Park Life: Around the World in 50 Parks

by Tom Chesshyre

If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s that people love parks

As horizons shrank, we took stock. At first, a sense of panic set in: nowhere to go, nothing to do…

Then we all went to the park, and we realized something: we need greenery – we crave it.

Whether we’re in Colombia or Korea, America or Australia, urban parks are places where we can find calm amid the chaos. They can also (more often than we may realize) conceal intriguing hidden histories, and can tell us something about modern life in our frenzied world, too.

With fondness and humour, travel writer Tom Chesshyre recalls 50 of his favourite urban parks from across the world, in a love letter to the green escapes that bring us joy in our cities.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

320 pages, Hardcover

Published September 9, 2021

About the author

Tom Chesshyre has been writing travel stories for UK national newspapers for over15 years. After reading politics at Bristol University and completing a journalism diploma from City University, he had stints at the Cambridge Evening News, Sporting Life and Sky Sports. During this period he won the Independent's young sports writer of the year competition and was runner-up in the Financial Times young business writer awards. His first travel piece was about England's cricket fans in Barbados for the Daily Telegraph. He freelanced for the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, wrote a column for Conde Nast Traveller, and contributed to the Express, the Guardian, and the Independent, before working on the travel desk of the Times. He has assisted with the research on two books - W. G. by Robert Low, a biography of W. G. Grace, and Carlos: Portrait of a Terrorist by Colin Smith, a biography of "Carlos the Jackal". He has written magazine pieces for Wanderlust, Geographical and Business Traveller - and contributes book reviews to the TLS. His travel writing has taken him to more than 75 countries. He lives in south-west London and was born in 1971.

His first book, How Low Can You Go: Round Europe for 1p Each Way (Plus Tax) was published by Hodder in 2007. To Hull and Back: On Holiday in Unsung Britain was published by Summersdale in July 2010, followed by Tales from the Fast Trains: Europe at 186 mph is published in July 2011.

Reviews

[Sheila Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once I’d started this book I decided to simply dip in and read about the parks I’d already visited myself, those in San Francisco, Vancouver, Santiago, Sydney, etc. Disappointingly, I didn’t find them believable compared to my own experiences. I wanted more!