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Bad Trips
The entries in this collection take us to the farthest extremes of travel with tales of danger, disorientation and bemused discomfort; combines reportage, fiction and poetry representing some of the best-known writers of our time.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 11, 2023
Two and a half stars. The title grabbed me but the stories didn’t. Ended up skimming and jumping around.
April 30, 2025
2.5 Surprisingly dull given the selection of authors. The blurb on the back says “imagine the worst trip possible”. Unless your imagination is sadly lacking, it will be worse than most of the trips in this book.
June 1, 2015
As with any anthology, this collection of travel stories includes a range of quality. Some of these stories are quite good, transporting the reader to a specific place and time, immersing us in the writer’s experiences. Others are a bit more pedestrian, providing some interesting glimpses at other places, but failing to truly allow the reader go along for the ride. This is range is also probably somewhat subjective, as different readers may well connect with different stories and writing styles. Overall, though, this book is effective as showing the myriad difficulties and troubles that can arise to result in a ‘bad trip’.
Anyone who has done any significant traveling probably has their share of stories of trips gone wrong. As we face these travel trials, we find little comfort in the commonality of such experiences, or the fact that they will likely create the best stories about our trips. At the time, they are simply too aggravating, miserable, or plain painful for us to appreciate in these ways. However, as the stories in this book show, such experiences are often both memorable and interesting, which makes them great material for excellent travel writing. We all can empathize with these authors and their struggles, while being thankful that we only have to experience them vicariously. As with all good travel writing, the best of these stories help us to experience the world in places and ways that we are not likely to ever experience personally.
After reading these stories, it will be interesting to see how I react the next time I find myself facing some problem or unexpected trouble on a trip. These stories should help me keep my difficulties in perspective and recognize that these experiences are part of the nature of travel.
Anyone who has done any significant traveling probably has their share of stories of trips gone wrong. As we face these travel trials, we find little comfort in the commonality of such experiences, or the fact that they will likely create the best stories about our trips. At the time, they are simply too aggravating, miserable, or plain painful for us to appreciate in these ways. However, as the stories in this book show, such experiences are often both memorable and interesting, which makes them great material for excellent travel writing. We all can empathize with these authors and their struggles, while being thankful that we only have to experience them vicariously. As with all good travel writing, the best of these stories help us to experience the world in places and ways that we are not likely to ever experience personally.
After reading these stories, it will be interesting to see how I react the next time I find myself facing some problem or unexpected trouble on a trip. These stories should help me keep my difficulties in perspective and recognize that these experiences are part of the nature of travel.
May 19, 2013
Bad Trips is a thick compilation of travel memoirs, a few novel excerpts and a couple of poems, all with the theme of travel and exploration that didn't go so well. A few are humorous- David Mamet's piece about his wife forcing him to relax on a brief family vacation and Indian author Anita Desai's essay on being sent to a small Norwegian island as part of a UN exchange program of women writers. Many of the pieces are harrowing. Martin Amis describes his plane making a sudden emergency landing after a bomb threat. George Woodcock writes about the depression of spending the day in a small Welsh village after the local industry had been shut down, leaving the inhabitants almost entirely unemployed and scrounging for food and heat. Mary Morris watches a young man fall to his death at a Mexican waterfall. There's a section devoted to war memoirs that covers Vietnam, several Middle East locations, and a piece by actor Dirk Bogarde about the horrors he saw in WWII.
So, maybe not something you'd want to read as you pack for your own trip, but a good read at other times, and the choice of authors is very good: Updike, Graham Greene, J.M. Coetzee, Eric Hansen, Russell Banks, Paul Theroux, Umberto Eco.
So, maybe not something you'd want to read as you pack for your own trip, but a good read at other times, and the choice of authors is very good: Updike, Graham Greene, J.M. Coetzee, Eric Hansen, Russell Banks, Paul Theroux, Umberto Eco.
September 2, 2024
Lukeward porridge. Rather stale too.
April 24, 2015
A terrific pick-it-up, put-it-down book that compiles excerpts from some of the best travel writers in the last half century. The variety is wonderful, and gives you lots of great ideas for further reading. If you've ever hit the valley of despair in your travels, you will identify with the experiences of these writers, although hopefully, you're own terrible moments were far less dramatic.
June 20, 2017
As with many books of essays and excerpts, it is better to read this one or two segments at a time. Also, some pieces are much better than others, but why shouldn't Sturgeon's law apply?
I highly recommend it for people who complain about their first world problems, although a few of these pieces are about first world problems.
