The Official Amazing Race Travel Companion: More Than 20 Years of Roadblocks, Detours, and Real-Life Activities to Experience Around the Globe

by Elise Doganieri, Phil Keoghan (Foreword)

Discover unique destinations and take your vacation plans to the next level with these travel ideas from the official companion to the blockbuster reality show, The Amazing Race.

For more than twenty years, The Amazing Race has introduced viewers to unique travel destinations in ninety-two countries across the globe. Pairing challenges with cultural touchpoints of the locations visited, The Amazing Race averages 10 million viewers per season.

This fanbook-meets-travel guide will cover six continents and thirty-two countries, including activities and places to visit at each destination. In addition to region-specific recommendations of destinations and activities from the show’s history, The Official Amazing Race Travel Companion will

-A never-before-seen “behind the scenes” snapshot of how the show is made, who they hire, and how destinations are chosen
-An introduction by Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster, cocreators of The Amazing Race
-A foreword by host Phil Keoghan
-And many more fun surprises!

Perfect for the fan or avid traveler in your life, The Official Amazing Race Travel Companion will satisfy any craving for adventure while traveling!

TM Amazing Race Productions Inc. © 2022 Amazing Race Productions Inc. & ABC Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published October 4, 2022

Reviews

[Matt Lillywhite · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been watching The Amazing Race for years. Since I love travel, it's (by far) one of my favorite shows.

Some of the info in the travel companion was interesting. For example, there was a chapter that went behind the scenes, and discussed how producers get visas, book flights, etc. However, at least 50% of the book was just a tour guide with info on various activities in each city. Honestly, I wish there were more chapters taking people behind the scenes, as that's what I found to be genuinely interesting.

Three stars.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely love this show and I was excited to see this book was coming out. Written by the show's executive producer and co-creator unfortunately, it was not what I was hoping for. It truly is just a travel companion. The book is organized by continent and proceeds to revisit roadblocks and detour that took place in that country, giving (what I thought was most useful) the contact information so that you too could visit this location and try your own luck. A few locations come with a "behind the scenes" which is just some personal reason this location was picked or memory of the author. No anecdotes about things that may have happened that wasn't seen on camera.

There were some interesting information about how many moving parts there are to the filming of this show which was interesting and had a couple of anecdotes of how a wrench was thrown into all the careful planning and came close to impacting the show. Nothing noted about the season that was filmed during that pandemic and needed to be suspended. It would have been really interesting to hear how that was to deal with. But all in all this is a book that would set on my travel guidebook shelf next to my copies of 1000 Things to See (Do) before you Die for when I'm planning a trip.

I want to thank NetGalley and Simon Element for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Katherine Bichler]

Can’t wait to read this after being on the show!! 🌎✈️

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of, The Official Amazing Race Travel Companion, by Elise Doganieri. This is a really good travel guide for all over the world, as seen on, Amazing Race. I really enjoyed this travel guide.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

A long time fan of the show, I was looking forward to reading and reviewing this title. Unfortunately, it didn't measure up to any of my expectations.

The book gives brief blurbs of various (and seemingly randomly chosen) spots around the world which were part of an Amazing Race episode. Not a true travel guide, it gives very basic information (i.e. an address) of the place AR teams visited, a few suggestions of other things to see in the area and little else.

Not a travel guide, not much about the show, leaves me wondering why the book was even written. Very disappointing!

My thanks to Simon Element Publishers for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley. Publication is set for 10/4/22. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

[Jennifer B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Official Amazing Race Travel Companion
By: Elise Doganieri
Review Score: 4 Stars

Five Key Feels
-There are some good travel tips that are shared in this book.

-I liked that some of the task inspiration for the race came from Doganieri’s real life travels.

-There was a lot of thought put into show locations, including the Wonders of the World and UNESCO Heritage Sites.

-I wish there was more “behind the scenes” information about filming The Amazing Race.

-I would have loved a chapter about how the race was adapted due to the COVID pandemic.

