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Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World
An eye-opening and fascinating slow travel journey from an acclaimed writer who circled the globe without ever leaving the ground.
In this age of globalism and high-speed travel, Seth Stevenson, the witty, thoughtful Slate columnist, takes us back to a time when travel meant putting one foot in front of the other, racing to make connections between trains and buses in remote transit stations, and wading through the chaos that most long-haul travelers float 35,000 feet above. Stevenson winds his way around the world by biking, walking, hiking, riding in rickshaws, freight ships, cruise ships, ancient ferries, buses, and the Trans-Siberian Railway-but never gets on an airplane.
He finds that from the ground, one sees the world anew-with a deeper understanding of time, distance, and the vastness of the earth. In this sensational travelogue, each step of the journey is an adventure, full of unexpected revelations in every new port, at every bend in the railroad tracks, and around every street corner.
In this age of globalism and high-speed travel, Seth Stevenson, the witty, thoughtful Slate columnist, takes us back to a time when travel meant putting one foot in front of the other, racing to make connections between trains and buses in remote transit stations, and wading through the chaos that most long-haul travelers float 35,000 feet above. Stevenson winds his way around the world by biking, walking, hiking, riding in rickshaws, freight ships, cruise ships, ancient ferries, buses, and the Trans-Siberian Railway-but never gets on an airplane.
He finds that from the ground, one sees the world anew-with a deeper understanding of time, distance, and the vastness of the earth. In this sensational travelogue, each step of the journey is an adventure, full of unexpected revelations in every new port, at every bend in the railroad tracks, and around every street corner.
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
July 10, 2010
I wanted to like this book, what with a cool premise of going on an around the world journey without flying and all. The first third of the book showed a quick writing style with some quirky tales. But that's as far as I could get before realizing I didn't like this boring guy or what he had to say.
He drinks a lot, tokes it up, usually with people like himself. But not in a romanticize substance abuse kind of way either. Just a, I'm bored so I passed the afternoon drinking myself to sleep in a boring kind of way. Really - you're on an around the world trip and you repeatedly decide to spend your afternoons that way? He's a good enough writer to pull that off in a blog but it gets old when done several times in a book. As in, he's not particularly curious or does fun things, goes for the most part only to places that get him on his (sort of) round the world journey, limits his cultural observations, criticizes other travelers without apparently any ability to talk with people who neither share his world view or are outside his age group. Most of the places he actually comments on read like a paragraph he pulled off a random mix of google search results. There's more about the historic development of the bicycle than on what he saw on his bicycle tour of Vietnam. And he only spends a paragraph on the bike history.
He passes through most places on his journey usually without meeting any local people or doing anything other than sleeping, eating, and finding his way out of town. The trip was wasted on this guy.
He drinks a lot, tokes it up, usually with people like himself. But not in a romanticize substance abuse kind of way either. Just a, I'm bored so I passed the afternoon drinking myself to sleep in a boring kind of way. Really - you're on an around the world trip and you repeatedly decide to spend your afternoons that way? He's a good enough writer to pull that off in a blog but it gets old when done several times in a book. As in, he's not particularly curious or does fun things, goes for the most part only to places that get him on his (sort of) round the world journey, limits his cultural observations, criticizes other travelers without apparently any ability to talk with people who neither share his world view or are outside his age group. Most of the places he actually comments on read like a paragraph he pulled off a random mix of google search results. There's more about the historic development of the bicycle than on what he saw on his bicycle tour of Vietnam. And he only spends a paragraph on the bike history.
He passes through most places on his journey usually without meeting any local people or doing anything other than sleeping, eating, and finding his way out of town. The trip was wasted on this guy.
April 23, 2010
Nicely written and paced, easy to read and fun. However, I was surprised that the point of this adventure seemed to be "moving very fast without stopping." They traveled to some of the oddest and most exotic places in the world only to spend the whole time calculating the best way to get to the next destination. Almost all of the description focuses on boats, buses, rental cars, and trains. Almost all of the conversations are with fellow travelers and the occasional port agent. Since they didn't set themselves a time limit, I didn't understand why they couldn't hang out in one place for a few days so the reader could get more of a flavor.
May 17, 2020
Seth and his girlfriend Rebecca decide they want to travel all the way around the world by surface travel (i.e. no flying). They set out via ships (cargo and cruise), buses, trains (regular speed and bullet trains), and bicycles. Their journey takes them across the Atlantic Ocean, Germany, Estonia, Moscow, across Siberia, down to Japan, China, Cambodia, Thailand, and back east to and across Australia to New Zealand and back to the US. (And I know I’ve missed some places!).
I really enjoyed this (though I disagree on his assessment of cruise ships!). There were some funny moments. Although, despite the leisurely travel pace, there were times where they really seemed rushed, and weren’t able to enjoy where they were. I guess some of it depended on the timing of the travel away from where they were, as it was sometimes difficult to find a way to their next destination, so unless they wanted to wait a week, they might have to continue on right away. He did talk about the different modes of transportation, the history, etc, which I also found interesting.
I really enjoyed this (though I disagree on his assessment of cruise ships!). There were some funny moments. Although, despite the leisurely travel pace, there were times where they really seemed rushed, and weren’t able to enjoy where they were. I guess some of it depended on the timing of the travel away from where they were, as it was sometimes difficult to find a way to their next destination, so unless they wanted to wait a week, they might have to continue on right away. He did talk about the different modes of transportation, the history, etc, which I also found interesting.
June 10, 2013
I like this type of book, travel adventure. Although the author and his girlfriend circumnavigated the globe without ever using airplanes, it didn't sound like much fun. They traveled by steamer , train, bike, freighter, etc. but never really got to "see" places, as it was all about getting to the next place. They always seemed to be in a rush. When I travel, it's about the places I'm at and getting to know them. And they drank a lot and stayed at undesirable places, in my opinion. I want to enjoy my traveling! But I'm glad I read it and saw how it is possible to go around the world without having to fly.
February 23, 2016
This is not the book I wanted to read. The book I want to read is the one written by Rebecca, Mr. Stevenson’s girlfriend, who had to endure him on this trip. I’m not sure her book will ever materialize, so I’m stuck reviewing this one. This was one of those books that I grabbed off the shelf because of the writer’s intention to travel around the world without getting into an airplane. I plan to do the same thing, but I hope and pray I am a lot more gracious to those around me as well as curious as to where my travels take me. Stevenson is a gifted writer. Although I often shook my head at his narcissism, he kept my attention as I quickly read the book.
