Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World’s Greatest Trips (Hardcover)

by National Geographic (Author)

Book Details
* Hardcover: 400 pages
* Publisher: National Geographic (October 16, 2007)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1426201257
* ISBN-13: 978-1426201257
* Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.3 x 1.5 inches
* Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
No one knows the world like National Geographic—and in this lavish volume, we reveal our picks for the world’s most fabulous journeys, along with helpful information for readers who want to try them out.

Compiled from the favorite trips of National Geographic’s travel writers, Journeys of a Lifetime spans the globe to highlight the best of the world’s most famous and lesser known sojourns. It presents an incredible diversity of possibilities, from ocean cruises around Antarctica to horse treks in the Andes. Every continent and every possible form of transport is covered.

A timely resource for the burgeoning ranks of active travelers who crave adventurous and far-flung trips, Journeys of a Lifetime provides scores of creative ideas: trekking the heights of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania… mountain biking in Transylvania… driving through the scenic highlands of Scotland… or rolling through the outback on Australia’s famous Ghan train… and dozens of other intriguing options all over the world.

Journeys of a Lifetime also features 22 fun Top 10 lists in all sorts of categories. What are the world’s top 10 elevator rides, bridges to walk across, trolley rides, ancient highways, or underground walking adventures? Readers will love evaluating and debating the selections.

Each chapter showcases stunning photography, full-color maps, evocative text, and expert advice—including how to get there, when to visit, and how to make the most of the journey—all packaged in a luxurious oversize volume to treasure for years to come.

Journeys of a Lifetime Review
This is a great “coffee table” style book, filled with interesting information and the sort of excellent photography one would expect from National Geographic. What’s most remarkable, however, is simply the price. This is a big, heavy, tome of a book–hardcover–and I would have expected it to easily cost twice what it does. It’s a real pleasure to browse through, and I learned of quite a few places I had not heard of or would not have thought about as options for travel destinations. It is not a resource per se. Think of it as a collection, a wide array, of mini-travelogues with good photography (even if on a fairly matte paper stock), and given the large size of the book, this allows for fairly large-format images. A good value.

This book can be a little annoying at times. The chapters are divided into catagories such a “travel by train,” or “travel on foot.” This means if you want to say go to Peru, you have to look at the index for Peru and flip to all the scattered writeups. You might miss something. I think there could be a little more info written too on each “Journey” mentioned. Sometimes it’s not enough to get a true excitement about the place, event, or experience. Overall I do like the book though. Great reference and gives enough info to do some research on your own when making plans for your trip. Great photos.

I have seen quite a few travel books, but I have really liked this one. It has the great photo’s you would expect from National Geographic as well some very interesting realistic journeys. Looking through the book I had found several that I have already done and they were truly great trips. If you really want a book that will give you the urge to travel somewhere great, or want to get someone else motivated and excited to travel this is a great book for just that.

If you are looking for a traveller guide which will guide you to the not to be missed locations in this world then this is the one for you. The photos are awesome and the description of each location, although only one page long is sufficient to give you a good idea about what to expect. There is also a small section on tips which really give you some out of the way ideas to do at each location. All in all I highly recommend this book.

Frequently Bought Together
Where To Go When (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Hardcover)
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Make the Most of Your Time on Earth (Rough Guide Reference) (Paperback)

Italy (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Turtleback)

by DK Publishing (Author)

Book Details
* Turtleback: 720 pages
* Publisher: DK Travel; 2006 edition (March 20, 2006)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0756615453
* ISBN-13: 978-0756615451
* Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 x 1.4 inches
* Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
Italy offers an extraordinary kaleidoscope of regions and experiences for all visitors. Packed with photographs, illustrations and maps the Eyewitness Travel to Italy has mapped out all of the remarkable flavors of Italy. Use this guide to help you decide where to stay, eat, relax, and shop. Every page in the Eyewitness Travel to Italy has pinpointed the highlights of each fascinating region.

