Travel Writing Memoirs

Manny Ansar and Iyad Ag Ghali had little in common - one was a politically connected intellectual, the other a rebel waging war on behalf of his nomadic people in the middle of the Sahara. They did share one thing, though: a passion for Mali's desert blues, a haunting mix of traditional music infused with the influence of Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, and Jimi Hendrix.

Joan Didion has always kept notebooks: of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles. Here is one such draft that traces a road trip she took with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. She interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, a ladies' brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters' Convention.

Brought to you by Penguin. In this collection of profiles, essays and travel stories, Chatwin takes us to Benin, where he is arrested as a mercenary during a coup; to Boston to meet an LSD guru who believes he is Christ; to India with Indira Ghandi when she attempted a political comeback in 1978; and to Nepal where he reminds us that 'Man's real home is not a house, but the Road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot'.

For 10 years Bill Stokes was a roving reporter and columnist for the Milwaukee Journal. He has written reams of material about his vivid impressions of people, animals, events, personal activities, and "things in general". Bill Stokes obviously enjoys his role as Wisconsin's favorite journalist. In this delightful book he shares that fun with all.

Growing up in Tehran in the 1960s, Terence Ward and his brothers were watched over by Hassan, the family’s cook, housekeeper, and cultural guide. After an absence of 30 years and much turmoil in Iran, Ward embarks on a quixotic pilgrimage with his family in search of their lost friend. However, as they set out on this improbable quest with no address or phone number, their only hope lies in their mother’s small black and white photograph taken decades before.

Does the geographic cure actually work? Through a fast-paced journey of saying yes to the unfamiliar, pack your bags and set out into the world with a gay Jew determined to answer that universal question of Seriously...What Am I Doing Here?

Zwischen dem 18. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert entstand eine Vielzahl historischer Reisebeschreibungen und Reisetagebücher. Dieses Hörbuch entführt auf eine Hör-Reise in ferne Länder und andere Kulturen. Roald Amundsen und Robert F. Scott erleben einen mörderischen Zweikampf in antarktischem Eis in "Wettlauf zum Pol". Die Schriftsteller Lou Andreas-Salomé und Rainer Maria Rilke schildern "Russische Impressionen". Der berühmte Offizier und Übersetzer Sir Richard Francis Burton begibt sich inkognito und unter Lebensgefahr auf eine "Pilgerfahrt nach Medina und Mekka", während Charles Darwin wichtige Entdeckungen in der Südsee auf seiner "Reise auf der Beagle" macht.

Her entire life, Anne Friedman chased everything that society told her she should want: Marriage. Professional achievement. Thighs that didn’t touch. But all that got her was depression, anxiety, and disordered eating. When her fiancé dumps her without explanation, she buys a one-way ticket to Costa Rica in search of answers.

In 1943, Austrian adventurer Heinrich Harrer escaped from a British internment camp in India and traveled through the rugged Himalayas seeking refuge from the war. He ended up in the Forbidden City of Lhasa in Tibet, with no money or permission to be in the country. His intelligence and his European ways intrigued the curious young Dalai Lama, and Harrer became his tutor and trusted confidant.

'In my dreams, I was always in some vast landscape on a long, straight road. Driving. Always driving.' Gwenda had always loved the open road, but her home town of Newcastle didn't really offer the sort of adventure she longed for. So, in 1957, with friend and fellow nurse Pat in tow, she left the dismal British winter behind and embarked on an amazing American adventure.

The incredible true story of four ordinary working mums from Yorkshire who took on an extraordinary challenge and broke a world record along the way, proving it's never too late to go on a life-changing adventure, experience the beauty and power of the elements, push the very limits of your abilities and rediscover who you are.

After living in Greece for 13 years, writer and reluctant olive farmer Rob Johnson has got used to most of the things that he and his partner Penny found so bizarre at the beginning. Most, but not all. A Kilo of String is the story-so-far of this not-particularly-plucky couple’s often bewildering experiences among the descendants of Sophocles, Plato, and Nana Mouskouri with occasional digressions into total irrelevances.

Named one of Time Magazine International's 30 most important people of 2005, Maud Fontenoy presents us with a terrific, entertaining adventure story on the high seas as she challenges the Pacific Ocean - a feat no woman before her ever accomplished. Already the first woman to row alone across the North Atlantic, Maud raised the bar to defy the elements, the daunting solitude, and the circling sharks of the South Pacific on her second solo voyage.

Este libro reúne los mejores y más celebrados escritos de Simón Elías: piezas breves y bravas, escritas, en muchos casos, a veinte grados bajo cero, y que dan cuenta de sus pareceres sobre la vida en general y de sus andanzas por los caminos en particular. A medio camino entre la crónica de viaje, la reflexión sobre la escalada, el golferío nocturno, la filosofía básica y la épica del deporte de nulo rendimiento estos textos harán las delicias no solo de aficionados a la montaña, sino de cualquier aficionado a pasar un buen rato con un libro.

Tiziano Terzani, sapendo di essere arrivato alla fine del suo percorso, parla al figlio Folco di cos'è stata la sua vita e di cos'è la vita: "Se hai capito qualcosa, la vuoi lasciare lì in un pacchetto", dice. Così, all'Orsigna, sotto un albero a due passi dalla gompa, la sua casetta in stile tibetano, in uno stato d'animo meraviglioso, racconta di tutta una vita trascorsa a viaggiare per il mondo alla ricerca della verità.

Nacho Dean es un joven de 35 años que ha cumplido un sueño: ser el primer español en la historia en dar la vuelta al mundo a pie. En tres años ha atravesado 4 continentes y ha recorrido 33.000 km. Durante el camino presenció un atentado terrorista en Bangladesh, escuchó dingos aullando alrededor de su tienda de campaña en Australia, le intentaron asaltar con machetes miembros de las maras en El Salvador, estuvo frente a un rinoceronte en las junglas de Nepal, contrajo la fiebre chikungunya en México, probó la ayahuasca en Perú...

In Polish: Jacek Hugo-Bader once again embarks on a trip around Poland. He returns to matters, events, and places from 20-30 years ago. He meets with the people from the front pages of Gazeta Wyborcza: bandits, bums, converted, rednecks, and chosen - this is the face of modern Poland which is so easy to turn one's back to. The reporter discovers that his previous writings about these people were dwarfed by the stories which life wrote for them.

Durante siglos, los europeos situaron la legendaria ciudad de El Dorado en la selva más grande y densa del mundo: la del Amazonas. La obsesión por encontrar ese paraíso dejó la jungla impenetrable sembrada de cadáveres, lo que no fue impedimento para el explorador británico Percy Fawcett. Después de emprender una expedición tras otra sin éxito, en 1925 desapareció sin dejar rastro. En 2005, David Grann se adentró en el «infierno verde» para averiguar qué había ocurrido allí. El resultado es una reconstrucción magistral dela aventura de Percy Fawcett.

The City of Falling Angels opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. The loss of the Fenice, where five of Verdi's operas premiered, is a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving in Venice three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective - inquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable museum-city - while gradually revealing the truth about the fire.

Jim Payne follows the waterways of America, living a Tom Sawyer life in his 12-foot kayak, getting scared, soaked, and bailed out of trouble by Samaritans he discovers along the way. His escapades span the country, from the Hudson River to the Columbia, from the Mississippi to the Erie Canal. As Payne's adventures unfold, you never know what's around the next bend He's entrapped by security guards at Mount Vernon, loses his rudder off the Florida Keys, and sleeps in Franklin Roosevelt's bed.