No Fixed Address: Six Continents, Sixteen Years, Sixty-Six Nations

by Jon Evans

The real-life adventures of award-winning thriller writer Jon Evans as he travels through sixty-six countries in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Australasia and Asia over a period of sixteen years.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful travelogue of the author's adventures roaming six continents over 16 years. I thought it was well-written, consistently conveys details of locales in such a way that the reader is surprised, sharing the author's happening upon interesting or wonderful new places.

Here's a quote from Mr. Evans I noted that I liked: "Never be shackled to plans you made before you understood what your destination was..."

Evans traveled to different countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Zimbabwe, the Mid-East (Egypt, Dubai, Iraq) Europe (Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia) the Americas (Burning Man/Black Rock City, Nevada, Belize, Peru, Bolivia, Haiti, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Iceland; Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand; Asia (India, Thailand, Goa/India, Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Burma/Myanmar, Philippines).

This book is quite an entertaining read - he also visited some of these locales multiple times over the course of the 16 years, so was in a position to see how development/globalization raised the standard of living in some places. He is wistful even about the rapid disappearance of "otherness" - how so many previously "alien/remote" parts of the world are being drawn into the web of the "modern" world by means of improved transportation, the Internet, smart phones.

Evans is really fearless about trekking, climbing, mountain biking, scuba diving and so forth in these countries - I love the way he explores the countries he visits, the book lets the reader come along for the ride, as it were, which is great. The reader gets the benefit of the author's judgments/impressions of different locales, many of which the average traveler probably would not venture to. It really is a superb glimpse into so many different countries, including transportation links, which are interesting/enlightening in & of themselves.

I'll look for more books by Evans - I had several years ago read his excellent "Beasts of NY" which I liked very much.

[Beth Winegarner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not many people are lucky enough to spend a significant chunk of their adult lives traveling to remote regions of the world, and fewer have the skill to put those experiences and observations into words. Evans gives readers a peek at places that are a bit off the beaten track, including stops in Africa, Mongolia, Iraq and Papua New Guinea, weaving together history and his commentary on how many of the world's less-developed places are quickly entering the 21st century. Well worth the read.

[Clare Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of travel snippets