Italy Eyewitness Travel Guides Review
DK travel guides (Eyewitness brand) are known for its unique photograpy and pictures. They are printed full-color and magazine-style and the sublime pictures get supreme treatment. The maps are not ideal, but they do the job for some one new to Italy and answers the question of what to see and where to go with a little history and background tossed in. The maps will get you from Florence’s Pitti Palace across the River Arno and to the Galleria to see Michelangelo’s David, but good luck finding that little bistro in the cobblestone alley. This is a guide for the county of Italy in general and its regions and may lack some depth in terms of detail but for the first and even second time visitor to Italy its great considering its relative small weight and size in your travel case or backpack. Don’t expect this guidebook to have that out-of-the-way gallery, or even the celebrated gelato shop directions. This little book covers the most important sites in any given city or region – with lush pictures that DK is known for and short blurbs to match. It also covers general information to the first time visitor covering money, agencies, other basic travel information which can be of great help to some one not famliar to Italy.

I found this book useful for helping me target in on the areas I’d be most interested in visiting. Perusing the overview maps and many little photos of the attractions quickly gives you an idea what to expect in each region. It’s a great starting point for planning your vacation to Italy. It has all the contact info you need to further track down or get specific information on hotels/attractions. Once you look thru the book and have an idea on the specific regions you want to visit I’d suggest getting a book just targeted in on that region as you’ll get more detailed information on the hotels/restaurants/attractions in that area that way. This book as to not be thousands of pages just briefly describes attractions and as for hotels/restaurants it mostly just gives you a star rating. If you want to do leg work yourself though it may be all you need as it does provide web links and phone numbers where you can get more details on each.

This is one of the best travel books I’ve read. Every page has well laid out and well labeled full color pictures to augment the text. Once you look at this it’s hard to go back to a dry, sterile book that’s all text with a handful of color pages in the middle. The information here is clear and easy to read. There is cross-referencing everywhere, for example a page that’s describing a major attraction will tell you where to go in the book to find hotels in that area. There are listings and descriptions for hotels and restaurants in each area, and general travel tips. The introduction to each area of Italy also has an overview of the history and architecture.

My family and I visited Italy for two weeks, and this travel guide was priceless. I borrowed it from a friend (his 1998 version) and had to purchase a more recent version from Amazon as soon as I got back. DK Publishing has reasonables prices, and the delivery time is fast. Very fast. The book arrived in brand new condition, and I noticed that our hotel in Rome ‘The Lancelot’ is now listed in the directory of places to stay in Rome. There is so much information in this travel guide. Each tourist sight description is short and sweet and to the point. No pages and pages of details that might otherwise put you to sleep, as other tour books can do. And the pictures are just as wonderful. Looking at them again now that we’ve been back, is even more fun. They do a great job, and this seller is very good. I’ll buy from them again.

Accolades to the DK Eyewitness staff. Their books are art pieces within themselves. Clearly labors of love. I paid $50 for Eyewitness Italy when I bought the book in Rome. Best to buy it before leaving the US, not after. The street maps of Rome are particularly good. If you are an information junky like me, one travel guide is never enough so expect to buy additional guides.

Frequently Bought Together
Rome (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE) (Turtleback)
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Florence and Tuscany (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Turtleback)

The Next Exit, 2009 Edition (Perfect Paperback)

by Mark Watson

Book Details
* Paperback: 552 pages
* Publisher: the Next EXIT, Inc.; 2009 (18th) edition (December 15, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0971407371
* ISBN-13: 978-0971407374
* Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
The Next EXIT 2009 (18th edition)USA Interstate highway exit directory is the most complete guide ever printed. It lists services located at USA Interstate hwy exits nationwide, including gas, food, lodging, camping, hospitals, shopping and attractions. Over one million sold, it is the most trusted travel tool of the interstate highways.

The Next Exit 2009 Edition Review
I purchsed this book to have along for a 6,000 mile family drive across the US and back, and found it incredibly useful. I had planned to buy software for my laptop or PDA but when I found the same comprehensive info in a cheaper, easier-to-use book form, I bought it instead.

I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Although the notational scheme is a bit cryptic, once you get the hang of reading the exit-by-exit entries it’s easy to scan ahead and spot places to eat or gas up, or just find a rest area for a quick break. The listings are well organized and very thorough — I’m sure I can use this book far easier than I could access a software version, especially in a fully-packed moving car.
This book helped us avoid running out of gas in Arizona, and many times let us find just the right exit to stop and feed the kids (who love Sonic drive-ins). Don’t take a long trip on US Interstate highways without this book!

