter" separately and didn't play much of a role in putting them together -- each chapter spends a couple lines explaining who his video producer is, along with telling the same joke about how he smokes (but doesn't admit to it...).

I strongly urge you not to pay money for this book. If you get it for free, make sure you a bring a backup when you travel so this isn't the only book you're stuck with.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A humorous book about the perils of world travel.

Written in a light-hearted, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, style, Murphy recounts his travels around the world with his filming crew, and what goes on behind the scenes. This is not a book about travel destinations, or about world history. It is about strange foods, translation issues, drinking in foreign countries, being sick in foreign countries, and using the loo in various countries. It is organized in short chapters, so it would make an excellent book to be read in short spurts. (i.e. a bathroom reader!)

Disclosure: I was randomly selected from among numerous GoodReads readers to receive an advance copy of this book; I have read it and this is my honest evaluation. I have no connection with this author or publisher and have received nothing from anyone in consideration for publishing this review.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting idea -- an ebook with embedded videos (though if your e-reader doesn't support this feature, you will have to visit the companion web site to watch the videos). If only the content was equally interesting. Despite the constant emphasis on the "unscripted" nature of this travel reporting, it felt anything but. In fact, the frequent mentions of a specific cruise line made it seem downright commercial. The book is merely a supplement to the videos, providing more of a behind-the-scenes look at the difficulties Murphy and crew encountered in obtaining their footage. Not too much about the actual places visited or what Murphy thought about what he saw. The videos are nice, with occasional stunning views, but Murphy seems oddly awkward and amateur on-camera and overall, I was bored more than I was entertained.

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actually, ZERO Stars. This was one of the worse books that I have ever read. A bunch of poorly written blog entries from a middle-aged guy who longs to be a Frat Boy the rest of his life. Here are some of Mr. Murphy's travel secrets:#1) Fly 1st Class, then try not to get cooties from others on the plane. #2)Stay at 5 Star Resorts when traveling. #3)Demean and belittle older woman who are hired to show you around cultural centers. #4)To really get a feeling of the culture of a location, make sure & hit all the girlie bars & Red Light Districts while drinking a lot of booze. This is not Travel Unscripted. This is a man who acts like an Ugly American misogynist freak around the world, and gets paid to do exactly that. Murphy is such an Anthony Bourdain wanna be that it is painful to read. Save yourself & skip this read.