World Famous Comics: Europe from a Backpack: Real Stories from Young Travelers Abroad (From a Backpack series)
Europe from a Backpack: Real Stories from Young Travelers Abroad (From a Backpack series)
From: Pearson Venture Group Publisher: Pearson Venture Group Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Pearson Venture Group Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 384 Publication Date: April 01, 2004
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
WONDERFUL This is a great book to hold you over from one European trip to the next. Quite entertaining and funny. A good "easy read".
Great essay collection Europe from a Backpack is just plain good travel writing. It is pure nostalgia and is sure to inspire fond memories in anyone who has traveled the country. On the other hand, it can serve as an inspiration to armchair travelers, or an underground guide to places off the beaten track. If nothing else, this collection should inspire any traveler to record their memories in a journal. At the very least, take away the lesson that a few unforgettable travel anecdotes are far superior to a collection of a hundred of photo slides to torture your friends and family with.
The collection is divided into twelve chapters by region--Spain, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and so on. Stories focus on the hazards of a pilgrimage, on fleeting friendships formed in small cafes, on opulent stays with exchange families, and most of all, on the rare chance to fully experience local culture.
Read this with a notepad in hand, because you will not only want to jot down the must-see sights and experiences, but the advice imparted by the book. Reading stories of travelers' sticky situations will provide the reader wisdom that comes only from hindsight.
Missed the mark I bought this book recently because I miss traveling and will not be able to head back over to Europe for a few months. I figured, if I can't go myself, I might as well live vicariously through someone else's travels. Unfortunately I opted out of re-reading Under the Tuscan Sun and sacrificed good writing for tales of American teenagers romping around Europe. I enjoyed about every other essay in this book, mainly because half of them were written by responsible, respectable Americans who had genuinely interesting stories to tell. The other half were tales of Americans criticizing foreign cultures, staying up all night drinking and partying, and being deceitful when faced with law enforcement. I wanted to read about people's experiences with European cultures and how they transformed their lives, not their spring break partying. I can forgive the poor writing, but to be honest, some of the content of this book upset me - do young Americans really behave this way? No wonder we have such a reputation.
Good reading prep for trip! Great stories, and helped me to grasp a perspective from travelers experiencing culture shock, or other first experiences that exist in travel.
First in a New Travel Series Europe From a Backpack is the first in a series of backpacking anthologies that editor Mark Pearson is planning. The essays in this volume are written mostly by young backpackers who are not professional writers. The lack of polish is somewhat compensated for by the enthusiasm that shines through, though not entirely.
Europe From a Backpack is a bit like the Travelers' Tales books, except that all the writers in the Backpack series are (so far) unknown. A few of the writers rise to the top of this collection, notably Lisa Cordeiro and Mike Riley. Cordeiro's two essays about living in Europe after a hitch in the Marines left me wanting to know more about her adventures. She writes as if telling a story, not just relating her experiences. Riley's essay is a funny, punchy story of how he found himself in desperate need of a restroom, then of new underwear in a small town in Portugal.
Pearson has a website to promote his "From a Backpack" books and to solicit essays. There are instructions for submitting stories, but no mention of payment if your essay is included in one of his anthologies. While most of the authors in Europe From a Backpack might be satisfied by the thrill of seeing their writing in print, I certainly hope Cordeiro and Riley, at least, were paid for their stories.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
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