I have used this book for Travel to CO, to FL, to Me and to many other places and especially to go camping. It is an excellent resource for the “co-pilot.” Saves lots of arguments. At least you know what is ahead instead of pulling off each exit to find out. This is especially important when you are pulling a trailer. One suggestion would be to put trailer friendly eating places. I know that Cracker Barrel is one of them but I’m sure there are others. We do sometimes want to go out to eat but can’t find a place to park a trailer. Thanks for a wonderful book. HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who travels on the Interstates.

My wife and I have been traveling the interstate road systems for 35 years. We have always traveled with a road atlas but in 2000 we bought this book. We were so impressed with it’s accuracy and completeness we have suggested to all friends and relatives they need to purchase one as well. Since the recent renumbering of the exits we decided it would be best to own a more recent version. So, we have sent for a 2004 version and have given our old 2000 version to a family member to use until they purchase their own. Thanks for a great book!!! Please make these more readily available at stores like Walmart and Truck Stops throughout the county.

I am not a road warrior as are some of the reviewers. My first, upcoming trip will be north on Interstate 5 from CA to Oregon, towing a vintage, restored travel trailer. I’ll be “boondocking it ,” as they say, so the trailer has been re-engineered to “go it alone,” — anywhere but trailer parks. Not everyone’s cup o’ tea to be sure. But what has the book got to do with it? Just this: With my aversion to trailer parks, I spent a night (make that a couple of hours) trying to nap at a rest stop. You don’t want to do that — ever! The drivers keep their thunderous diesel engines roaring and the noise will sap your strength so that you will be more tired than when you stopped. But! Find a truck stop, and sidle up amongst the acres of silent big rigs, and you have a quiet, safe haven for as long as you choose to stay. You can usually grab a hot showr, too. The trick to finding these truck stops is clearly marked in the Exit information of this tour de force publication. Don’t set out without one.

This handy guide lists services at exits off of most major interstates (all 2-digit interstates and selected 3-digit ones as well). If you have your favorite gasoline brand or only want to eat at specific restaurants, you can search the listings for your preferred brand on the stretch of highway you’re currently on. Hospitals, parks, shopping centers, and other attractions are also identified. Although the now-defunct “Professional Truckers Exit Guide” had a better layout (individual categories of services, i.e; gas, lodging, etc. were listed on separate lines and every other page had a strip map of the highway covered) I have not seen it in stores since 2000, so I do believe the Next Exit is the only such directory currently in print. This is a valuable tool that no interstate traveler should be without.

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Trailer Life RV Parks, Campgrounds, and Services Directory 2009 (Trailer Life Directory : Campgrounds, Rv Parks & Services) (Paperback)
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Frommer’s Best RV and Tent Campgrounds in the U.S.A. (Frommer’s Best Rv & Tent Campgrounds in the USA) (Paperback)

1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List (Paperback)

by Patricia Schultz (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 972 pages
* Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; illustrated edition (May 22, 2003)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0761104844
* ISBN-13: 978-0761104841
* Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 1.8 inches
* Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
Introducing the Eighth Wonder of travel books. A joyous, passionate gift book for travelers-both the real and the armchair variety-1,000 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE delivers exactly the promise of its an around-the-world, continent-by-continent listing of places guaranteed to give you shivers, the unique and wonderful places you must see on and off the beaten track.

Take a safari into Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the world’s largest oasis, where “if you see 10 percent of what sees you, it’s an exceptional day.” Sail the Grenadines, 32 islands and hundreds of dotlike cays strung like a necklace of gems across 40 miles of pristine waters. Tour the covered souks of Aleppo, where the labyrinthine streets seem straight out of A Thousand and One Nights and frankincense and myrhh are still sold. Hike the Tasman Glacier. Climb the Tuscan hills to San Gimignano. Stay at the Hassler in Rome, or Paris’s Crillon-you must, at least once. There’s Canyon de Chelly, Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market, the backwaters of Kerala, Ipanema beach, the Buddhas of Borobudur, Mesa Verde’s cave dwellings, the Oaxaca Saturday market, Ballybunion Golf Club.

The prose is gorgeous, seizing on exactly what makes each entry worthy of inclusion. And, following the romance, the nuts and bolts: addresses, phone and fax numbers, web sites, costs, best times to visit. Of special interest are subject-specific indexes-gorgeous beaches, destination restaurants, world-class museums-making the guide entirely user-friendly, no matter if you’re dreaming or going.

