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Last Updated
July 22, 2008

 

Backpacking Basics

 

The World Awaits

Excerpt from back of book:
"Many thousands of independent, adventurous Americans travel for extended periods in foreign lands every year.  On journeys counted in week and months, the modern explorers seek to discover and desire to be amazed, following itineraries shaped more by imagination than geography.  Most travel on a budget; all travel simply.  For these people, the desire for freedom and experience is too potent to ignore. "    ------Paul Otteson

Ever thought about grabbing a backpack and hitting the road?  You can do it!  Featuring dozens of photographs, The World Awaits offers encouragement and practical advice for independent travelers of all ages.  Experienced globetrotter Paul Otteson provides all the details you'll need to plan a fulfilling journey, traveling only with what you can fit in your pack on your back.  Topics covered include:

  • Travel Goals --what motivates us to travel
  • Travel Approaches--including a unique new approach called "threading"
  • Travel Preparation--how to plan, purchase, pack, and go
  • Life on the Road--how to meet the challenges of new languages, cultures, and politics

I really enjoyed reading this book.  Paul Otteson's insights on travel are fascinating and very helpful for a first time adventurer.  Definitely read this book before you go!--Kaaryn

 

 

First Time Europe a Rough Guide Special
"Looking to answer some pre-trip questions? This handy, entertaining, "How-to" manual
is the ideal planning tool for travelers to Europe. Focused on the nuts and bolts of travel -
saving money, staying healthy and getting the most out of your trip - this unique Rough
Guide features a wealth of visa, public transport, accommodation, and communication
information, and even includes advice on cultural do's and don'ts as well as a helpful
index of phrases in 15 languages. "

This is a cheap book with a wealth of very helpful information for the first time traveler to Europe.
 

 


  Europe by Eurail
Product Description:
This comprehensive guide to European rail travel provides the most up-to-date information on fares, schedules, and pass options, as well as detailed information on more than ninety specific rail trips from twenty-four base cities on the Continent.

Party Europe
Product Description:
The perfect supplement to traditional guidebooks, Party Europe's pages are packed with over reviews of fun and social, day and night activities in the hottest European destinations. The unique manner in which it is written enables young travelers to customize reviews to match their own definition of fun in order to maximize every moment of their time abroad.
 

  Backpacking Through Europe
Product Description:

Let's say you are a college-aged/young adult traveler. You are planning to take your first "big" trip to Europe. You want to go to different countries, take the trains, see the sites. You're planning to use a backpack so you can travel lightly and with skill for several weeks or months. You want to save money where it counts so you can get the most out of your trip. Besides visiting some of the usual tourist attractions, you plan to party and experience the nightlife as well. Well, my friend, this book is *made* for you. First, the "nuts and bolts" are covered thoroughly and clearly. The best way to get your passport, how to save money on airfares, how to make the best use of trains, what "hostels" are all about, detailed information on visas, money management, personal safety, what to pack...it's all in here. Second, the "gray areas" that matter are tackled. What is the marijuana and club scene like? What do you do if you get in serious trouble with the police? These topics are others are discussed openly from a unique and informed perspective. Third, the appendix includes additional tips and travel information, and a carefully-researched listing of emergency and embassy numbers. (It is surprising how many books on the market have outdated information on these numbers!) There are many excellent travel-guides-to-Europe that tell you about museums, hotels, restaurants, etc. The problem is they fail to tell you how to really "get around". This is where Backpacking Through Europe comes into play as your "travel guru". We recommend that you pick up one of those books *and* Backpacking Through Europe. That's how to do it right!

  Europe from a Backpack: Real Stories from Young Travelers Abroad
Product Description:
Fifty-eight real stories from young travelers abroad offer the budget, independent, and youth traveler vivid first-person accounts of the countries and experiences of backpackers, students, and sojourners. Offering more than just traveling facts, this guide actually invites readers to see, taste, and experience European adventures-from sneaking into Rome's Coliseum to running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. These backpackers relate experiences that people with suitcases and reservations wouldn't necessarily experience, including sleeping in streets and hostels, 24 hours of clubbing on the Spanish island of Ibiza, and train-travel debacles. The stories offer dozens of glimpses of the most worthwhile destinations in 11 of Europe's most well-traveled countries, not to mention lesser-known lands revealed in the "Off the Beaten Path" section. This collection of youthful adventures will keep aspiring travelers laughing, wondering, and walking with the storytellers who take them inside Europe's must-see places. Countries explored include Amsterdam, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom

  Rite of Passage: Tales of Backpacking 'Round Europe
Product Description:
Backpacking through Europe for the first time changes your life. New friendships are forged over a bottle of cheap wine; old friends go their separate ways; you fall in love in the first town and forget about it in the second. You get bored with wearing the same clothes, tired of sleeping in crowded dorms…yet you still have an unforgettable, fantastic time.

In Rite of Passage, backpackers taking their all-important first visit to Europe tell it like it really is. They describe crossing the language barrier in Corfu, meeting the locals in Prague, surviving hostel life in London, finding love in Paris and overindulging in Greece.

Rite of Passage is the perfect companion for backpackers – the stories are raw and fresh, inspirational and honest, and cut straight to the heart of the European travel experience.
 

  The Frugal Globetrotter
In this comprehensive budget travel resource, the author reveals how to get a lot of travel excitement for a little price with low-cost travel options available from air couriers, around-the-world airline ticket brokers, domestic and international air charters, auto drive-aways, offbeat adventure travel companies, and many other resources.

  Rick Steves' Europe 101
Rick Steves' Europe 101 gives you a practical grounding in art history to thoroughly enrich your sightseeing experience. Throughout the book you'll find handy lists of sights that allow you to use your newly acquired knowledge to plan your upcoming trip. Rick's unique approach, along with maps, timelines, and illustrations, makes this "professor in your pocket" an essential tool - whether you're a first-time visitor to Europe or a seasoned art traveler. Organized chronologically from prehistoric Europe to the modern world, this new edition is completely updated with new illustrations, photos, and maps.

  Rick Steves' Mona Winks
"Rick Steves doesn't just list where to travel in Europe, he leads travelers through the 'Back Door,' and reveals how to give every journey an extra, more authentic dimension. Mona Winks is no exception. It's a fun, easy-to-read collection of self-guided tours covering the highlights of Europe's top 20-plus museums and cultural sights, including the Louvre, the Tate Gallery, the Uffizi, the Prado, and many more."
 

  Destinations: A Travel Journal
Product Description:
This portable and supple leather-bound journal features antique color illustrations as well as indispensable travel facts and modern-day information. Along with plenty of pages for recording adventures abroad, there is a roomy pocket for mementos, making this a beautifully distinctive keepsake book for travelers.

128 pages for you to record your travels


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