Seth, a writer for Slate Magazine, and his attorney-girlfriend Rebecca quit their jobs, sold their possessions and set out to travel the world. Throughout the book, Seth returns to his familiar litany as to why he hates flying. But then, he seems to hate most forms of transportation: container ships, cruise ships, trains, ferries and bicycles. Despite his constant complaining, Seth does manage to fulfill his goal. This he achieves by ditching his girlfriend in Singapore when he finds a ship heading to Australia. The ship is leaving port, so he calls her back at the hotel where she is gathering their possessions and tells her to fly to Bali where the ship will stop in a few days. The only thing I can say about this stunt is that he should be thankful that his girlfriend didn’t fly back to the States or, once they reunited, didn’t treat him to a long distant swimming lesson off starboard somewhere in the Timor Sea. Machiavelli Seth seems only to care about achieving his goal. He wasn’t even gracious toward the ship and crew that made last minute arrangements to take him onboard as a passenger and provided him the opportunity to fulfill his goal, referring to the British cruise ship as a floating nursing home.
The young couple travels start in Washington DC. They head to Philadelphia where they board a container ship to Europe. Then they travel by rail and ferry across Europe to Moscow and take the Trans-Siberian across Russia. Next, it’s a ferry to Japan, then trains and another ferry to China, then trains and buses to Vietnam where they join up with a bicycling tour group to ride through much of the country. From Saigon, they take a bus to Cambodia and a cab into Thailand, then buses and ferries (the train crews were on strike) to Singapore. From there, he takes a small British cruise ship to Darwin, Australia. Rebecca joins up with the ship in Bali. In Darwin, they decide to leave the “floating nursing home†early (It was going to take them around Australia) and drive a car to Sydney. From Australia, they take another container ship to New Zealand where they land just hours before leaving on a plush cruise ship. Arriving back in Los Angeles, they take Amtrak across the country, back to Washington DC where they began.
-
Throughout the book, Stevenson refers to Jules Verne’s classic, Around the World in 80 Days. He could have titled this book, Around the World on 80 Bottles (of liquor). Drinking, along with some pills that he pops, is his way of coping with the hardships he experiences and helps him endure the discomforts (do you get the sense I don’t feel sorry for him?). Along the way there are few comments about the beauty of the land or the people and the hospitality he encounters. He seems to have little interest in the history or the culture of the area. He complains about all tourists, be they young backpackers or wealthy geezers. In fact, it seems to me that he generally dislikes people. The only person he cares for is Rebecca (and he was willing to leave her behind!).
-
I assume that with a lot of his complaining Stevenson thought he was being funny like Bill Bryson. However, with Bryson, I get a sense he cares about people. I know I wouldn’t want to travel with Paul Theroux, who often complains about other tourists, but I keep reading Theroux because I have a sense he cares about the cultures and the local people he encounters on his journeys and does a great job sharing what he learns. Furthermore, Theroux admits that he likes to travel alone (and on the ground) so that he can experience other cultures. Both Bryson and Therux provide insight into the world in which they travel. Stevenson gives very little of this. At best, he does have several interesting sections (a few pages to each) on the history of various forms of travel (air, rail, container ships, buses, bicycles and cruise ships). One place where I felt Stevenson’s writing did show a bit of promise for interacting with local culture was during a break from the Trans-Siberian in the city of Yekateinburg. Stevenson wrote about the murders of the Czar and his family there in 1918, noting that the people didn’t capitalize on the tragedy like many New Yorkers had on 9-11. But then, in the pages that followed, he makes two back-to-back Jewish jokes that I found distasteful. The first was referring to a popping sound that he thought could be the changing of an engine on the train or the shooting of Jews and wealthy land owners, but since neither involved him he could go back to sleep. (96) Then he noted that Siberia was “like the Catskills, minus the billboards, the gas stations, and the Jewish summer camps.†(99) Of course, tragically, many Jews (and others) were sent to “camps†in Siberia. On a positive note, Stevenson writes in a way that is easy to read, but then his writing is just not that deep.
I debated between giving the book two or three stars. Because it was so easy to read and I did learn a few things from it, I gave it the 3.
Seth, a writer for Slate Magazine, and his attorney-girlfriend Rebecca quit their jobs, sold their possessions and set out to travel the world. Throughout the book, Seth returns to his familiar litany as to why he hates flying. But then, he seems to hate most forms of transportation: container ships, cruise ships, trains, ferries and bicycles. Despite his constant complaining, Seth does manage to fulfill his goal. This he achieves by ditching his girlfriend in Singapore when he finds a ship heading to Australia. The ship is leaving port, so he calls her back at the hotel where she is gathering their possessions and tells her to fly to Bali where the ship will stop in a few days. The only thing I can say about this stunt is that he should be thankful that his girlfriend didn’t fly back to the States or, once they reunited, didn’t treat him to a long distant swimming lesson off starboard somewhere in the Timor Sea. Machiavelli Seth seems only to care about achieving his goal. He wasn’t even gracious toward the ship and crew that made last minute arrangements to take him onboard as a passenger and provided him the opportunity to fulfill his goal, referring to the British cruise ship as a floating nursing home.
The young couple travels start in Washington DC. They head to Philadelphia where they board a container ship to Europe. Then they travel by rail and ferry across Europe to Moscow and take the Trans-Siberian across Russia. Next, it’s a ferry to Japan, then trains and another ferry to China, then trains and buses to Vietnam where they join up with a bicycling tour group to ride through much of the country. From Saigon, they take a bus to Cambodia and a cab into Thailand, then buses and ferries (the train crews were on strike) to Singapore. From there, he takes a small British cruise ship to Darwin, Australia. Rebecca joins up with the ship in Bali. In Darwin, they decide to leave the “floating nursing home†early (It was going to take them around Australia) and drive a car to Sydney. From Australia, they take another container ship to New Zealand where they land just hours before leaving on a plush cruise ship. Arriving back in Los Angeles, they take Amtrak across the country, back to Washington DC where they began.
-
Throughout the book, Stevenson refers to Jules Verne’s classic, Around the World in 80 Days. He could have titled this book, Around the World on 80 Bottles (of liquor). Drinking, along with some pills that he pops, is his way of coping with the hardships he experiences and helps him endure the discomforts (do you get the sense I don’t feel sorry for him?). Along the way there are few comments about the beauty of the land or the people and the hospitality he encounters. He seems to have little interest in the history or the culture of the area. He complains about all tourists, be they young backpackers or wealthy geezers. In fact, it seems to me that he generally dislikes people. The only person he cares for is Rebecca (and he was willing to leave her behind!).
