Hidden Travel: The Secret to Extraordinary Trips

by Stephen W Brock

Overview

Have you ever had a magic moment on a trip that so moved you, you knew you'd remember it forever? Hidden Travel shows you how to experience more such moments anywhere. While most travel guide books reveal sights that matter to others, Hidden Travel teaches you how to find what matters to you, on trips around the world or just around the corner.

It's about using travel to get enough distance from your ordinary life to realize just how extraordinary it is. In so doing, you'll also discover more: more meaning, adventure, relationships, purpose, happiness, creativity, or whatever you want more of in life.

Through stories, insights, and exercises from 40 years of travel to over 50 countries, you'll learn how to:

Experience a more meaningful kind of travel many long for but few find.

Discover the best places to visit and how to find hidden wonder anywhere.

Turn your trip into a learning laboratory to try new interests, personas and bucket list adventures.

Grow your confidence in safe yet exciting ways.

Turn hard times on a trip into peak moments..

Volunteer on a trip in a way that helps rather than hurts.

Plan and pack better by leaving behind unhelpful physical and emotional baggage.

Experience more magic moments for you and others anywhere.

End any trip well by practicing this one secret.

Apply your trip to your life so each day at home feels like an adventure.

Whether you're a beginner or are into adventure, family, slow, or sustainable travel or just wanting a better vacation, this book offers a different approach to travel and life. It works for road trips, international adventures, or even when you can't travel.

With short sections and inspiring travel photography, this book makes the perfect gift for you or that special traveler who desires a better way to travel and a more adventurous way to live.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781735118802
Publisher:	Sublimity Press
Publication date:	04/01/2021
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Writer, photographer and branding expert Stephen W. Brock has traveled to over 50 countries in search of hidden places, unlikely encounters and great gelato. He helps travelers and explorers connect where they go with what they love most. To paraphrase an old branding line, he doesn't make people's trips. He makes people's trips better. He does so by helping them to think in new, unexpected ways about travel and life. As one of the nation's leading branding practitioners, Stephen's job is to see things differently. He works with some of the country's top corporations and not-for-profit organizations to help them articulate the hidden essence of a company and the deep emotional bonds people form with brands. He has combined this professional expertise with 40-plus years of travel to over 50 countries to reveal a different way to think about travel and to help people connect the world in them with the world around them. He writes and photographs for multiple travel publications such as National Geographic and at www.ExploreYourWorlds.com. He has two grown sons and lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife and favorite traveling companion (who fortunately is the same person). Visit him at www.ExploreYourWorlds.com, on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook at @MeaningfulTrav, and on Pinterest at @ExploreYourWorlds.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Secret destinations

BENEATH THE SURFACE

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

HIDDEN PLACES

Start Before the Beginning

THE HAPPIEST PART OF YOUR JOURNEY

WORST-CASE SCENARIOS

TRAVEL AS MYSTERY

SURPRISE TRIPS

HIDDEN WATERS: GLAMIS, SCOTLAND

Outside In

A PRIMER ON MORE

MAKE IT A QUEST

COLLECT, CONNECT AND SHARE

PURPOSE, PASSION AND PLACE

HIDDEN ARCHITECTURE: WASSERBURG, GERMANY

Make Plans

START WITH THE BASICS

THINK LIKE A LOCAL

THE VALUE OF TRAVELING SOLO VS. WITH OTHERS

CHOOSE TRAVEL COMPANIONS WISELY

HIDDEN BOATS: THE COTSWOLDS, ENGLAND

Packing Light Part 1: In Your Bags

CARRY-ON VS. CHECKED LUGGAGE

THE VALUE OF PACKING LISTS AND STAGING

20 WAYS TO USE A ZIP LOCK BAG

HIDDEN BRIDGES: NANXUN, CHINA

Packing Light Part 2: In Your Head

TRAVELING EXPECTANTLY

PACKING PERMA

WHAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE

HIDDEN DANGER: NEAR SARAJEVO, BOSNIA

How to Discover

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU DISCOVER HIDDEN PLACES

GETTING LOST

WORK TRIPS

HIDDEN RESTAURANT: PLAYA NEGRA, COSTA RICA

Be Your Best Self

VOLUNTEER VACATIONS

ASKING FOR HELP

WHEN YOUR BEST SELF ISN'T ENOUGH

HIDDEN TREE TUNNEL: DAMME, BELGIUM

Ways to See

SEEING WHAT OTHERS DON'T

WHERE YOU STARE IS WHERE YOU STEER

SEEING THROUGH THE EYES OF OTHERS

HIDDEN RUINS: GRANADA, NICARAGUA

Just a Bite

GO WHERE YOU NORMALLY WOULDN'T

THE CRYSTALIZING EFFECTS OF FEAR

PUSHING BEYOND YOUR LIMITS

HIDDEN PEOPLE: CAIRO, EGYPT

Time Travel

DISCOVERING DIFFERENT TIME

FIND YOUR PACE

GIVE IT A REST

HIDDEN MONUMENT: PARIS, FRANCE

Traveling in Moments

THE POWER OF MOMENTS AND TRAVEL

A MOVEABLE FEAST

SECRET SANTA TRAVELERS

HIDDEN TREEHOUSE: WHISTLER, B.C., CANADA

The Last Ten Percent

PEAK AND END EXPERIENCES

THE ART OF THE SPLURGE

LESS IS MORE

HIDDEN ARTISAN: CUZCO, PERU

Coming Full Circle

ICHIGO, ICHIE

POIGNANT ENDINGS

HOW TO REFLECT

HIDDEN MORE: HOME

Acknowledgments

Endnotes

Annotated Bibliography

Want More Hidden Travel Resources?

