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Even if you cannot afford to take a trip this year, or you can’t face the hassle of air travel, or you have used up all of your vacation time – you can still travel to far-off places from your armchair! The Mechanics’ Institute Library has an extensive collection of books and DVDs that can satisfy your wanderlust without the expense or frustration that travelling often entails. Not only does the Library keep an up-to-date supply of travel guides, but we also have acquired a wonderful selection of geography and descriptive travelogue books and DVDs representing a vast array of worldwide destinations.
Spend a little time on Balcony 2a, where the geography and travelogue books are located (call number range 910-919), and browse through the collection to stimulate your imagination. The travel DVDs are located on the 2nd floor with the other non-fiction DVDs.
Don’t forget to stop by and check out the Staff Picks display during July which will also feature travel books!
Here are some of my armchair traveler recommendations:
World’s Best Travel Experiences: 400 Extraordinary Places by the National Geographic Society (910.4 N277w)
This beautifully photographed book (what else would you expect from the folks from the National Geographic?!) presents 400 colorful, exotic and distinctly different locales that you might find to be your ‘best place in the world’. Since each reader would have a different ideal of their perfect vacation, this book tries to satisfy all tastes in travel by featuring Wild Places (chapter 1), Urban Spaces (chapter 2), Paradise Found (chapter 3), Country Unbound (chapter 4), and World Wonders (chapter 5).
The New York Times 36 Hours: 125 Weekends in Europe edited by Barbara Ireland (914.04 T447)
If you enjoy the weekly New York Times’ feature article ’36 Hours in…’ as a way to travel to exotic destinations vicariously through the experiences of the reporter, you are going to LOVE this book. Compiled and updated from all of the articles written about European destinations since 2006, this book is organized regionally (not alphabetically). In this way, the proposed itineraries are grouped the way most people travel – by country or region (i.e. the “N. Atlantic” region covers England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Belgium and The Netherlands). Each destination is covered in 5-6 pages with a concise itinerary, ‘The Basics’ information and beautiful pictures.
Almost Somewhere: Twenty-eight Days on the John Muir Trail by Suzanne Roberts (917.94 R647)
In 1993, prior to the proliferation of cell phones and GPS systems, a recent college graduate and her friends set out to hike the John Muir Trail (JMT) in California. This memoir is noteworthy because that college graduate was a woman hiking with two other women at a time when only 13% of the hikers who completed the JMT were female. Part travelogue, part coming-of-age story, you will enjoy the author’s journey to find herself and her place in nature.
Europe by Eurail: Celebrating 50 years of European Rail Travel (914 E892)
A picture book devoted to the wonders of European train travel. The chapters are organized by country and show many pictures of the trains, train stations and countryside one might experience when travelling by train in Europe.
The Tao of Travel: Enlightenments from Lives on the Road by Paul Theroux (910.4 T41)
Prolific writer and traveler, Paul Theroux, presents The Tao of Travel – a compilation of essays, quotes, and travel narratives by Theroux and other authors about the transformative nature of travel. The installments or chapters range from philosophical to anecdotal to practical – from “Murphy’s Rules of Travel” to “Everything is Edible Somewhere” to “Five Travel Epiphanies” and so many more! A true pleasure to read and linger over!