-
I assume that with a lot of his complaining Stevenson thought he was being funny like Bill Bryson. However, with Bryson, I get a sense he cares about people. I know I wouldn’t want to travel with Paul Theroux, who often complains about other tourists, but I keep reading Theroux because I have a sense he cares about the cultures and the local people he encounters on his journeys and does a great job sharing what he learns. Furthermore, Theroux admits that he likes to travel alone (and on the ground) so that he can experience other cultures. Both Bryson and Therux provide insight into the world in which they travel. Stevenson gives very little of this. At best, he does have several interesting sections (a few pages to each) on the history of various forms of travel (air, rail, container ships, buses, bicycles and cruise ships). One place where I felt Stevenson’s writing did show a bit of promise for interacting with local culture was during a break from the Trans-Siberian in the city of Yekateinburg. Stevenson wrote about the murders of the Czar and his family there in 1918, noting that the people didn’t capitalize on the tragedy like many New Yorkers had on 9-11. But then, in the pages that followed, he makes two back-to-back Jewish jokes that I found distasteful. The first was referring to a popping sound that he thought could be the changing of an engine on the train or the shooting of Jews and wealthy land owners, but since neither involved him he could go back to sleep. (96) Then he noted that Siberia was “like the Catskills, minus the billboards, the gas stations, and the Jewish summer camps.†(99) Of course, tragically, many Jews (and others) were sent to “camps†in Siberia. On a positive note, Stevenson writes in a way that is easy to read, but then his writing is just not that deep.
I debated between giving the book two or three stars. Because it was so easy to read and I did learn a few things from it, I gave it the 3.
January 3, 2012
My memory is terrible. As I read things, I think of all the things I want to say about them, but 30 pages later or, worse, when I've actually finished the book, I can't recall any of them. So, for the second book in a row, I'm going to jot down some preliminary impressions.
This book has at its core an intriguing and even laudable proposition: travel the world without once setting foot on an airplane. There are some normative justifications tossed out, half-heartedly, but really this just seems about doing something adventurous. Which is cool.
What is uncool, so far at least, is just how dainty a version of ugly Americans these two are. The further they get from North America, the more hermetic their attitudes become, the more they otherize the people around them. They also seem focused only on the movement, not on the local experience, spending on a day or so in Finland (when they complain about the bruschetta - who orders bruschetta in Helsinki?), less then a day in Tallinn (though more than enough time to mock the nationals), and within 24 hours of being in Moscow have already succumbed to lunch at McDonalds.
They are particularly offensive when talking about other people, referring to the way Russian women look as either $8 or $15 whores and joking about 'going Russian' as a way of describing abject disgustingness. The writer condemns the New Tretyakov gallery for being filled with social realist art - what do you expect from a museum dedicated to 20th Century Russian Art? Go to the other Tretyakov gallery in Moscow if you want to see the same kind of stuff you see everywhere else.
I'm hoping this book becomes one of those awakenings tales, where they realize just how douchey they are being. Stevenson is a solid, if cautious, writer - his imagination seems limited to how he insults people, with everything else being pretty regular. He's also a smart and successful guy. He ought to know better than to emanate such a smug and prissy aura. We'll see, though, if that's the case. I still have several chapters to read.
*****
A couple chapters later - and fully through Russia, Japan, and China - it is clear that the author harbors a hatred for Russians. I'm starting to form a theory, though, that it isn't so much about Russians as it is that it is, in a way, ok for an American in the current pro-multi-cultural climate to publicly loathe Russians and other Eastern Europeans in a way that would be less acceptable for people of other races. Stevenson is clearly enamored with the efficiency and cleanliness of Japan (he seems happiest when he's getting something he could just as easily order from a middle-brow ethnic take-out joint in midtown Manhattan) but when he gets to China and confronts the similar kinds of vulgar behaviors that had him so up in arms in Russia, he indulgently finds it amusing. Spitting and fingernail clipping in public in China is intriguing, but the same in Russia would have him calling the person an uncouth barbarian. Ticket agents who laugh in his face in China are fine, but the ones who shrug in Russia are dicks. What's the difference? Why is it ok to be so hyperbolic in his disdain for Slavs but not for Asians? Maybe my theory is wrong, maybe something will be revealed later.
For now, though, I can't figure out why this couple went on this trip. They seem to be in a hurry to get from point a to point be at each stop and avoid the local color and culture as much as possible. The last thing I read before typing this up was how warm his feelings were toward the Vietnamese fellow bus riders who helped him accidentally ingest snake fried rice. My guess is they ordered the bruschetta again.
*****
Finally finished the book and Stevenson never disabused me of my notions about him. He seems most comfortable with people like him - white, educated, culturally literate, professional, but not too wealthy. He's most relaxed riding bikes with expats. I started the book thinking it would be an interesting read, and it was. Stevenson's project was a worthy one. What I probably disliked most about it was him. For whatever reason, I have a hard time digging books written by people that I would definitely not want to be friends with. I sure wouldn't want to go on vacation with him. I think we'd maybe want to go to the same places, but he'd be in a hurry to get to the next one, cross it off his list and continue moving, while I'd want to see what was up. And we'd almost certainly come to blows over where to eat.
This book has at its core an intriguing and even laudable proposition: travel the world without once setting foot on an airplane. There are some normative justifications tossed out, half-heartedly, but really this just seems about doing something adventurous. Which is cool.
What is uncool, so far at least, is just how dainty a version of ugly Americans these two are. The further they get from North America, the more hermetic their attitudes become, the more they otherize the people around them. They also seem focused only on the movement, not on the local experience, spending on a day or so in Finland (when they complain about the bruschetta - who orders bruschetta in Helsinki?), less then a day in Tallinn (though more than enough time to mock the nationals), and within 24 hours of being in Moscow have already succumbed to lunch at McDonalds.
They are particularly offensive when talking about other people, referring to the way Russian women look as either $8 or $15 whores and joking about 'going Russian' as a way of describing abject disgustingness. The writer condemns the New Tretyakov gallery for being filled with social realist art - what do you expect from a museum dedicated to 20th Century Russian Art? Go to the other Tretyakov gallery in Moscow if you want to see the same kind of stuff you see everywhere else.
I'm hoping this book becomes one of those awakenings tales, where they realize just how douchey they are being. Stevenson is a solid, if cautious, writer - his imagination seems limited to how he insults people, with everything else being pretty regular. He's also a smart and successful guy. He ought to know better than to emanate such a smug and prissy aura. We'll see, though, if that's the case. I still have several chapters to read.
