Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel

Excellent Resource

Both practical and inspiring, Vagabonding is a valuable resource for anyone who has thought about long term, independent travel. The book is chalk full of practical advise with references to other books and website links with updated information as well as inspiring anecdotes that help put one in the proper frame of mind to gain the most of their travel adventure.

With a wealth of information and books about long term travel and "escape" this is one book that is a must have in any traveler's library and a great place to start for first time travelers.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Vagabonding: Personal freedom through travel

Allan de Botten writes in his Art of Travel, "If our lives are dominated by a search for happiness . . . perhaps few activities reveal as much about the dynamics of this quest--in all its ardor and paradoxes--than our travels. . . ." Today's traveler is met with a particular dilemma: How to achieve this quest for happiness through personal involvement with the Other amid today's great forces of commercial Globalism. With its mass culture and its national or commercial interests at heart how does one experience the world through travel without feeling guiltily obediant towards these forces. Mr. Potts offers a way to redefine today's quest for an authentic, individualized travel experience using an obscure term often not associated with the industry of travel and tourism: Vagabonding. I particulary like his redefining of the word: n. 1)The act of leaving behind the orderly world to travel independently for an extended period of time. 2) A privately meaningful manner of travel that emphacizes creativity, adventure, awareness, simplicity, discovery, independence, realism, good humor, and the growth of the spirit. 3) A deliberate way of living that makes the freedom to travel possible. Rolf Potts' "guide" encourages travelers and tourists alike to seek their own experiences at home or abroad in accordance to personal truths, usefulness to the individual, and creative solututions. His book's charge demands declaring independence from a "media culture, which tends to paint our understanding of the world into reductive, uniform colors." Potts' colorful approach to this topic certainly gets the creative juices flowing beyond what the guidebooks and brochures and travel bureaus promote. "Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term Travel" should be on the shelf of anyone who loves to travel, enjoys reading about travel, or simply day-dreams about the possiblities of escaping for a stint of globe-trotting. Who knows, after reading this book, those dreams might become a reality.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I can's say enough about this book!

I consider myself an avid traveler (I had backpacked alone across 18 different countries by the time I was 20) and this book truly captures the fire that drives me to explore. Rather than being an informational travel book like guide books, Potts focuses on the inspirational. Reading this book will always inspire me to explore and learn. I am an English Teaching major in college now and am preparing to graduate. This is my favorite book and I recommend everyone read it. Especially if you are looking to light the fire within yourself. Now go get out there and live it!

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