I highly recommend it for people who complain about their first world problems, although a few of these pieces are about first world problems.
August 5, 2015
not bad but a bit repetitive after awhile. A good book to read while you are on a long trip and want to appreciate how lucky you are not to be in a place with scorpions and dysentery (unless, of course, you ARE in such a place).
June 2, 2010
Quite funny actually
February 11, 2018
A collection of travel writing, mainly excerpts from longer works, although a few are short essays, describing those trips that–well, did not seem quite so fun at the time, but make for great reading. I read this book as a primer and introduction to the writers therein, some of whom I plan to seek out later, including:
• Stuart Stevens–Reads like Mark Salzman, probably in part due to the fact that he traveled with Salzman.
• P. K. Page–Her bit on Australia was great–exactly the problems with another culture that I’m looking for.
• Norman Lewis–His Golden Earth is considered a classic of travel writing and this excerpt was enough to show some of the reasons why.
• Colin Thubron–He traveled in the USSR before the break-up. There will probably be a spate of books about the USSR now that it’s easier to travel there, so this should be a fine slice of something not to be seen again, like Tibet before the Chinese takeover.
• Paul Theroux–People had already recommended Theroux to me, and this except was a confirmation.
• Mary Morris–A woman traveling alone has increased risk, and implicit bravery. This particular woman is a good writer, as well.
• Charles Nicholl–More like a one-man “60 Minutes” team–the excerpt from his investigation on the cocaine underworld of Columbia just whetted my appetite for more.
• Jonathan Raban–Sometimes our own country is the most foreign of places. Raban’s trip down the Mississippi looks good.
• Gavin Young–War reportage, neither sentimental nor brusque, just frighteningly real.
• Graham Greene–I’ve never read any Greene until this, and given this, and his reputation, I plan to correct that.
• Eric Hansen–More Borneo, this time on foot rather than O’Hanlon’s river journey. Borneo’s a strange place.
• Michael Asher–This is Arabia–another bit of difficult terrain.
• Stuart Stevens–Reads like Mark Salzman, probably in part due to the fact that he traveled with Salzman.
• P. K. Page–Her bit on Australia was great–exactly the problems with another culture that I’m looking for.
• Norman Lewis–His Golden Earth is considered a classic of travel writing and this excerpt was enough to show some of the reasons why.
• Colin Thubron–He traveled in the USSR before the break-up. There will probably be a spate of books about the USSR now that it’s easier to travel there, so this should be a fine slice of something not to be seen again, like Tibet before the Chinese takeover.
• Paul Theroux–People had already recommended Theroux to me, and this except was a confirmation.
• Mary Morris–A woman traveling alone has increased risk, and implicit bravery. This particular woman is a good writer, as well.
• Charles Nicholl–More like a one-man “60 Minutes” team–the excerpt from his investigation on the cocaine underworld of Columbia just whetted my appetite for more.
• Jonathan Raban–Sometimes our own country is the most foreign of places. Raban’s trip down the Mississippi looks good.
• Gavin Young–War reportage, neither sentimental nor brusque, just frighteningly real.
• Graham Greene–I’ve never read any Greene until this, and given this, and his reputation, I plan to correct that.
• Eric Hansen–More Borneo, this time on foot rather than O’Hanlon’s river journey. Borneo’s a strange place.
• Michael Asher–This is Arabia–another bit of difficult terrain.
October 25, 2025
Like almost any collection of stories, this is a mixed bag in which I really liked some that fit the theme of the book well and others that I questioned why they were included. I assumed all of the stories would be true personal accounts of a bad trip the author had taken, but there a few fictional stories taken from novels such as J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians. These stories weren't bad, but I wasn't expecting them. There were also three or four longish poems about travel.
Most were stories of actual trips the author had taken, and some are quite harrowing. These are well-seasoned travelers who have published travel books. Many of the stories are from one of the respective author's books. A few of the stories were harder to relate to than others because taken out of context from the rest of the book, the relationship with traveling companions wasn't as clear as the story needed. For instance, in one story near the end, the author and another man were climbing a mountain in freezing icy weather. Each man was in bad shape and it was clear that their relationship was a bit strained but we weren't told why. I would have liked to know that background to better understand because these men got into a dangerous situation where their lives literally depended on each to survive.
Overall I enjoyed reading of these perilous and sometimes humorous stories, but I felt the fiction and poems were out of place in this collection. Lots of famous names here and jumping around to sample those and any others that sound interesting and skipping the ones that don't grab you quickly is my recommendation.