——

So, I have mixed feelings about this book. For what it is, I found it interesting. There is a ton of information about certain stops on the race, some of the locations and tasks, and little tidbits that the author shared for how those locations came to be.

If that is all you are looking for, then this book is amazing.

What I felt it was missing is more of what I was expecting, which is a book that was a “tell all” of sorts. I would have loved fun stories about the teams moving through the show, challenges that didn’t pan out the way they thought they would, the evolution of the show, and, as mentioned above, how COVID really impacted the way the show is run.

There is only a little bit of that information, and trust me, I wish there was so much more of that.

With that being said, I still enjoyed this book! It made me want to re-watch old seasons of the Amazing Race, to re-familiarize myself with some of the locations that were mentioned in this book. If you love the Amazing Race, you won’t regret picking this book up, no matter what you expect it to be like.

#bookstagram #books #readingnow #boogiereadsbooks #fivekeyfeels #audiobooks #audiobook #nonfiction #theofficialamazingracetravelcompanion #elisedoganieri #theamazingrace #philkeoghan

[Becki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am the target audience for this book. I love international travel (I'm always thinking about my next trip!) and I love The Amazing Race! "The Official Amazing Race Travel Companion" had the potential to be a really cool book- either by offering lots of behind the scenes info about the show or by highlighting amazing travel sites used in the show. And I think this book sort of attempted both of those.... but didn't really succeed.

On the first point, virtually every bit of "behind the scenes" info included was about the author and her experiences in scouting the locations or in her cameos at various pit stops. There was almost *no* inside information on teams or events that happened during the tapings. (To be fair, the author is the show creator and executive producer, and she is not always near the "action".) The book *did* point out some great sites, but used a lot of the copy space to discuss the game challenges in that area ("teams had to take a taxi to this tower, and at the top they found their next clue") and an inadequate amount of copy on the actual site itself. The biggest disappointment in this book, I'd say, is that there are *no photos*. No Photos! In a travel book!!!

It's not that this is a bad book. It's not. It's just that it had the potential to be so much more than it ended up being. Nevertheless, I appreciated the opportunity to receive and ARC of this book and to rate it and review it. My thanks to the author, publisher, and #NetGalley
#TheOfficialAmazingRaceTravelCompanion

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Amazing Race and I love to travel so I am the ideal audience for this book so I was super excited to read an official book about the series. I was not expecting this to really literally just be a travel companion. The book goes continent and country by country highlighting places the race has been and providing a little tidbit about the location’s significance. Every three or four would have some information about the behind the scenes of that particular spot, but rather than be highlights from the show or true technical information, they were just Elise sharing a memory of being there. It made me laugh that for 90% of the stops the travel instructions were to fly into the local airport and rent a car or take a taxi. This book is honestly pretty useless as a travel guide because it truly lacks the necessary practical information. What I enjoyed most was the forward by Phil and the true information about what goes into making a season. I really wish this book would have been a retrospective on 20+ years of the race and antidotes of creating one of the best reality competition shows on television. Overall I enjoyed flipping through the book but I was expecting more.

[Andrew Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who consumes all things Amazing Race, I was ecstatic to see this book drop. Like many other reviewers, I was hoping for more behind the scene looks at the show, though the six or eight pages we did get were pretty great (and I would definitely love to read a whole book with that theme). That's not what this book purported to be, though. As a travel companion, it gave a good starting off point for places to see that we saw on the show, and to relive those parts of the episodes. I have probably taken a dozen or more vacations with Amazing Race destinations as my main itinerary (Malta, Istanbul, Vilnius, Tunisia to name a few). I'd re-watch episodes for inspiration when planning those trips, and make a point to see specific sites visited on the legs. In the future, I will be able to use this travel companion instead when planning my route, perhaps even choosing a destination specifically because I read about it here. Also...did a racer really bring rollerblades? Spill the tea!

Thanks for writing this Elise, and I'll be looking out for a sequel :)

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Official Amazing Race Travel Companion is an uneasy mixture of a travel guide and a behind-the-scenes television show memoir. I found the memoir much more interesting. It begins with how the show was created and continues through the 2021 season.