*****
A couple chapters later - and fully through Russia, Japan, and China - it is clear that the author harbors a hatred for Russians. I'm starting to form a theory, though, that it isn't so much about Russians as it is that it is, in a way, ok for an American in the current pro-multi-cultural climate to publicly loathe Russians and other Eastern Europeans in a way that would be less acceptable for people of other races. Stevenson is clearly enamored with the efficiency and cleanliness of Japan (he seems happiest when he's getting something he could just as easily order from a middle-brow ethnic take-out joint in midtown Manhattan) but when he gets to China and confronts the similar kinds of vulgar behaviors that had him so up in arms in Russia, he indulgently finds it amusing. Spitting and fingernail clipping in public in China is intriguing, but the same in Russia would have him calling the person an uncouth barbarian. Ticket agents who laugh in his face in China are fine, but the ones who shrug in Russia are dicks. What's the difference? Why is it ok to be so hyperbolic in his disdain for Slavs but not for Asians? Maybe my theory is wrong, maybe something will be revealed later.
For now, though, I can't figure out why this couple went on this trip. They seem to be in a hurry to get from point a to point be at each stop and avoid the local color and culture as much as possible. The last thing I read before typing this up was how warm his feelings were toward the Vietnamese fellow bus riders who helped him accidentally ingest snake fried rice. My guess is they ordered the bruschetta again.
*****
Finally finished the book and Stevenson never disabused me of my notions about him. He seems most comfortable with people like him - white, educated, culturally literate, professional, but not too wealthy. He's most relaxed riding bikes with expats. I started the book thinking it would be an interesting read, and it was. Stevenson's project was a worthy one. What I probably disliked most about it was him. For whatever reason, I have a hard time digging books written by people that I would definitely not want to be friends with. I sure wouldn't want to go on vacation with him. I think we'd maybe want to go to the same places, but he'd be in a hurry to get to the next one, cross it off his list and continue moving, while I'd want to see what was up. And we'd almost certainly come to blows over where to eat.
October 24, 2014
Let me start off by stating that I really enjoy travel books. I guess in a way I'm living vicariously through the authors who have the money and ability to do things that I can't. I was really excited about reading this book. Everything about it seemed like it would be a lot of fun. The idea of traveling around the world and only taking surface transit seemed like an exciting trip and I looked forward to reading about their adventures as they stopped in various locations.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed. First off, this couple spends all of their time moving from place to place and they don't actually spend any real time anywhere. There are countries where literally all they do is get off of a boat and then make their way to a train station and then head right out of the train country they just entered. What a waste of time. Why bother?
This couple if very self congratulatory. They act like they are the only people to travel the globe and find reason to scoff anyone else who hasn't done it exactly like them. I feel like the book is full of them saying "look what we did, aren't we awesome? We are so much better than you and everyone else." All of this coming from two people who go around the world and don't even come close to Central America, South America, Africa or the Middle East. They only get into 5 countries in Europe and only spend any decent time in Finland and Russia. And all of their time in Russia is literally on a train and that's it. That isn't an accomplishment. You haven't gained anything from this. They take no part in the cultures they see and instead choose to drown themselves in alcohol and occasional drug use with other travelers, all of whom are also congratulating themselves on how terrific they are because they are doing something the average Joe isn't.
The author spends way too much time banging on air travel. I wouldn't mind if he shared his opinion about it once and then focused on sharing his actual experience (which is pretty worthless anyway) but rather he finds ways to constantly bring up how flying is boring or bad for the environment or only for "vacationers" which are people he looks down his nose at because he's going around the world. The man used a freighter to travel from Philadelphia to Antwerp and bags on an airplane for how much fuel it uses. He then expresses that his freighter uses 152,000 gallons of fuel PER DAY!! He and his girlfriend are the only two passengers. He thinks this is how people should be getting around. He even describes how bored he gets on the ship and then later explains that he would have hated flying to Europe because it would have been boring. No surprise that this guy is open to smoking a lot of weed later.
This is just someones lame attempt at making himself feel good and trying to hold something over everyone. I'm sure he starts most of his conversations with "I traveled around the world without using a plane once. Have you done that?" He even leaves his girlfriend at a cruise ship dock so he can complete his dream while she needs to buy a plane ticket and meet him elsewhere when she is terrified of flying. Pretty selfish.
Needless to say I didn't like this book as much as I hoped I would. Bummer. It had great potential.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed. First off, this couple spends all of their time moving from place to place and they don't actually spend any real time anywhere. There are countries where literally all they do is get off of a boat and then make their way to a train station and then head right out of the train country they just entered. What a waste of time. Why bother?
This couple if very self congratulatory. They act like they are the only people to travel the globe and find reason to scoff anyone else who hasn't done it exactly like them. I feel like the book is full of them saying "look what we did, aren't we awesome? We are so much better than you and everyone else." All of this coming from two people who go around the world and don't even come close to Central America, South America, Africa or the Middle East. They only get into 5 countries in Europe and only spend any decent time in Finland and Russia. And all of their time in Russia is literally on a train and that's it. That isn't an accomplishment. You haven't gained anything from this. They take no part in the cultures they see and instead choose to drown themselves in alcohol and occasional drug use with other travelers, all of whom are also congratulating themselves on how terrific they are because they are doing something the average Joe isn't.
The author spends way too much time banging on air travel. I wouldn't mind if he shared his opinion about it once and then focused on sharing his actual experience (which is pretty worthless anyway) but rather he finds ways to constantly bring up how flying is boring or bad for the environment or only for "vacationers" which are people he looks down his nose at because he's going around the world. The man used a freighter to travel from Philadelphia to Antwerp and bags on an airplane for how much fuel it uses. He then expresses that his freighter uses 152,000 gallons of fuel PER DAY!! He and his girlfriend are the only two passengers. He thinks this is how people should be getting around. He even describes how bored he gets on the ship and then later explains that he would have hated flying to Europe because it would have been boring. No surprise that this guy is open to smoking a lot of weed later.
This is just someones lame attempt at making himself feel good and trying to hold something over everyone. I'm sure he starts most of his conversations with "I traveled around the world without using a plane once. Have you done that?" He even leaves his girlfriend at a cruise ship dock so he can complete his dream while she needs to buy a plane ticket and meet him elsewhere when she is terrified of flying. Pretty selfish.
Needless to say I didn't like this book as much as I hoped I would. Bummer. It had great potential.
July 26, 2016
I am only giving this one star despite the fact that I think Stevenson is a very good writer with an engaging voice. I was not bored at all reading this book. But I am docking points for trip itself. I cannot get my head around why they did it in this way. I don't mean staying on the ground...I am all for that and it's the reason I picked up this book in the first place.