1,000 Places To See Before You Die Review
How glad I was to have overlooked a scathing criticism or two re the author’s would-be emphasis on expensive hotels only – were we reading the same book???? What planet do these people live on?? The beauty of this book is that it covers every category or travel destination imagineable – from events to museums, bars to national parks, annual festivals to ancient temples. Are there hotels? Let’s hope so, because the author’s choice in every other category is so on the dime, you can be sure she has singled out all of the world’s best hotels too. Are they expensive? Most are, yes – but where else do you intend to go for your once-in-a-lifetime trip to celebrate a honeymoon, a promotion, an anniversary or your mother’s 80th birthday??? Still too expensive? Then go and sit in the lobby, wander the impeccable grounds, take in the white-gloved service with a smile and get a glimpse of the good life and make believe if only for a few hours….then explore the hundreds of other options that will fit a leaner budget and keep you mighty busy and awefully happy for years. The book blew me away – and I thought I had been around the block.

I have been professionally traveling for 35 years and for personal reasons twice that. Yes this 900-page travel bible features a lot of (historical, must-see and unusual) hotels, but there are so very many more museums (the world’s biggest and best and the small gems too), festivals (a betrothal festival in in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and the Spoleto Festivals in both Spoleto, Italy and Charleston USA), food experiences (the Maine Lobster Festival and George Blanc in France) and sites of natural beauty (the Grand Tetons, Patagonia, Cappodocia in Turkey, Italy’s Dolomite Mountains, Connemara in Ireland) – oh and I could go on and on….as Patricia Schultz does. You can never please everyone all the time, but no one has ever come as close as this intrepid author, and with a lovely and easy to read prose that should awaken the adventurer and explorer in all of us. I gave 20 of these books away as Christmas gifts and now have 20 best friends who are still talking about the best gift they ever received.

As a professional travel writer of more than 35 years, I marvel that this book can garner such disparate reviews – people love it (5 stars) or hate it (1 star). The latter would do well to read the author’s intro where she explains that these are not the only one thousand places to see in this huge and fascinating world of ours. They are the places that make up her own Life List, and in my opinion she is right on the dime. Would these be my one thousand? The truth is – who would ever have the time, passion and experience to draw up such a list to compare? Ms. Schultz has done it for us and she deserves a gold star. This is my trade, and know what a nightmare it is to organize a book one fourth this size, and then include all the info (distances, contacts, best-time-to-go info etc) to get you there. Are we all convinced we could do it better? Ask the one-star reviewers – but let’s see them try.

Where to go next? Why? When to go? How to get there? The passion and patience the author sustained for the many years it took to compile this travel bible is mind boggling. They are her thousand top picks – not mine and maybe not yours. But no one has ever tried to put it all between two covers and so successfully (in my opinion). Man is a list-making animal – Top Museums, Top Adventures, Top Golf Resorts. But this personal life list tries to be a little bit of everything – everywhere – for all traveling types, and the close-to-thousand pages mix the humble with the magnificent, the fast food with the gastonomic temples, the just plain fun with those magical and spiritual places of the world to be revered. I’ve been to a great number of these places and the author is right on the mark – and I can only imagine I can expect the same success with those she writes about so beautifully.

Buy Kindle Edition
1,000 Places To See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List (Kindle Edition)

Rick Steves’ London 2009 [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Rick Steves (Author), Gene Openshaw (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 464 pages
* Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing; illustrated edition edition (December 1, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1598801171
* ISBN-13: 978-1598801170
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
* Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
With Rick Steves’ London 2009, travelers can visit Westminster Abbey, explore the British Museum, and finish the day off at an Art Nouveau pub. Rick offers expert advice on both the big-name attractions and local favorites of this world-class city, from the London Eye to artisan cheese shops. With detailed walks through London’s famous districts, including Bankside and the West End, and complete tours of the major museums and historical sights, Rick Steves’ London 2009 is a tour guide that fits in your pocket.

Rick Steves’ London 2009 Review
I’ve traveled to Europe several times over the past 8 years and purchased various guide books for the planning of each trip and as a guide during the trip. By far the best and most reliable is the Rick Steves series. Factual information. I like it because he has a back door philosphy. I feel like I’m getting the background information from someone that has lived there for years. I also love how I’m able to use it as a guide once I’m there too. He has walking tours of museums – of course I typically purchase the musuem audio tours but in the random time that I don’t pay for it, it’s nice to have one in the guidebook. I like knowing the hours and cost of sites. Also the restaurants and hotels he has reccommeded have always been better than expected. I will always use Rick Steves whenever traveling to Europe. I know that he updates these yearly! I just wish he made these books for other parts of the world!

This book has been the most helpful of the three I ordered. I am looking forward to carrying it around London. His comments are always down to earth, just like his tv series. I know his information is current and is in common language that is easy to understand.

This book saves you lots of time and energy planning a trip. Steves even walks you through museums down to every corridor. Great book – we would have been lost without it!

Rick always comes thru with great information on where to go and what not to waste your time on. I enjoy the way that he suggests ways to immerse yourself in the culture of the place you are visiting.

Kindle Edition
Rick Steves’ London 2009 (Kindle Edition)

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World (Paperback)

by Eric Weiner (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 368 pages
* Publisher: Twelve; Reprint edition (January 5, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 044669889X
* ISBN-13: 978-0446698894
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1 inches
* Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
Part foreign affairs discourse, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide, The Geography of Bliss takes the reader from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author’s case, moments of “un-unhappiness.” The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Qatar, awash in petrodollars, find joy in all that cash? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? With engaging wit and surprising insights, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions. (2007)

Review
If you’re looking for a definitive answer to the book’s premise, i.e., that happiness is about place, you might be disappointed. If, however, you are game for a journey about exploring that concept, Eric Weiner’s book is for you. At once intelligent and witty, Geography of Bliss takes the reader to unfamiliar places to meet strangely familiar people. That’s because the essence of what makes us happy (or unhappy) is basically the same everywhere, alloyed only by our culture and circumstances. It’s a book that will make you think and laugh on the same page. And, it might just make you happy.

Eric Weiner, a well known and amusing journalist, has produced one of the funniest and sharpest books on the market. The search for what makes people happy can easily become an exercise in tedious piety, a too earnest account that reads like an economic research paper. Not so with Weiner, whose deft touch amuses and enlightens, in precisely that order. By taking this wry approach, Weiner is rather more profound than he would concede, and less grumpy than he would like to appear. That is the beauty of “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World,” it is a very learned and intelligent book that wears its erudition lightly and communicates insights with skill and many wonderful laughs.

This travelogue by self-confessed grump Eric “Whiner” is a yearlong tour of a very unusual assortment of countries (sample: Holland, Qatar, Bhutan and Iceland), most of which have been chosen because they are home to some of the happiest resident populations in the world, (although a couple are chosen to present a contrast). There are some interesting conclusions drawn about what does and doesn’t make for happiness, about the importance of democracy and wealth (so revered in the US) and how they are part of the answer but far from being the solution.

Kindle Edition
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World (Kindle Edition)

Rick Steves’ Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary (Paperback)

by Rick Steves (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 224 pages
* Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing; 6th edition (February 1, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1598801880
* ISBN-13: 978-1598801880
* Dimensions: 5.9 x 4 x 0.8 inches
* Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
* Rating:

Book Description
Buon giorno! From ordering calamari in Venice to making new friends in Tuscan hill towns, it helps to speak some of the native tongue. Rick Steves, bestselling author of travel guides to Europe, offers well-tested phrases and key words to cover every situation a traveler is likely to encounter. This handy guide provides key phrases for use in everyday circumstances, complete with phonetic spelling; an English-Italian and Italian-English dictionary; the latest information on European currency and rail transportation, and even a tear-out cheat sheet for continued language practice as you wait in line at the Sistine Chapel. Informative, concise, and practical, Rick Steves’ Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary is an essential item for any traveler’s zainetto.

Rick Steves’ Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary Review
A friend bought Rick Steves’ Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary for me last summer before I embarked on my first trip abroad. My Italian speaking friend had actually lived in Italy for a few years, and after careful consideration, felt that this phrase book/guide would be useful for me. He was absolutely right.