I expected more from the travel guide. I wanted a list of things featured on the show for whichever countries they decide to feature with detailed who, what and where for each activity. Instead, the guide doesn’t cover much more than the show itself along with a street address that can be easily googled. There are few tips or tricks here.

Overall, The Official Amazing Race Travel Companion is a better choice for fans of the show rather than folks looking for travel insider hints. 3 stars.

Thanks to Simon Element and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is an interesting book!

The travel guide portion is rather high level. The book is broken down by continent and then country that Amazing Race contestants have visited. There's about a paragraph of information about various locations talking about what the contestants had to do at that location. There's also information on other places in the country that are recommended to visit.

What I found to be the most interesting was the information about The Amazing Race as a show. There's stats on how long it takes to film a season, how often a country has been visited on the race, and other interesting information. I was hoping to hear more about the show.

[Cynthia Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main part of this book was a travel guide if you were to want to go to the same places as the teams in the Amazing Race and do the same things that they did while they were competing. That wasn't quite what I was expecting from the book. There was a section in the back that talked about the logistics of making everything work. That part I found interesting. I would have liked more anecdotes from the seasons about funny or difficult things that happened.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing resource for Amazing Race fans! I am a huge fan of the show and loved seeing a list of all the places they've visited, activities the contestants completed, and some behind-the-scenes info. I'm super excited to go to some of the recommended spots listed in this book! I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to the author, Simon Element, and NetGalley for providing an early copy to review.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed in this. I thought it would be more of a behind the scenes book. It does this on a few pages with Quick Facts of data on the show's logistics. However, the bulk of this is a travel guide book with a selected number of sites visited on the show and information for personal travel. I need Phil to write a book with the interesting stuff! This one was not what I was hoping for.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very dry & needed something to make it more interesting. At the very least it needed pictures. Testimonials from former contestants about their favorites stops on the race would also help add some life to it.

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that this book covered some of the locations of the race.

I wish it had more from a “tell all” perspective, such as wild stories we never saw, that kind of thing. That was really only at the very end.

Regardless, it was still good, and fun to relive some of the stops on the show.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
not exactly what I expected but was a fun walk down memory lane revisiting different seasons and locations for the first half. The behind the scenes half was neat to see how much must go right for this show. photos at the end were the best.

[Thomas Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very good — kind of stupid to be honest.

[Steven Beningo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent short and fun travel book that combines short descriptions of amazing locations with information about how those locations played a part in the filming of The Amazing Race

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly just a list.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-3.5 stars

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it!

[Marie :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this, but I was hoping for more behind the scenes info.

[Meagan | The Chapter House · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an epitome of off-the-beaten-path travel!

I'll admit I've only seen a bit here and there of _The Amazing Race_--and in reading some of the other Goodreads reviews, that may end up being a good thing. ;) Not really having watched it, I didn't already have the context for why each team had to visit each stop, then, while reading ... so I appreciated the authors' insight in this regard, but could also see why diehard fans may be disappointed.

I was most surprised by the fact there were no pictures, and that's the primary reason I knock off a star. Any self-respecting travel book should have pictures--and I'm hopeful the final product includes. _some_!

Still, the read provides quirky, unique suggestions for travel, as well as including some "typical" spots along with suggestions to elevate them to the next level or encourage the traveler to engage with them in a new way

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a long-time fan of The Amazing Race, I was excited to see this book. Although it was fun to read, it was not, as the publisher claimed, a travel guide. Dozens of locations around the world are profiled, along with information about what the contestants did at that location and fun behind the scenes information. However, there is little information about the locations other than their addresses (websites would have been very helpful) and very little information about how a normal tourist can enjoy the location (obviously, you and I are not going to be rappelling down the face of a skyscraper or assisting a master chef in the kitchen). The book would also have been greatly improved by pictures - if not photos from Amazing Race, at least photos of the locations. *Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.*