But I thought their goal was to see the world. Turns out the goal was just to go around it. This frustrated me to no end. They never seemed to stop. What was the point of going on this trip? Seth makes some very impassioned - and dead on - speeches in the book about ground vs air and seeing the world from the ground and seeing it slowly...but it seems like Seth and Rebecca did exactly what air travelers do...only a bit slower. There was some stopping and lingering here and there but very, very little. I very much enjoyed Seth's accounts of certain places and experiences, whenever they stopped long enough to actually have them. The bike riding in Vietnam was the best portion because they actually did something there instead of zoom off to the next train, boat, car. I got really sick of all the movement and the emphasis on deadlines.
For instance, they finally cross the Pacific (they move east on this trip) and land in LA (well, Long Beach). A friend is out of town and loans them his Silverlake apartment for a week. But do they stay for a lousy week? No, they practically leave the next day (in fact I think it was the next day) and get on a train to take them back to DC (their starting point). Seth then justifies the plan and quickly dismisses the whole of the continental United States with a few "been there, done that" sentences. Seriously?! I just do not get the POINT of this trip! Europe went untouched (in fact I think all of Scandinavia went untouched). South America went untouched. All of the continental US went untouched. I closed the book feeling they'd seen very little and done very little except MOVE. (oh, and drink...what was with all the drinking?)
Seth Stevenson knows how to put sentences together so I'd really like to read something from him sometime in which he goes somewhere and stays awhile and actually experiences it.
But I thought their goal was to see the world. Turns out the goal was just to go around it. This frustrated me to no end. They never seemed to stop. What was the point of going on this trip? Seth makes some very impassioned - and dead on - speeches in the book about ground vs air and seeing the world from the ground and seeing it slowly...but it seems like Seth and Rebecca did exactly what air travelers do...only a bit slower. There was some stopping and lingering here and there but very, very little. I very much enjoyed Seth's accounts of certain places and experiences, whenever they stopped long enough to actually have them. The bike riding in Vietnam was the best portion because they actually did something there instead of zoom off to the next train, boat, car. I got really sick of all the movement and the emphasis on deadlines.
For instance, they finally cross the Pacific (they move east on this trip) and land in LA (well, Long Beach). A friend is out of town and loans them his Silverlake apartment for a week. But do they stay for a lousy week? No, they practically leave the next day (in fact I think it was the next day) and get on a train to take them back to DC (their starting point). Seth then justifies the plan and quickly dismisses the whole of the continental United States with a few "been there, done that" sentences. Seriously?! I just do not get the POINT of this trip! Europe went untouched (in fact I think all of Scandinavia went untouched). South America went untouched. All of the continental US went untouched. I closed the book feeling they'd seen very little and done very little except MOVE. (oh, and drink...what was with all the drinking?)
Seth Stevenson knows how to put sentences together so I'd really like to read something from him sometime in which he goes somewhere and stays awhile and actually experiences it.
November 3, 2012
Seth Stevenson e a namorada nunca se conformarão com a vidinha boa que levam. A necessidade de ultrapassar a fronteira do conforto, deixar tudo para trás e perseguir um objetivo, é mais forte do que o bem-estar que um sofá aconchegante e um trabalho decente das 9h às 17h podem trazer.
Desta vez lembraram-se de dar a volta ao Mundo sem andar de avião. E se eu não tivesse lido primeiro Gonçalo Cadilhe, teria adorado este livro e esta forma de sonhar através da vida de outros.
Mas Seth está demasiado focado no seu objetivo e esquece-se que quem o lê o faz sem sair do lugar, por isso precisa de mais do que a simples descrição da passagem dos meridianos. O meu conselho? Seth, bebe uns copos e relaxa. Aprecia a paisagem. Se chegaste ao outro lado do Mundo para quê tanta pressa em voltar?
Mas o importante é que este livro prova-nos que todos somos capazes de nos meter numa destas aventuras. Só precisamos de tempo e dinheiro. Mas, acima de tudo, de rever as nossas prioridades.
Desta vez lembraram-se de dar a volta ao Mundo sem andar de avião. E se eu não tivesse lido primeiro Gonçalo Cadilhe, teria adorado este livro e esta forma de sonhar através da vida de outros.
Mas Seth está demasiado focado no seu objetivo e esquece-se que quem o lê o faz sem sair do lugar, por isso precisa de mais do que a simples descrição da passagem dos meridianos. O meu conselho? Seth, bebe uns copos e relaxa. Aprecia a paisagem. Se chegaste ao outro lado do Mundo para quê tanta pressa em voltar?
Mas o importante é que este livro prova-nos que todos somos capazes de nos meter numa destas aventuras. Só precisamos de tempo e dinheiro. Mas, acima de tudo, de rever as nossas prioridades.
November 18, 2014
I hadnt heard of Seth Stevenson before but now I'm glad I picked this up.
Like so many I am so used to not thinking about air travel as more than
a convenience and a one size fits all institution. The author and his wife are able to pick up, close up their apartment and live out of suitcases and backpacks as they sail, take trains, rent cars; and at one point take bicycles through Vietnam. Going after Cacciato, anyone? Their one taboo as they travel is: they cannot travel by air.
Obviously the couple gets a real sense of distance and cultural differences as they travel. The variety of people met and places seen
made me envious of their journey and opportuni8ty. Sure they dealt with misadventures, snotty people, real not aircondioned weather, and a tiny cabin on a cruise ship full of gossipy bridge players that Stevenson satirizes as a kinda retirement to a sloshy purgatory. The book is witty and kept me reading.
Like so many I am so used to not thinking about air travel as more than
a convenience and a one size fits all institution. The author and his wife are able to pick up, close up their apartment and live out of suitcases and backpacks as they sail, take trains, rent cars; and at one point take bicycles through Vietnam. Going after Cacciato, anyone? Their one taboo as they travel is: they cannot travel by air.
Obviously the couple gets a real sense of distance and cultural differences as they travel. The variety of people met and places seen
made me envious of their journey and opportuni8ty. Sure they dealt with misadventures, snotty people, real not aircondioned weather, and a tiny cabin on a cruise ship full of gossipy bridge players that Stevenson satirizes as a kinda retirement to a sloshy purgatory. The book is witty and kept me reading.
January 8, 2015
To me this book seemed more like a blog than the book of a professional writer - you know a journalist who earns a living writing.
It is all bout the journey - there is very little about the destinations, and it is unapologetic about this - even the interludes discuss transport - bikes, motorcycles, cruise liners etc. And it is strong in its anti-plane sentiments.
For all this, it is a quick and light read and it has some amusing parts.
It is all bout the journey - there is very little about the destinations, and it is unapologetic about this - even the interludes discuss transport - bikes, motorcycles, cruise liners etc. And it is strong in its anti-plane sentiments.
For all this, it is a quick and light read and it has some amusing parts.
February 7, 2011
Intersting and well-written, if not a bit slight.
March 29, 2019
Seth Stevenson, a 30-something journalist, and his girlfriend Rebecca, an attorney, decide that their lives have become too staid and predictable. So they decide to close up shop in Washington, DC and travel around the world. There is however, one catch: They refuse to use an airplane. They quit their day jobs, wind down the lease on their apartment, sell their cars, put a few possessions in a storage unit and take off on a freighter across the Atlantic. The bulk of this book recounts the story of their multi-month trip circumnavigating the globe using a variety of modes of transportation - train, boat, car, and even bike.
I find travelogues rewarding and I enjoy adventure stories. This book is meant to be in those genres, but doesn't really do either category a great deal of justice. The travelers are moving too fast to spend meaningful time in any of the locales they visit. Thus, the observations they make about the places they visit wind up reading as a bit shallow. And although there are a few mishaps, most notably a moment when the couple gets separated at a dock, the trip is relatively incident free.
Still, Stevenson has a journalist's eye for dialogue and detail, and the book moves along at a breezy pace. Although I don't think I'd want to replicate this journey, it was fun to live vicariously through Rebecca and Seth's experiences. They do meet some interesting characters and gain a point of view on the ways in which people navigate the surface of this crazy planet we call home.
If you don't expect too much from this book, I think you'll find it enjoyable. It's a quick, fun, light read. Just don't plan to learn too much about other countries or cultures.
I find travelogues rewarding and I enjoy adventure stories. This book is meant to be in those genres, but doesn't really do either category a great deal of justice. The travelers are moving too fast to spend meaningful time in any of the locales they visit. Thus, the observations they make about the places they visit wind up reading as a bit shallow. And although there are a few mishaps, most notably a moment when the couple gets separated at a dock, the trip is relatively incident free.
Still, Stevenson has a journalist's eye for dialogue and detail, and the book moves along at a breezy pace. Although I don't think I'd want to replicate this journey, it was fun to live vicariously through Rebecca and Seth's experiences. They do meet some interesting characters and gain a point of view on the ways in which people navigate the surface of this crazy planet we call home.
If you don't expect too much from this book, I think you'll find it enjoyable. It's a quick, fun, light read. Just don't plan to learn too much about other countries or cultures.
July 31, 2022
Three-line review: Fed up with their lives, Stevenson and his girlfriend, Rebecca, sell or store all their belongings and take off on an around-the-world trip in which all transportation must remain at ground level (plane, train, bus, bike, etc.). This sets the story up for a potentially interesting premise, only it turns out their goal truly is to travel around the world and not really spend any time in any of the places they pass through -- and when they are anywhere for any significant period of time (whether that's on an ocean liner or waiting for their next train to leave), their chosen activity is to drink. It was disappointing, uninspiring, shallow, and a waste of a journey.
November 6, 2020
Great book, but the authors tone toward obese people, older people, “sturdy women” really turned me off. Hi it’s me, the apologetic obese person hoping you don’t sit next to me on the plane and that if you ever happen to come across one of my sturdy grandparents, you don’t describe them rudely as such. Also, if you ever happened to see my great grandparents hobble over to the dance floor, with a smile on their face. Surely you would have seen the smile and not the hobble. May you forever be thin, young, and able to not hobble in your life time.
June 7, 2024
A solid 3.5. His hatred of airplanes is grating on me and honestly he didn’t stop or do any great writing at the destinations he went to. At the end he says by taking airplane we are missing out on adventure…. He didn’t really do anything too adventurous! Most of it was on trains where he had maybe one conversation with someone so I felt he had never been in that pace at all. Some were worse than airplanes which is fine. I liked his writing and I liked his girlfriend. I wish it had been written by her instead
August 20, 2017
I can't recall an instance in travel literature where I've been more fascinated by someone's journey and less sympathetic to the narrative perspective. The overland travel Seth Stevenson and his partner undertake in this book is creative and brave, but the tale of their journey lacks depth. It would seem that it is both possible to travel the earth at its surface and to nevertheless come back having had only surface experiences to recount.
March 25, 2020
Ambitious book. Spends too much time talking about shipping containers. Not enough wonder for destinations and new cultures. I love travel, and love budget/backpacking travel dearly. This, like Map for Saturday, feels like it wasn't really for me.
My favorite part was the bike tour in Vietnam, and Stevenson's insight into how incessant travel can become a sort of mundane real life too.
My favorite part was the bike tour in Vietnam, and Stevenson's insight into how incessant travel can become a sort of mundane real life too.
March 24, 2024
DNF @ 21%
Just another boring pedestrian whose idea of a good time is getting drunk, doing drugs, and looking at pornography masquerading as art. I'm already concerned that they don't seem to actually be doing any exploring of their stops along the way - which is the whole point of travel. A brief skim of other reviews suggest this nonsensical hypocrisy continues to be a theme.
Just another boring pedestrian whose idea of a good time is getting drunk, doing drugs, and looking at pornography masquerading as art. I'm already concerned that they don't seem to actually be doing any exploring of their stops along the way - which is the whole point of travel. A brief skim of other reviews suggest this nonsensical hypocrisy continues to be a theme.
August 24, 2018
Agree with the review that said the guy pretty much drank his way around the world. For someone enamored of the idea of non-air travel, he doesn't have a lot of positive reviews of the other modes employed.
August 7, 2020
Started and couldn't finish. Great idea of a book and adventure, and well written. But as other reviewers have said well, it was all about getting from point A to point B, with little enjoyment at each point.
February 8, 2021
I had been hoping for more description about other countries. It was a novel idea to travel around the world without using planes, but the author could have given us more material about what made the destinations worth going to.
January 16, 2022
I appreciate travel books, especially in this pandemic, and this is a new perspective on traveling via only boats, trains, or cars. It's a light read and enjoyable, although the author's sense of humor is a little strange for me.
March 5, 2023
Apparently travel by ship, train, and bus is fueled mainly by alcohol. I am surprised that the author and his girlfriend made it without liver failure.
He makes slow travel seem meditative, but also boring. And exhausting.
He makes slow travel seem meditative, but also boring. And exhausting.
August 18, 2022
Love this book! :)
December 12, 2022
Certainly an interesting idea and successfully executed, but it just felt as if there was more of the experience that didn’t quite make into the book and so there went the tale.
