What if you could visit any spot on the globe by paying exactly $1?
In that case, the book I just fell in love with–1,000 Places to See Before You Die–would cost a mere $1020.
The author, veteran travel writer Patricia Schwartz, is a lot more excited than I am by famous restaurants and chic hotels. I’ll save money and time by skipping places like those.
In Massachusetts, she picked only three must-sees: the Freedom Trail, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Legal Seafood. The first two are excellent choices, but the third is just–a restaurant. And how could she leave out Orchard House in Concord, where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women?
So I’m entitled to take her other advice with a grain of salt. Scuba-diving with manatees in Florida or a polar bear safari in Manitoba? Oh sure, they sound like fun, but….
(Sticking my fingers in my ears) I can’t hear you, Patricia! La la la…..
6 responses so far ↓
1 NatureIsProfligate // Jan 17, 2004 at 11:02 am
I’ve been intrigued by this title too, and I hope to hear more about the more exciting choices. I agree that a restaurant is unlikely to inspire me to journey farther than a few miles.
My favorite book of this kind is “Wild Planet! 1001 Extraordinary Events for the Inspired Traveler” (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0787603732/qid=1074364605/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-3245123-2440135?v=glance&s=books), which unfortunately appears to be out of print. There are festivals/celebrations for all kinds of travellers here. The two that spring first to mind are:
1) The yam festival in Vanuatu in which men compare the size of their yams (!) and then, using hand-measured vines, bungee jump. Hurtling towards the ground with plants tied to your ankles sounds stressful enough one might think, but the object of the bungee jump is to come as close to the ground as possible without actually perishing. “Dusting” the ground with your hair is considered a good omen for your next yam crop. Being female, however, I could only observe this ceremony and not take part myself. Oh damn…
2) A race up the steepest road in Dunedin, NZ. I believe it’s the steepest grade of any city road in the world. (I can attest to the fact that Dunedin has some _very_ steep streets.) Everyone who makes it up the course gets a Cadbury chocolate bar from the local factory. That’s the kind of incentive that really resonates with me.
2 Frank Paynter // Jan 17, 2004 at 8:20 pm
Does she include cultural events like the annual watermelon seed spitting contest in Rio? (That’s Rio – pronounced rye-oh – Wisconsin of course…).
3 marcum // Jan 17, 2004 at 8:45 pm
And how could you skip the Mohawk Trail in the Berkshires, or the gravesite of Jumbo the elephant up in Medford?
4 Stu Savory // Jan 17, 2004 at 10:20 pm
Re. steep streets. There is a i in 2.5 in Harlech, Wales, which I can assure you was very difficult without paddling the feet on a motorcycle (and it turns out, is now forbidden for motor vehicles).
5 Dean Landsman // Jan 19, 2004 at 9:32 am
What?! No mention of The Red Lion Inn? Blasphemy. The mere omission of the Berkshires makes the book more than a touch suspect.
Hey, did she include Bash-Bish falls, over in Copake, NY? The mini Niagara Falls of the Berkshires, a hike worth taking, a view worth sighing over, a schlep worth walking over (if you can handle the initial climb!).
6 Betsy Devine // Jan 19, 2004 at 4:03 pm
OK, I’m putting all of you down in my travel plans. Vanuatu and Dunedin with Amity (I hope she brings the yams) followed by watermelon-seed spitting with Frank, Jumbo’s grave with Marcum, paddling my feet in Harlech with Stu, and Bash-Bish Falls in company with Dean. Now, in return, I want all of you to go over and vote for *Feedster* in the Bloggies, ok? I’m packing my bags right now…