Editorial Reviews

03/08/2021

Brock, a writer and photographer who has published in National Geographic, encourages experienced and potential globetrotters to focus on the journey rather than the destination. This guide delights with its stunning chronicles of Brock’s visits to extraordinary sites, delicious samples of his travel photography, and his invaluable tips and tricks for turning a vacation into a search for “more.” More means more excitement, more adventure, and more meaning. Brock tutors travel aficionados on balancing scheduling and spontaneity, the mental and literal practices of packing light, and narrowing a trip’s focus for the most fulfilling experience. What makes this guide and travelogue a true gem, though, is its usefulness not just for transcontinental vacations but also to daily living.

This guide packs a punch when it comes to applying its advice to areas outside of travel: “Few things are more hidden and less helpful on a trip (or in life) than expectations. Leave yours behind to discover more.” Brock urges his audience to take life moment-by-moment, elongate their perception of time, and experience day-to-day sights, sounds, and smells with an enhanced sense of gratitude. Some of Brock’s advice (for example, returning to the same place night after night, or deciding to extend certain legs of a trip) will be difficult to follow for travelers who don’t enjoy the luxury of being able to choose like-minded companions for their trips. At times he overlooks the more mundane and practical challenges of touring-- specifically, that family and friends may vary in their bucket-list travel interests.

Between the specific trip guidance (such as speaking to locals about their favorite spots) and the dazzling photography, Hidden Travel will inspire wanderlust not just for grand excursions but also the everyday. Brock offers an exercise in appreciation, preserving the moment, and articulating what it is that you want, making this an inviting read for explorers, adventurers, or those just seeking a more purposeful way of living.

Takeaway: This travel book offers meaningful advice and stunning photographs for those planning a trip or just looking for more from life.

Great for fans of: Great for fans of Alain de Botton’s The Art of Travel, Rolf Potts’s Vagabonding.

Production grades Cover: A- Design and typography: A Illustrations: A Editing: A- Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews

"Travel guides have always been about where and what and when. But what we've always needed was a book about how to travel: How do you get the most out of a vacation? How can you discover more? Cherish your time more? Make more connections? Hidden Travel explores how to travel. It's a gem of a book -- both practical and entertaining -- and it will certainly get you excited about your next adventure." -- Dan Heath, New York Times Bestselling Co-author of The Power of Moments and Made to Stick

"Between the specific trip guidance and the dazzling photography, Hidden Travel will inspire wanderlust not just for grand excursions but also the everyday. Brock offers an exercise in appreciation, preserving the moment, and articulating what it is that you want, making this an inviting read for explorers, adventurers, or those just seeking a more purposeful way of living. Takeaway: This travel book offers meaningful advice and stunning photographs for those planning a trip or just looking for more from life. Great for fans of: Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel, Rolf Potts's Vagabonding." -- BookLife (Editor's Pick)

"A lively, inspiring guide to adventurous tourism." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Here it is: a beautiful book that captures with exquisite writing the soulful process of finding yourself in a new place that is not home-but still somehow feeling at home. Hidden Travel is an invitation to a deeper kind of living and looking at the world, and that includes yourself." -- Jeff Goins, bestselling author of The Art of Work

"Hidden Travel shows you how to rejuvenate your adventures in a way to make it feel like your 37th trip is just as special as the first time you ever stepped foot on a plane. I picked up this book up to learn how to travel better, but part of the way through, I realized that I was actually learning how to live each day of my life - moment to moment - with a renewed sense of wonder and excitement." -- Erica Hackman, Director of The Nomadic Network, Nomadic Matt

From the Publisher

2021-03-01
A veteran traveler recounts his far-flung peregrinations and suggests readers skip typical tourist destinations.

Brock, an international traveler for more than three decades, attributes his love of globe-trotting to an adjusted mindset. His vignettes of his trips through multiple countries alternate with observations about the psychological aspects of travel (“Even the apparent detours or challenging situations can be meaningful”). His first destination was Glamis, Scotland, where he wandered by a historic cemetery and saw a sign for the little-known St. Fergus’ Well, an obscure site that dates back 700 C.E. Next, in the Bavarian town of Wasserburg, Germany, he came across architecture and cuisine reminiscent of Italy. Discoveries included a restored palace in Nanxun, China, a historic town devoid of Westerners, and a restaurant in Playa Negra, Costa Rica, helmed by a chef who had served presidents and celebrities in Los Angeles. He found a treehouse in British Columbia; houseboats in the Cotswolds that meandered hundreds of miles of English canals and rivers; and a church in Cairo, Egypt, carved out of a mountain above the city dump, with a congregation of Christians and Muslims; and even abandoned land mines at visitor sites near Sarajevo. To find such gems, writes Brock, travelers must stretch beyond their comfort zone. That means not being married to top 10 lists in travel books or taking only itinerary-based guided tours. The author, in his debut, urges readers to “dig a bit (into new experiences or old habits), turn over some rocks (or preconceptions), and go to new places (emotionally, as well as geographically).” The recipe is effective, but sometimes Brock tries to do too many things. For example, some chapters jolt readers into travel 101: how to pack, the pros and cons of traveling alone, etc. When it stays true to its mission, the book delivers on its promise.

A lively, inspiring guide to adventurous tourism.

Kirkus Reviews