Most were stories of actual trips the author had taken, and some are quite harrowing. These are well-seasoned travelers who have published travel books. Many of the stories are from one of the respective author's books. A few of the stories were harder to relate to than others because taken out of context from the rest of the book, the relationship with traveling companions wasn't as clear as the story needed. For instance, in one story near the end, the author and another man were climbing a mountain in freezing icy weather. Each man was in bad shape and it was clear that their relationship was a bit strained but we weren't told why. I would have liked to know that background to better understand because these men got into a dangerous situation where their lives literally depended on each to survive.
Overall I enjoyed reading of these perilous and sometimes humorous stories, but I felt the fiction and poems were out of place in this collection. Lots of famous names here and jumping around to sample those and any others that sound interesting and skipping the ones that don't grab you quickly is my recommendation.
January 19, 2018
A great, great fucking travel anthology. This book was perfect to bring with me to Sicily. Whenever I thought I had it bad, I read pieces about ducking under tunnels or risking your losing your head, or a poisonous shellfish being placed near the toothpaste. Incredible stuff that progressively got worse. Avoiding cocaine kings on a meatpacking tour? Being betrayed by your hobo friend in the dark of night? Reading a pocket bible out of boredom in an Afghani cave while towns are bombed around you? Holy fucking shit! This antho outlined the craziest adventure and travel journalists, the historical events they helped record and document (SO many wild WWII moments), and just what goes it to getting a story. Just like Telling True Stories, like showed me how badass and smart writers can be in a nonfiction setting.
This collection had some iffy pieces, which I skipped or napped through, and the heavy use of book excerpts in some sections meant I wasn't getting the bigger picture from some probably great stories, so that means this is gonna be a 8/10 from me dawg, but still, wow. Travel writing love renewed after a not great Best American antho!
This collection had some iffy pieces, which I skipped or napped through, and the heavy use of book excerpts in some sections meant I wasn't getting the bigger picture from some probably great stories, so that means this is gonna be a 8/10 from me dawg, but still, wow. Travel writing love renewed after a not great Best American antho!
July 14, 2023
Like any anthology, there was variability in how much I liked each individual essay/story. The best ones either opened my eyes to places and experiences I've never known, or took more mundane/relatable experiences but shared them in an engaging manner that felt like a friend telling me about their trip. The worst ones were akin to listening to someone whine about their vacation and complain about every little thing. I didn't enjoy the fiction passages overall; reading this sort of thing, I want to learn about real moments people have experienced; the fiction felt less grounded and drew too heavily on stereotypes of the times.
January 26, 2019
As with every short story collection, especially by different authors, there is a lot of variation in interest. I guess it takes a deft author to pull off whining well, but there was a bit too much whining for me.
March 3, 2025
This anthology was written in 1991 and the stories were rather old at the time of their publication here and I rather enjoyed travel stories from years gone by. There were a few jewels amongst the rest of the rough.
May 7, 2017
Charming.
September 17, 2017
Humorous.
January 3, 2018
This is a book of essays and book excerpts about travel experiences that were various degrees of less than pleasant. For the most part, I did not enjoy reading it and dont really recommend it.
January 25, 2018
Truth be told I was expecting more of this book. Some stories were excellent, but others I struggled to finish. A light read to pass the time.
May 5, 2019
Good writers but not as interesting as expecting. Didn't finish...
February 28, 2021
A eclectic mix of great writers throughout the world, talking about their travels with tales of danger, disorientation and bemused discomfort.
May 23, 2023
This book aged poorly.
November 15, 2023
A grouping of Short stories about travel. A copy dog eared and written in by someone I love.
January 12, 2024
Meh, at best. Many anthologies are described as some good, more bad and this was one of them. Took just too long to read a relatively short book with short chapters.
June 5, 2024
Couldn't finish. Thought there would be SOME of the stories that I'd enjoy, but past halfway through and hadn't found any. Painful to read.
March 5, 2017
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14429400
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14429400
April 19, 2010
Some of these were better than others. I bought it at a used book store looking for some funny stories about really bad travel but it ended up requiring a bit more seriousness. Some trips are just bad luck and amusing anecdotes. Some are more disturbing reflections of one person's/culture's/race's impositions on or misguided impressions of another.
February 2, 2013
Many short stories on travel- some good and some not so good. A bit dated and definitely not a travelogue of cool places to visit. Rather this details once in a life time extremely difficult trips like walking across an African desert.
April 10, 2007
This is a hilarious anthology of bad trips.
November 3, 2008
Bad Trips, Bad book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews