Beautiful book — part guidebook, part resource book — but I can’t figure out whom it’s written for
If there is another guidebook and travel resource book like the recently published 100 Countries, 5,000 Ideas: Where to Go, When to Go, What to See, What to Do, I can’t think of it. The book is a hefty trade paperback, beautifully printed on heavy stock with gorgeous photos, featuring a lot of planning information that seems meticulously researched if not always especially helpful. It’s a National Geographic publication, so I would expect no less of its look and feel, but the choice of content strikes me as arbitrary and perhaps even hollow.
Since I often decide where to go next because of an air fare sale, this for me is an armchair travel guide– the kind of book that I might browse through some evening when I feel the need to transport myself around the world with the turn of a page. On pages 132-139, I’m in Greece, on 140-141 in Guadeloupe, 142-143 in Guatemala and 144-145 in Hong Kong. I don’t expect much enlightenment in two pages. Still, I love the way it looks and feels, but beyond that, I can’t figure out what it is trying to be and which audience it is written for. Much of the information is too basic for the well-traveled and too exotic for new travelers.
The book contains extensive charts like “The Right Trip for Your Interests” (e.g., Historic Structures? Go to Italy. Marine Life? Go to Antarctica). No surprises there. I really do like the color-coded chart on “The Best Time to Travel in Tropical Climates,” a month-by-month temperature index as well as hurricane and typhoon season information.Maybe I like it because I’ve just returned from Fiji, which alas is not one of the 100 chosen countries. A review copy was waiting for me when I returned, and I immediately looked for the place I had just been. Oh well.
Less useful are the Themed Destination sections. “Traveling with Children” includes only 10 countries, “Adventure at Any Price” lists just 11 outfitters in the entire world, while “Travel With a Conscience” lists a mere four companies committed to sustainable, culturally sensitive travel. Since these are big growth areas, the omission is unfortunate.
The countries are arranged alphabetically from Antarctica, which is not a country, to Zimbabwe. Each country chapter contains several sidebars and boxes . For instance ”What to See and Do” lists the predictable highlights — the Great Wall in China, the pyramids at Giza in Egypt, etc..”Traveler’s Notebook” includes main contacts, currency, time difference from GMT, travel time, festivals and other quick facts. The little “When to Go” gives weather patterns at a glance. “Advice” is a short list of bulleted tips on safety issues and other insider tips. I do like the small maps to orient myself when I browse the chapters.
However, as I writer, I confess to being distressed that every National Georgraphic person from the chairman of the board to the the design intern and every single photograph is credited, but other than the Forward by Rudy Maxa, National Georgraphic Magazine contributing editor, there is no credit to any of the writers — or if there is, I sure couldn’t find it.
100 Countries has 389 pages, including charts, frontmatter and index. National Geographic Books; ISBN 978-1-4262-0758-7; $26.95.