March 21, 2025
Seth and Rebecca want to travel the world, but they absolutely do not want to travel by plane. So it becomes a (often uncomfortable) journey by freighter, bus, train, bicycle, taxis and cruise ships.
I enjoyed experiencing the adventure with them while reading, but it was sometimes very rushed, they did not often take the time to enjoy the places they visited but were always busy with (planning) the next distance that had to be covered.
I enjoyed experiencing the adventure with them while reading, but it was sometimes very rushed, they did not often take the time to enjoy the places they visited but were always busy with (planning) the next distance that had to be covered.
May 23, 2010
This book is like the opposite of the movie "Up in the Air". If George Clooney's character adores airplanes and airport, Seth Stevenson just hate them, or in his own words: "We despise airplanes and all they stand for." Now, I don't have such strong feelings against airplanes, but if I have to choose between Seth and George Clooney, then I'm with Seth!
Now, when I finished reading the book, I thought that 'It's not about the destination, it's about the journey' might be a good beginning to describe my thoughts about this book, but as more as I thought about it, it occurred to me that this book is actually both about the journey and the destination.
True, Seth and his girlfriend Rebecca are moving quite fast from one place to another in their way to circumnavigate the world. They don't spend too much time in each of the interesting places they visit on the way, which can be understandable if you use any possible means of transportation other than airplane and don't have couple of years to dedicate for the challenge you took on yourself.
So why it's also about the destination? because as Seth explains in the book and I totally agree with him - when you travel by airplane, you might get somewhere but "your soul never completely leaves home". Our ability to fully enjoy new, as well as familiar destinations, when we're "teleporting from airport to airport" is clearly limited. So when we travel somewhere by a train or a bus, not only that we have the ability to enjoy the journey, our experience once we get to the destination is much more enriched.
For me, Seth and Rebecca's travelogue is not about nostalgia to the days where most people traveled by trains, ships or buses, but an offer to alternative travel, a more sustainable and fulfilling one. You reduce your carbon footprint and at the same time increase the number of adventures as well as the level of intimacy you'll reach with people, cultures and places.
Somehow I got here philosophical when all I actually wanted to say that this is a great book. I love to travel and I had my share with 40-hour bus travel in Brazil, ramshackle buses in Guatemala, night drives in a small jeep in India, road trip in Australia and so on, so I immediately got into the travel mood of the book and followed with pleasure every bit of their long journey.
Last but not least, once I finished this book I knew I'll have to go to the library and get my hands on "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne, which is an inspiration for Seth, who keeps getting back to this book especially in times of difficulties, and a great book in general.
Bottom Line: A great book to read before, during and after you travel, even on an airplane, although it goes much better with a nice and long ride on a train or a bus!
You can read the full review at http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2010/05...
Now, when I finished reading the book, I thought that 'It's not about the destination, it's about the journey' might be a good beginning to describe my thoughts about this book, but as more as I thought about it, it occurred to me that this book is actually both about the journey and the destination.
True, Seth and his girlfriend Rebecca are moving quite fast from one place to another in their way to circumnavigate the world. They don't spend too much time in each of the interesting places they visit on the way, which can be understandable if you use any possible means of transportation other than airplane and don't have couple of years to dedicate for the challenge you took on yourself.
So why it's also about the destination? because as Seth explains in the book and I totally agree with him - when you travel by airplane, you might get somewhere but "your soul never completely leaves home". Our ability to fully enjoy new, as well as familiar destinations, when we're "teleporting from airport to airport" is clearly limited. So when we travel somewhere by a train or a bus, not only that we have the ability to enjoy the journey, our experience once we get to the destination is much more enriched.
For me, Seth and Rebecca's travelogue is not about nostalgia to the days where most people traveled by trains, ships or buses, but an offer to alternative travel, a more sustainable and fulfilling one. You reduce your carbon footprint and at the same time increase the number of adventures as well as the level of intimacy you'll reach with people, cultures and places.
Somehow I got here philosophical when all I actually wanted to say that this is a great book. I love to travel and I had my share with 40-hour bus travel in Brazil, ramshackle buses in Guatemala, night drives in a small jeep in India, road trip in Australia and so on, so I immediately got into the travel mood of the book and followed with pleasure every bit of their long journey.
Last but not least, once I finished this book I knew I'll have to go to the library and get my hands on "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne, which is an inspiration for Seth, who keeps getting back to this book especially in times of difficulties, and a great book in general.
Bottom Line: A great book to read before, during and after you travel, even on an airplane, although it goes much better with a nice and long ride on a train or a bus!
You can read the full review at http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2010/05...
July 24, 2015
Declaração de interesses: não gosto de escalas de 1 a 5, porque cortam demasiadas zonas intermédias. Duas estrelas em cinco é uma classificação abaixo de 50% (logo, negativa), e este livro não é um mau livro. É apenas um mero "it was ok", como aparece na descrição destas duas estrelas à Goodreads.
Ora, como o título deixa antever, esta obra trata da viagem à volta do mundo, sempre sem utilizar o avião, que um jovem casal norte-americano decidiu empreender, largando para trás uma existência rotineira. Não serão os primeiros nem os últimos a fazê-lo e eu, que gosto de viajar e de literatura de viagens, só agradeço a que se vá escrevendo este tipo de relatos.
Na prática, e ao contrário de outros livros de autores mais "maduros", este "A Terra vista da Terra" lê-se com grande rapidez, em parte pela escrita muito linear e quase desinspirada do autor que, contudo, tem algum sentido de humor. É um livro leve, engraçado; é como um aperitivo contra uma boa refeição completa.
Mas então o autor e a sua namorada não percorreram o mundo, sem nunca usar um avião? Que espetáculo de viagem deve ter sido! Sim, acredito que foi uma viagem fascinante, mas isto, só por si, deveria render mais umas estrelitas na pontuação...
E "A Terra vista da Terra" não me consegue levar mais que duas estrelas porque é demasiado comedido nessa arte de mostrar o mundo a quem está confortavelmente sentado a ler. Por exemplo: o autor gasta muitos parágrafos a comparar o transporte aéreo com qualquer meio de transporte aquático ou terrestre. É uma perspetiva interessante quando pensamos na evolução das viagens ao longo do tempo, mas rapidamente se torna maçador, como se estivéssemos perante um manifesto anti viajar de avião. E, entretanto, já se perdeu imenso da Europa central...
