While the internet is an amazing source of information, Mike and I are book fanatics, and have enough shelves to form a very large travel library! We even have every issue of National Geographic dating back to the 1960’s! Below we review our favorites and the latest travel books.
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On my first trip to Japan at 14, I got permission to take the family digital camera, and went truly overboard with photos. No-one could believe I returned home with … wait for it … 200 photos. Fastforward 20 years and we now take that many on our smartphones in less than an hour!
I got home from that trip, printed my favorites, and pulled out my scrapbook kit (glue, glitter, scissors – the whole thing!), to put together an amazing book of memories. And I’ve not completed a single scrapbook since.
Scrapbooking to preserve our travel memories is one of those things we’d all love to have time for, but unlike our 14 year old selves, as adults it’s a project we don’t have time to even begin. So our photos sit on harddrives, get buried in Facebook feeds, and we never have time to look at them again.
But what if you could finish a digital travel memory book BEFORE you even return from your trip? Something which was already designed for you, with very little time input, but produces an awesome product at the end? My friend Laura has you covered with her “On-the-Go Digital Travel Memory Book TOOLKIT”.
read moreSeoni is one of India’s smaller districts, but it’s also one of the most beautiful. Set in the State of Madhya Pradesh, the dense jungle, wild animals, and natural wonders of the area were the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling’s famous novel The Jungle Book.
Named after the Seona trees that populate the forest, many of The Jungle Book’s locations can still be visited today. The following are locations in Senoi and greater Madhya Pradesh which bring The Jungle Book to life!
read moreUrban life in Russia is a far cry from the adventure that lies further out, and it’s only here, among the icy Siberian tundra; among communities who have never seen a foreign tourist; among Nomadic desert tribes on the Mongolian border, that you’ll find the true soul of Mother Russia.
And it’s this soul that is so perfectly captured in Fabio Bertino and Roberta Melchiorre’s new book “Destination Russia. A ship and a cat in the tundra and other extra-ordinary encounters”.
Having recently been released in English after immense success in Italian, the book is a captivating collection of stories that takes you on a journey with Fabio and Roberta as they travel to the farthest corners of the country, discovering the treasures (and adventure) that lie beyond Russia’s increasingly westernized veneer.
read moreWe’ve well and truly entered an age of female empowerment, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m dubbing this the year of the wander woman.
Over the past few years women have tipped the scales to become the majority of travelers over men. We’re taking more active adventures, and saying no to sipping cocktails on the beach. And we’re not letting age be a limiting factor (the world is now being taken OVER by amazing traveling grandmas).
Some women are doing it solo, some are traveling with their families, and some are dragging along their husbands (lucky guys!). Some have quit their jobs and sold everything, while others travel while holding down a job and a mortgage.
Women these days who want to travel aren’t letting anyone tell them how it should be done, they’re making their journey their own. But even better, they’re writing about it to inspire the rest of us.
If you’re looking for a great travel memoir to add to your summer reading list, make sure you pick up one of these; brand new titles from kick ass women who haven’t been afraid to follow their dreams.
I’ve been absolutely captivated by their stories!
read moreI didn’t exactly know when or where I was going to find my forever partner, but I never could have predicted it would involve a man who lived 15,000km away from me.
Having successfully navigated the 1am phone calls, the miscommunications, the extreme highs of seeing each other after so long, followed by the extreme lows of being kept in immigration limbo, we have compiled our experiences and advice into the ultimate ‘how-to’ guide.
Our ultimate goal with publishing this book? To offer other long distance couples the tools, knowledge, and the hope that your long distance relationship can be just as successful as our own.
read moreI met Oren Liebermann in 2014, 5 months after he had been diagnosed with diabetes. Though his journey to diagnosis was anything but conventional.
In the middle of a yearlong backpacking trip around the world with his wife, Oren was teaching English to young Buddhist monks in Pokhara, Nepal, when his body began to fail him. He had picked up a virus in Kenya weeks earlier, and had been traveling for two months as a medical time bomb.
He had been brushing off signs of poor health for months; dismissing constant thirst as a consequence of the Bangkok heat; exhaustion in the Himalayas to the altitude, and weakness / extreme weight loss to malnutrition.
But after visiting a local clinic in Nepal, a doctor gives him a diagnosis that will change his life forever: “I’m sorry to tell you, my friend, that you are a diabetic.”
Oren’s reaction? “Holy shit”.
read moreThe Great Ocean Road is considered to be one of the most scenic drives in the world, and is certainly a jewel in the crown of Australian tourism. Its stunning coastal road hangs precariously on soaring sea cliffs and winds between pretty towns and beaches, all set against the backdrop of the Great Otaway National Park, the site of Australia’s few temperate rainforests.
Though for one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations, most visitors to the area sadly see very little, and most of that through a coach window. But you won’t see the best sights from your car.
Much more than a scenic highway, this region is home to a myriad of coastal tracks, rainforest trails, and hikes which connect historic seaside villages, taking in ocean views and dramatic waterfalls. If there’s one thing for certain, the best way to discover the Great Ocean Road is to walk.
read more“Stop!” he yelled at me from across the courtyard. “Yes, you!”
“Show me your student card! How did you get in here? The school is closed today. You’re not supposed to be here!”
The ironic thing was he actually looked like Vernon Dursley and was about to have a palpation that I had snuck past the guards.
The many colleges of Oxford University were closed for orientation day, and tourists were being turned away as students passed through the gates. Though I hadn’t traveled from Australia to see my Harry Potter trail go cold, and as an 20 year old employing the idea that if I didn’t look suspicious, they wouldn’t have reason to stop me, I walked myself straight through the gates.
read moreIt’s my favorite kind of travel read; a laugh-out-loud travel memoir that reveals backpacking’s awkward side. So upon picking up Sue Bedford’s new book “It’s Only the Himalayas and Other Tales of Miscalculation from an Overconfident Backpacker“, I naturally became engrossed.
Sue is a disenchanted waitress when she embarks upon a year-long quest around the world with her exasperatingly perfect friend, Sara. Expecting a whimsical jaunt of self-discovery, Sue instead encounters an absurd series of misadventures that render her embarrassed, terrified, and queasy (and in a lot of trouble with Philippine Airline).
Whether she’s fleeing from ravenous lions, dancing amid smoking skulls, navigating the torturous Annapurnas, or (accidentally) drugging an unfortunate Englishman, Sue’s quick-witted, self-deprecating narrative might just inspire you to take your own chaotic adventure.
read moreReal movie lovers realize that it’s not only the plot, music, or great direction that matter when they kick back with a film, looking forward to be transported to another world. No, a lot of the time the make or break comes down to the setting.
A number of locations around the world have proven to be popular with many movie makers, whether they are exotic spots, busy cities or rural settings. And these locales appear in our favorite films again and again. So what makes them so special and why are they chosen so often? Read on to find out.
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I am Megan Jerrard, professional travel blogger/journalist with a focus on adventure, discovery, immersion and inspiring you to explore!
