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

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

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

Written by: Rolf Potts

First line: Not so long ago, as I was taking a slow, decrepit old mail steamer down Burma's Irrawaddy River, I ran out of things to read.

Why you should read this book: If you've ever thought, "I should sell my house, quit my job, and spend the rest of my life bumming around the world," this book can help you fantasize/visualize what that might look like. It's a fast read, beginning and punctuating every chapter with quotes from modern vagabonds and profiles of historical ones (like Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau), and concluding with a list of print and online resources for the topic of each chapter. Detailing the difference between tourists and vagabonds (i.e. "real" travelers), and offering instructions for leaving the old life behind to taking up a new existence of open-minded freedom on the road, this is a fast read.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Indoor plumbing. Clean sheets. Central air conditioning.

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Dragon's Library

Wednesday, February 24, 2016