When we aren’t living out of a suitcase we are armchair travelers. It’s the easiest of getaways requiring no more preparation and planning than opening a book’s cover (or flipping a switch and downloading, for those techie’s out there).
We’ve often found that our favorite books are not those we we’ve selected, but those that have been recommended to us by friends. So I’ve asked a few blogosphere friends to make some recommendations. . .novels, guidebooks, essays, poetry. . .whatever they think would make for an armchair getaway in 2012. Here’s what they suggest:
Outdoor Adventure Travel
TITLE: 
“Lost Angel Walkabout: One Traveler’s Tales” (CreateSpace, 2010)
AUTHOR: Linda Ballou
Recommended by: Dick Jordan, San Anselmo, California.
About this collection of travel narratives, Dick wrote, “Linda’s travels have taken her on a wide path across much of the globe. One of the reasons I enjoyed her book so much is that I have actually ventured – albeit as a less adventurous traveler – to several of the places she writes about in Alaska, Arizona, the British Virgin Islands, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana and Wyoming.”
Freelance travel writer Dick Jordan, when not on the road, makes his home in Northern California. He writes one of our favorite travel blogs, Tales Told From the Road.
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TITLE: “The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest,” (Simon and Schuster, 2001)
AUTHORS: Conrad Anker and David Roberts
Recommended by: Niki Sepsas, Birmingham, Alabama and the High Seas
George Leigh Mallory was last seen alive on Mt. Everest in June, 1924. In 1999 professional mountaineer and co-author Anker discovered Mallory’s mummified remains. “Interesting read on Mallory, his adventures, and his death on Everest. Authors are still trying to determine if he actually reached the summit. Lots of vivid descriptions, theories on his death, etc.” Niki said.
Birmingham, Alabama is home to freelance writer, travel guide and cruise ship speaker Niki Sepsas, who has among his writing credits, a novel,“Song of the Gypsy.”
The Greek Connection
TITLE: "Greece on My Wheels” (Summersdale Publishers, Ltd., 2003)
AUTHOR: Edward Enfield
Recommended by: Bill Kitson, North Yorkshire, England
Enfield, in this lighthearted and entertaining book, tells of his adventures biking through the Peloponnese in the footsteps of romantic poet Lord Byron.
“This book could only have been written by an Englishman. . .for two reasons,” Bill wrote, “One that the humour is archetypal English and two, I doubt whether any other nationality but the English would be daft enough to have undertaken this adventure.”
North Yorkshire, England is home-base for Bill Kitson who has brought detective Mike Nash to life in a series of nail-biter crime novels; but he and his wife/editor, Val, hold Loutro, Crete close to their hearts as well.
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By coincidence, another blogosphere friend,
Jeffrey Siger, shares the Kitson’s love of Greece and by further coincidence, writes about murder as well. He shares a blog with seven other mystery writers around the world so he was unable to suggest only one book - he says head around the world with the books of those with whom he shares the blog,
Murder is Everywhere:
“If you are interested in a trip to
Thailand, read
Tim Hallinan;
France, Cara Black;
Brazil, Leighton Gage;
Iceland, Yrsa Sigurdardottir; England, Dan Waddell; or
South Africa, Michael Stanley,” he recommends. And if you are interested in
Greece. . .
Jeffrey Siger gave up a New York law practice to move to the island of Mykonos, Greece where he has given life to Inspector Andreas Kaldis in a series of murder mysteries set in Greece.
Afghanistan from the Armchair
TITLE: Born Under A Million Shadows (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2010)
AUTHOR: Andrea Busfield
RECOMMENDED BY: Suzi Butcher, London
Suzi said, “Sometimes books take us to places we are unlikely to be able to travel to ourselves - like Afghanistan! I especially like this novel as it is filled with gentle humour, despite the obvious tragedy of the current situation. It is the story of an Afghan boy whose mother works for three Westerners, and his perception of what they get up to is often hilarious as well as extremely moving.”
Suzi Butcher is the editor of Packabook Travel Novels a great website to both browse and buy books and a related blog that showcases novels and novel destinations. She also has a fabulous on-line book club that you can join for free!
And Just One More. . .
By now your armchair suitcase should be full, but if not, let us add a final recommendation:
TITLE: Book Lust To Go Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds and Dreamers. (Sasquatch Books, 2010)
AUTHOR: Nancy Pearl
Nancy Pearl was
the librarian at Seattle’s Public Library; famous for her love of books and reading. She gave rise to the program,
“If All Seattle Read the Same Book” which caught on in cities throughout the United States.
Since her retirement from that post, she continues to do what she did best as a librarian – find great reads and recommend them. She has three
“Book Lust” titles to her credit, but this one is perfect for armchair travelers. And don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a list of books, it is a book about books from A – Z; beginning with A is for Adventure and ending with Zipping through Zimbabwe – a great read on its own.
Note: I’ve added links on the titles which will take you to Amazon for each of the books recommended. There you'll find more description and reviews. If you purchase from one of these links we make a few cents, but that isn't our intent. This post is meant to provide new armchair itineraries. Thanks to those who contributed suggestions - may you all have safe and satisfying journeys in 2012.
YOUR TURN! What armchair itinerary do you want to add to this list?
We were on our way to Las Vegas yesterday, our annual trip to watch college football games on big screen televisions in Sports Books found in nearly every casino in town when it all began. I wrote about our similar trip last year and had planned not to even mention this trip That was until Lady Luck – or Lady Un-luck – struck before I’d even left Seattle. 
Again, I passed with flying colors. . .I was free to go. And on the bright side, we didn’t have to wait long at all to board our flight.
TITLE: "Greece on My Wheels” (Summersdale Publishers, Ltd., 2003) 
TITLE: Book Lust To Go Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds and Dreamers. (Sasquatch Books, 2010)
In Osuna more than 250,000 kilograms of olives are refined every day and 30 million liters of oil are bottled each year.
Across town at another processing plant, the entry gate displays the generations who’ve carried on the family’s oil production since it was begun by Daniel Espuny Aleixendri.
These bottles now have a place of honor on our kitchen counter. Not only is the oil superb for eating, but its taste – and smell – are great reminders of our short stay in The Land of Olives. 
It’s a long way off, or so it sounds right now, but it was even more futuristic back when we set the trip in motion eight months ago. It began with a $200 deposit on a future cruise, paid while we were sailing across the Atlantic in May on Celebrity’s Solstice. 
Thanks to Joel’s diligence (it took calls made over a three-day time span to book the flights because of time changes we’ll experience on our return flight) we will fly to San Francisco on Alaska Air and there connect with Cathay Pacific which will take us to Asia. That airline will also return us to Vancouver, B.C. and we will fly Alaska Air home. The Asia flight is some 14 hours so we’ve each used 100,000 Alaska Air miles to secure Business Class seats. . .which will make the flight almost fun.
The languages and words may differ, but the wish they carry is the same the world over:
But when it came to the food and football fest usually associated with Thanksgiving, I can assure you, we had both. Just not in their usual trappings. 
Food orders for our sailing had been made eight weeks in advance and shipped to the Constellation by container from Florida.
And we had two bloggers in its midst! Galyna Tate, (pictured here with her husband, William,) writes about her homeland, Ukraine. I’ve been following her blog since our return – it’s entertaining and informative. Just click this link and see for yourself: Galyna's Ukraine
