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Planet Backpacker: Across Europe on a Mountain Bike & Backpacking on Through Egypt, India & Southeast Asia - Around the World
More than a book about traveling around the world, Planet Backpacker is a celebration of the backpacking lifestyle enjoyed by an estimated 100,000 travelers at any given moment. The global journey packs everything from a love story to encounters with wild women and dangerous men, history, myth, humor, and thoughts on the traveling life.
Think of it as A Walk in the Woods meets On the Road.
The nonfiction paperback was written one excerpt at a time in 100 internet cafes around the world as part of a blog written by author Robert Downes. The author pedaled a mountain bike across Europe, backpacking on through Egypt, India and Southeast Asia -- around the world.
Planet Backpacker offers an optimistic view of the world as the author deals with anti-Americanism using a smile for an umbrella. If you love literature and travel, you'll enjoy this rallying cry to visit some of the most exotic countries on earth.
Planet Backpacker is completely revised for 2009, with the addition of maps and a 'how-to' section for traveling on a budget.
Think of it as A Walk in the Woods meets On the Road.
The nonfiction paperback was written one excerpt at a time in 100 internet cafes around the world as part of a blog written by author Robert Downes. The author pedaled a mountain bike across Europe, backpacking on through Egypt, India and Southeast Asia -- around the world.
Planet Backpacker offers an optimistic view of the world as the author deals with anti-Americanism using a smile for an umbrella. If you love literature and travel, you'll enjoy this rallying cry to visit some of the most exotic countries on earth.
Planet Backpacker is completely revised for 2009, with the addition of maps and a 'how-to' section for traveling on a budget.
- GenresTravel
276 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2008
16 people want to read
About the author
Robert Downes
12 books26 followers Author and world traveler Robert (Bob) Downes has been inspiring readers to pursue their dreams of travel and adventure for more than three decades.
A resident of Traverse City, Michigan, Downes, 66, is the author of three nonfiction books: "Planet Backpacker" (2008)," Biking Northern Michigan" (2014), and “I Promised You Adventure“ (2018). His historical novel, "Windigo Moon," was published by Blank Slate Press in 2017. His thriller, “Bicycle Hobo” was published in 2018 by The Wandering Press.
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Downes earned a B.A. in journalism from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1976. Thereafter, he worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in metro Detroit, with a stint in hospital public relations in the 1980s.
In 1991, Downes and his best friend, George Foster, launched the alternative newsweekly, "Northern Express Weekly" in Traverse City.
Although the first rough issues were created in his kitchen on a primitive 30-meg Mac Plus computer, the publication was an instant hit with readers and went on to become northern Michigan's largest weekly newspaper with a readership of more than 75,000 covering a radius of more than 150 miles of the region.
Downes served as editor and co-publisher of the newsweekly for 22 years until its sale in December, 2013. Under his leadership, the publication earned numerous Michigan Press Association awards, including the highest honor for "General Excellence."
Concurrently, Downes indulged his passion for world travel, mostly as a backpacker and cyclist, using local transportation, hostels, campsites and guest houses. He has visited more than 70 countries with destinations ranging from the supercities of the Third World to the heart of the American wilderness. In 2011, he and his wife, Jeannette Wildman, spent seven months backpacking around the world, resulting in their memoir, “I Promised You Adventure.” A former Ironman triathlete, Downes is also an ardent cyclist and his guidebook, "Biking Northern Michigan," is a regional best seller. Downes has cycled in Australia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Peru, England, Ireland and across continental Europe in addition to routes around the U.S. In the summer of 2016, he cycled more than 2,700 miles over the Rockies and across the Great Plains from Seattle to his home in Michigan. In September, 2014, he was awarded first place in an international writing contest for the Grand Rapids ArtPrize, sponsored by the Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters and the Cascade Writers Group. His winning entry, "The Raid," is from his historical novel about the Ojibwe Indians, "Windigo Moon." The novel won two other literary awards: “Best Regional Fiction” from Independent Publisher and an Honorable Mention for Best Fiction from Foreword Reviews.
Downes is currently working on a prequel: "He Who Outruns the Wolves," about the clash between Native Americans and Spanish conquistadors. He and his wife Jeannette have two adult children and seven grandchildren. The couple make their winter home in Mexico and the American Southwest.
Concurrently, Downes indulged his passion for world travel, mostly as a backpacker and cyclist, using local transportation, hostels, campsites and guest houses. He has visited more than 70 countries with destinations ranging from the supercities of the Third World to the heart of the American wilderness. In 2011, he and his wife, Jeannette Wildman, spent seven months backpacking around the world, resulting in their memoir, “I Promised You Adventure.” A former Ironman triathlete, Downes is also an ardent cyclist and his guidebook, "Biking Northern Michigan," is a regional best seller. Downes has cycled in Australia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Peru, England, Ireland and across continental Europe in addition to routes around the U.S. In the summer of 2016, he cycled more than 2,700 miles over the Rockies and across the Great Plains from Seattle to his home in Michigan. In September, 2014, he was awarded first place in an international writing contest for the Grand Rapids ArtPrize, sponsored by the Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters and the Cascade Writers Group. His winning entry, "The Raid," is from his historical novel about the Ojibwe Indians, "Windigo Moon." The novel won two other literary awards: “Best Regional Fiction” from Independent Publisher and an Honorable Mention for Best Fiction from Foreword Reviews.
Downes is currently working on a prequel: "He Who Outruns the Wolves," about the clash between Native Americans and Spanish conquistadors. He and his wife Jeannette have two adult children and seven grandchildren. The couple make their winter home in Mexico and the American Southwest.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 28, 2013
It was fantastic and refreshing to read something this adventurous and daring from an author from my hometown. Not only did Robert give us a first-person perspective on the highs and lows of what one might experience during world travels, but he frames the areas that he's in nicely with local history, too.
February 8, 2010
awesome book!! makes me want to travel soooo badly!! there were a lot of stories about places that i want to visit. i'll definitely be reading it again before i go to those countries.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews