Travel

The deepest cave on earth was a prize that had remained unclaimed for centuries, long after every other ultimate discovery had been made: both poles by 1912, Everest in 1958, the Challenger Deep in 1961. In 1969 we even walked on the moon. And yet as late as 2000, the earth’s deepest cave—the supercave—remained undiscovered. This is the story of the men and women who risked everything to find it, earning their place in history beside the likes of Peary, Amundsen, Hillary, and Armstrong. In 2... more info>>

Now in paperback, the #1 San Francisco Chronicle bestseller that is an enchanting and lyrical look at the life, the traditions, and the cuisine of Tuscany, in the spirit of Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence. Frances Mayes entered a wondrous new world when she began restoring an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside. There were unexpected treasures at every turn: faded frescos beneath the whitewash in her dining room, a vineyard under wildly overgrown brambles in the garden, and, i... more info>>

The author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself--and her readers--in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places. A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes--a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous pleasures found in unlikely locales, of memory woven into the present, and of a joyous sense of quest. An ideal travel companion, Frances Mayes brings to th... more info>>

The Costa Brava is perhaps the most unfairly maligned stretch of coast in Europe, long derided as a tacky, package--holiday destination, an image based solely on a couple of towns at its southern end. In truth, it is a diverse region of great natural beauty, with a rich cultural heritage and plenty to keep you occupied, whether you want secluded beaches, walled towns or chic restaurants and nightlife. Costa Brava DIRECTIONS has everything you need to get the most out of a short break or a long h... more info>>

A riveting account of the astonishing experiences and discoveries made by linguist Daniel Everett while he lived with the Piraha, a small tribe of Amazonian Indians in central Brazil. Everett, then a Christian missionary, arrived among the Piraha in 1977--with his wife and three young children--intending to convert them. What he found was a language that defies all existing linguistic theories and reflects a way of life that evades contemporary understanding: The Piraha have no counting system a... more info>>

THE ALASKA INTERIOR April 27th, 1992 Greetings from Fairbanks! This is the last you shall hear from me, Wayne. Arrived here 2 days ago. It was very difficult to catch rides in the Yukon Territory. But I finally got here. Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return South. If this adventure proves fatal and you don't ever hear from me again I want you to know you're a great man. I now walk into the wild.--Alex. (Postcard received by Wayne Westerberg... more info>>

"The wind was blowing at hurricane strength-sixty-five knots and over--and increasing in the gusts to eighty knots. His boat was surfing on waves as high as a sixty-foot, six-storey building ... Each wave that struck choked and froze him, the icy water working its way down inside his survival suit."--from Close to the Wind by Pete Goss. In Near Death on the High Seas, Cecil Kuhne collects some of the most terrifying and astounding experiences of sailors confronting the awesome, raw power of the ... more info>>

As a young child in Naples, Italy, Sergio Esposito sat at his kitchen table observing the daily ritual of his large, loud family bonding over fresh local dishes and simple country wines. While devouring the rich bufala mozzarella, still sopping with milk and salt, and the platters of fresh prosciutto, sliced so thin he could see through it, he absorbed the profound relationship of food, wine, and family in Italian culture. Growing up in Albany, New York, after emigrating there with his family, h... more info>>

If you’re visiting Prague because you’ve heard it’s a beautiful city, you’re unlikely to be disappointed. With some 600 years of architectural heritage virtually untouched by war or natural disaster, Prague is almost unique among European capitals, few of which look as good as the Czech Republic’s. Prague still has much of its medieval layout and the centre is compact, making it a great place to explore on foot. And cheap too, meaning its most popular neighbourhoods... more info>>

In the tradition of A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, acclaimed English travel writer Tahir Shah shares a highly entertaining account of making an exotic dream come true. By turns hilarious and harrowing, here is the story of his family's move from the gray skies of London to the sun-drenched city of Casablanca, where Islamic tradition and African folklore converge--and nothing is as easy as it seems.... Inspired by the Moroccan vacations of his childhood, Tahir Shah dreamed of making... more info>>

Like so many others, David Lebovitz dreamed about living in Paris ever since he first visited the city in the 1980s. Finally, after a nearly two-decade career as a pastry chef and cookbook author, he moved to Paris to start a new life. Having crammed all his worldly belongings into three suitcases, he arrived, hopes high, at his new apartment in the lively Bastille neighborhood. But he soon discovered it's a different world en France.From learning the ironclad rules of social conduct to the myst... more info>>

Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life--from six weeks to four months to two years--to discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Rolf Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel. Potts gives the necessary information on: financing your travel time; determining your destination; adjusting to life on the road; working and volunteering overseas; handling travel adversity; re-assi... more info>>

Fill your lungs with country air, ride horsebak through a lush valley, spy on starfish, or hike into the desert--and still return to a good meal, fresh sheets, and a hot shower. Our accommodations are handpicked according to four criteria--wilderness setting, serenity, seclusion, and environmental awareness--then divided into categories that describe the experience.

Ten information-packed chapters make up this engaging guide to women's travel for the growing number of women--young, old, single, married, divorced, and widowed--who are hitting the road. The guide covers everything from fabulous birthday getaways to the best places to heal, shop, and bond with friends and family. The trip choices range widely and and entice--and suit every occasion, mood, and pocketbook. From fun-filled weekends in New York, Quebec, and San Francisco to festive forays to Las V... more info>>

When novelist and former editor Bunty Avieson's husband found his work led him to India and the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, Bunty decided to take her young baby and travel with him. This resulting travel narrative outlines the joys and horrors of travelling in the developing world with a small child.

It's the peak of orange harvesting season at the Kerrs' little farm in the entrancing Tramuntana Mountains of Mallorca, and the family are trying to relax into their new life on the sunny Spanish island. But it's also crunch time and, after an eventful first year, hard facts have to be faced. Will all the work they've invested in restoring their finca provide them with a decent living, or will their dream turn into a nightmare? Will Peter's new-found aptitude for manananess delay their home impr... more info>>

An account of a journey through Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in 1950. This is an illuminating and entertaining portrait of a civilization before it changed out of all recognition, painted by one of the great travel writers of the twentieth century.

Offers a guide to New York's infamous mob landmarks, including ganster trivia and tips on where to find the best calzone in the city.

The Africa of his ancestry, the Caribbean of his birth, the Britain of his upbringing, and the United States where he now lives are the focal points of award-winning writer Caryl Phillips? profound inquiry into evolving notions of home, identity, and belonging in an increasingly international society.At once deeply reflective and coolly prescient, A New World Order charts the psychological frontiers of our ever-changing world. Through personal and literary encounters, Phillips probes the meaning... more info>>

In A Sarong in my Backpack, Ayun Halliday explores the high-octane underbelly of the low-budget backpacker lifestyle. From drug-induced Apocalypse Now reenactments in Vietnam and trouble in the red light district in Amsterdam to an unexpected encounter on a camel in Pushkar, Ayun offers an armchair portal on the experiences of the shoestring traveller. With a knack for inserting herself in bizarre situations around the globe, Ayun shares the travel stories most are too selfconscious to reveal.

At the age of twenty-eight, stuck in a dead-end job in London, and on the run from a broken heart, Bryce Corbett takes a job in Paris, home of l'amour and la vie boheme; he is determined to make the city his own--no matter how many bottles of Bordeaux it takes. He rents an apartment in Le Marais, the heart of the city's gay district, hardly the ideal place for a guy hoping to woo French women. He quickly settles into the French work/life balance with its mandatory lunch hour and six weeks of pai... more info>>

This is not just another travel book. Nor is it your standard history book. It is a literary adventure that takes you exploring the history and culture that made Greece what it was and is. Call it history on the hoof, your personal discovery of a whole new kind of travel experience. Sit with Agamemnon in the palace chamber where he gathered his chiefs to plan the expedition against Troy. Stand on the knoll at Thermopylae where remnants of the Spartan three hundred were cut down by a storm of Per... more info>>

This book is for travelers with a taste for history and an interest in how things they see got to be the way they are. What it is about is an exploration of what long tradition calls the Highway to Heaven, El Camino de Santiago--a motor-walking junket guided by that highway across Northern Spain. The history in this book focuses on the famed pilgrimage road, El Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. It is an ancient route that courses through rugged mountains and across often-desolate plains ... more info>>

"Wonderful...I fell immediately into her world, and was sorry when I reached the end."--Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan SunThe sparkling memoir of an idyllic, bohemian childhood in an enchanted Tuscan castle between the wars.When Kinta Beeevor was five, her father, the painter Aubrey Waterfield, bought the sixteenth-century Fortezza della Brunella in the Tuscan village of Aulla. There her parents were part of a vibrant artistic community that included Aldous Huxley, Bernard Berenson, a... more info>>

In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal ... more info>>