The book proved to be invaluable. It was compact enough that I could carry it around with me in a small purse/backpack that I carried with me throughout my entire trip. I did not speak any Italian whatsoever, and found the words and phrases in the book to be exactly what I needed to get around and communicate effectively. I especially appreciated the pronunciation guide to each Italian word in the book- that was extremely helpful. The practical advice given throughout the book proved to be invaluable, as well as humorous, and the menu decoder was also of particular help. I quickly got over any “qualms” I may have had over appearing too “touristy” on my trip and used the phrase book repeatedly as it proved to be a most definate asset. Thank you Rick Steves’ for so accurately predicting the needs of the average beginning traveler. The book greatly enhanced a most wonderful traveling experience. In fact, I am still studying it in anticipation of my next trip to Italy.

Admittedly, maneuvering your way through the sections may be a little tricky at first, but we found that most relevant phrases and lingo was repeated in several different sections to reinforce the learning process. We had looked at and even purchased a couple of other phrase books and dictionaries but found this to be the best one overall. Great pronunciation guides, common everyday conversational items and even the humor is a good break in the studies. I already speak decent Italian, my wife did not, and she found Rick’s guide to be much better in format and usability and was the one we chose to take to Italy with us.

Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World 2009 (Paperback)

Jill Safro (Editor)

Book Details
* Paperback: 272 pages
* Publisher: Disney Editions (September 30, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1423110463
* ISBN-13: 978-1423110460
* Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1 pound
* Rating:

Book Description
Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World, the most respected and well-known name in travel guides, takes readers to the world’s most popular tourist attraction. Since ours is the only guidebook that’s official, this book includes the most accurate information on prices, changes, and new attractions for 2008. Highlights include the scoop on “Magical Beginnings,” Walt Disney World’s specially tailored, money-saving vacation plan for families with pre-schoolers, and updates on Pleasure Island’s new venues, eateries, and shopping opportunities.

This new edition includes the scoop on the surprises in store as Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly known at the Disney-MGM Studios) marks its 20th anniversary. We’ll also take an insider’s look at the thrilling new interactive attraction, Toy Story Mania. Other updates include new tips and Birnbaum’s Bests; all the insider info about stage shows, parades, and nighttime spectaculars; prices and ticket options; customized travel tips for teenagers, international travelers, guests with disabilities; and a comprehensive character meal chart to help guests pick their favorite dining spots.

Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World 2009 Review
This guidebook is phenomenal. It is well-organized, easy to read and so helpful for planning a trip to Disney. There are suggestions for just about everything from hotels to dining to rides to extra fun. Going to Disney requires planning and preparation to fully enjoy the experience. Get this book well before you go to help with all aspects of planning your trip. There are even coupons in the back that can be very helpful, too.

We vacationed at Disney World for five days in December, 2008. My grandsons are 5 and 2. We used the Birnbaum’s book as our guide in each of the theme parks. It was very helpful. Our 5 year old loved the characters and used the autograph section for the numerous characters we saw. I highly recommend the book.

SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea (Paperback)

by John Lofty Wiseman (Author)

Book Details
* Paperback: 576 pages
* Publisher: Collins (March 2, 2004)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0060578793
* ISBN-13: 978-0060578794
* Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
* Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
* Rating:

Book Description
The SAS Survival Handbook is the Special Air Service’s complete course in being prepared for any type of emergency. John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman presents real strategies for surviving in any type of situation, from accidents and escape procedures, including chemical and nuclear to successfully adapting to various climates (polar, tropical, desert), to identifying edible plants and creating fire. The book is extremely practical and is illustrated throughout with easy-to-understand line art and diagrams.

SAS Survival Handbook Review
This is truly an important book for everyone to read at least once in their life. Given, most people will never end up in a situation where skills described in the SAS Survival Book will be required, but don’t be cocky…learn the skills from this book and rest easy knowing that you have the background knowledge to make it in the outdoors without modern conveniences. This book covers it all -forest, desert, ocean, island, artic/arctic, mountain, tropical, temperate- you name it, this book will get through the hard times with no problem. This book HAS saved lives in the past, but many have also died in unexpected situations where the knowledge found in these pages could have saved them. I don’t think anyone wants to end up classified in the latter. Get the SAS Survival Guide and read up. Someday you may look back at purchasing this book and realize it was the most important decision you ever made in your life!

I originally bought this book as a reference for a story I’m working on. After receiving it, I discovered that it went way beyond what I was expecting. I found that a lot of the information, which is laid out in simple language, is as much common sense as anything. What Mr. Wiseman does in his straightforward style is make it easier for us to be prepared for almost any situation. This book will definitely be among my necessity items whenever I travel from now on.