The Travel Book: A Journey through Every Country in the World. Melbourne: Lonely Planet, 2008. 887 pages.
This is a neat book, and an ambitious one. Is it possible to write a travel book that includes entries on every country (and many territories and sub-regions) in the world? Why, yes, it, say the Lonely Planet folks, and they are right.
I can’t see anyone using The Travel Book to plan their next vacation: there are just two pages on each country, with less than 500 words to describe the sights and attractions. So this isn’t a literal guide to traveling–it’s a celebration of the wonder and diversity that awaits the world trekker. Does that sound sarcastic? I don’t mean it to be.
Each entry has some vital statistics of the country in question (capital, population, area, official language), a brief (50 or so word) description of the country, and telegraphic notes on several categories: Best Time to Visit, Essential Experiences, Getting under the Skin (books, movies, and music about the place), In a word (one key phrase you’ll need), Trademarks, and Surprises. There’s also a map of the country.
The entries tend to stress the positive and have little in the way of practical advice for avoiding trouble spots. Given that every country has an entry here, there are several places that wouldn’t be welcoming to tourists, particularly Westerners. Yet Iraq’s entry extols the “dramatic scenery” and pleasures of “exploring a lively bazaar.”
Sometimes, this is funny. The “Trademarks” section of each entry usually give you a sense of what to really expect. Fiji’s, for example, reads: “Surfers seeking the big break; honeymooners’ paradise; grass skirts; hammocks; woven baskets; white sand beaches.” Moving down a step, you’ve got Laos: “Longtail boats; rice; Buddha-filled pagodas and wats; cafe culture; rural bandits; unexploded ordnance.” Then you’ve got the Central African Republic: “Forest elephants; lowland gorillas; dictators; political chaos.” North Korea’s takes the cake though: it includes “kidnapping, nuclear tests, rapprochement, border tension.” Let’s get packed!
One cutesy thing that doesn’t wear so well is the tendency for goofiness in the “Best Time to Visit” section. Usually, it’s just “June through September” or something like that, but too many entries have irreverent time-traveling quips thrown in: you should visit Guinea between November or “between the 13th and 14th centuries when Guinea was part of the empire of Mali. Hey, if I had access to the TARDIS and could travel anywhere in time and space, I wouldn’t be wasting my time reading a travel book. I can see where it’s well-intentioned, but it gets old fast, though it’s good to know, I guess, that you’d have a better time visiting Scotland before 1707 and the Act of Union.
The photographs are the real reason to buy this book: they are often breath-taking, and they never fail to capture something of the essence of the country in question. Even the countries whose political and sectarian violence make them non-starters as vacation destinations look gorgeous.
There are plenty of interesting facts in here, and when you add in the pictures, you’ve got a winner. It’s the kind of book that you thumb through saying, “Oh yeah, I’ve been there…I’d like to go there…I can’t wait to go to that place.”
All in all, it’s a fun, compact tour around the world with 500 words and five photos per stop. For what it is, it works well.