Por outro lado, viajar à volta do mundo, que fantástico! Mas Seth Stevenson acaba por cair no cliché norte-americano do "que vida tão monótona; vou largar tudo e partir". Porque um ideia e oportunidade tão boas acabam por se reduzir a um cliché quando muitas vezes o passatempo preferido do casal foi, basicamente, ingerir doses copiosas de álcool noite após noite. E, não raras vezes, o maior objetivo ao chegar a determinada parte do globo parece ser descobrir como sair de lá para "queimar" os próximos quilómetros. E não consegui impedir de me perguntar: para andar sempre com tanta pressa, e frequentemente num grau maior ou menor de embriaguez, afinal qual foi a marca que ficou de uma viagem de mais de 40 000km?
Em jeito de resumo, este não é um mau livro e é, até, um bom entretenimento. Mas passa totalmente ao lado de ser um bom livro de viagens, o que é uma pena, tendo em conta a diversidade de locais percorridos.
Ora, como o título deixa antever, esta obra trata da viagem à volta do mundo, sempre sem utilizar o avião, que um jovem casal norte-americano decidiu empreender, largando para trás uma existência rotineira. Não serão os primeiros nem os últimos a fazê-lo e eu, que gosto de viajar e de literatura de viagens, só agradeço a que se vá escrevendo este tipo de relatos.
Na prática, e ao contrário de outros livros de autores mais "maduros", este "A Terra vista da Terra" lê-se com grande rapidez, em parte pela escrita muito linear e quase desinspirada do autor que, contudo, tem algum sentido de humor. É um livro leve, engraçado; é como um aperitivo contra uma boa refeição completa.
Mas então o autor e a sua namorada não percorreram o mundo, sem nunca usar um avião? Que espetáculo de viagem deve ter sido! Sim, acredito que foi uma viagem fascinante, mas isto, só por si, deveria render mais umas estrelitas na pontuação...
E "A Terra vista da Terra" não me consegue levar mais que duas estrelas porque é demasiado comedido nessa arte de mostrar o mundo a quem está confortavelmente sentado a ler. Por exemplo: o autor gasta muitos parágrafos a comparar o transporte aéreo com qualquer meio de transporte aquático ou terrestre. É uma perspetiva interessante quando pensamos na evolução das viagens ao longo do tempo, mas rapidamente se torna maçador, como se estivéssemos perante um manifesto anti viajar de avião. E, entretanto, já se perdeu imenso da Europa central...
Por outro lado, viajar à volta do mundo, que fantástico! Mas Seth Stevenson acaba por cair no cliché norte-americano do "que vida tão monótona; vou largar tudo e partir". Porque um ideia e oportunidade tão boas acabam por se reduzir a um cliché quando muitas vezes o passatempo preferido do casal foi, basicamente, ingerir doses copiosas de álcool noite após noite. E, não raras vezes, o maior objetivo ao chegar a determinada parte do globo parece ser descobrir como sair de lá para "queimar" os próximos quilómetros. E não consegui impedir de me perguntar: para andar sempre com tanta pressa, e frequentemente num grau maior ou menor de embriaguez, afinal qual foi a marca que ficou de uma viagem de mais de 40 000km?
Em jeito de resumo, este não é um mau livro e é, até, um bom entretenimento. Mas passa totalmente ao lado de ser um bom livro de viagens, o que é uma pena, tendo em conta a diversidade de locais percorridos.
November 24, 2011
This is a travel book by Slate's then-travel-writer (and he may still be for all I know). Premise is he and his wife quit everything (she, her high-powered Washington D.C. lawfirm job) to take some months and travel around the world entirely by surface transport. No planes. They take a freighter to Europe, trains into Russia and across European Russia into asian Russia (to the extent that the Ural mountains can actually be said to divide a "European" from an "Asian" continent at all, because it certainly looks to me like a bunch of Europeans a century or two ago picked the Ural mountains as a somewhat arbitrary boundary beyond which was the "other"..., but that's another story), to Vladivostok, freighter to Japan, trains around, freighter to China, trains, bus to Thailand, bikes and cars though to Singapore, freighter to Australia, cruise ship to Los Angeles, Amtrak back to New York.
There are a lot of amusing bits. Also, don't believe the reviews on Amazon.com that talk about how nasty and condescending and petty the writer is. I simply didn't get that at all, and I would get that. With one exception: he is NOT A FAN of fat, diabetic rich old people taking cruises that simply go in a circle. I'm guessing a lot of the reveiws were written by people unsympathetic with his view on that. But even there, and elsewhere, he seems genuinely interested in those he meets, and at least as quick to mock himself as to mock anyone else. Descriptions of traveling by freighter are great. Descriptions of place in docks, and in various exotic (to me) places are great.
Substantively, I question the whole travel by surface thing. He's all into the idea that you don't really know you've traveled if you just fly there, it seems unreal. To which I say, "Well, Seth, you know what also makes you feel like you haven't really travelled? --- if you only get to spend a day in Sydney because you arbitrarily had to take freighters and cruise ships in and out, when you could have flown and spent a week in Sydney." Ironically, this "surface-transport" requirement makes him like just the circular cruisers he shows distaste for: it's just that his circle, which is also all about the journey, not the destination, is around the globe. Strange to see him describe freighter life for pages and pages, but spend a paragraph on a major asian city. Anyway, it's not totally clear he is aware of that irony. Me? -- I'm 80%-to-90% about the destination.
Upshot: Bill Bryson he is not (and who is?), but this is a very good travel book from a talented and amusing writer.
There are a lot of amusing bits. Also, don't believe the reviews on Amazon.com that talk about how nasty and condescending and petty the writer is. I simply didn't get that at all, and I would get that. With one exception: he is NOT A FAN of fat, diabetic rich old people taking cruises that simply go in a circle. I'm guessing a lot of the reveiws were written by people unsympathetic with his view on that. But even there, and elsewhere, he seems genuinely interested in those he meets, and at least as quick to mock himself as to mock anyone else. Descriptions of traveling by freighter are great. Descriptions of place in docks, and in various exotic (to me) places are great.
Substantively, I question the whole travel by surface thing. He's all into the idea that you don't really know you've traveled if you just fly there, it seems unreal. To which I say, "Well, Seth, you know what also makes you feel like you haven't really travelled? --- if you only get to spend a day in Sydney because you arbitrarily had to take freighters and cruise ships in and out, when you could have flown and spent a week in Sydney." Ironically, this "surface-transport" requirement makes him like just the circular cruisers he shows distaste for: it's just that his circle, which is also all about the journey, not the destination, is around the globe. Strange to see him describe freighter life for pages and pages, but spend a paragraph on a major asian city. Anyway, it's not totally clear he is aware of that irony. Me? -- I'm 80%-to-90% about the destination.
Upshot: Bill Bryson he is not (and who is?), but this is a very good travel book from a talented and amusing writer.
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