Looking for something new and interesting? Check out Perceptive Travel for reviews of current books for independent travelers (and some fine stories from authors).

GENERAL

The links below are for the U.S. store. For Amazon UK or Amazon Canada, figure out which book to search for, then paste it into the appropriate box:

________

 

Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune is the definitive guide for scoring a better deal on travel by charting a different path.

Traveler's Tool Kit: Mexico and Central America is packed with 532 pages of practical international travel advice. If you like to be fully prepared (from packing to dealing with requests for bribes), this covers all the bases.

The Practical Nomad comes off a bit preachy at times, but the author, Edward Hasbrouck, founded a travel agency selling round-the-world tickets.

The Rough Guide First Time Around the World is a good primer if this will be your first trip circling the globe. Their First Time Asia book First Time Europe are getting regular updates. Also try First Time Latin America (though the Traveler's Tool Kit book above is superior). If you're lucky enough to live in a place where you get a "Gap Year," then check out Lonely Planet's The Gap Year Book. or Susan Griffith's Your Gap Year (5th Edition).

Or if you're ready to leave the grind, try The Career Break Book.

Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts, is about taking time off from your regular life to discover and experience the world on your own terms. This is an entertaining and ispiring read, as much a philosphy of travel guide as a primer.

The Smart Traveler's Passport has 399 tips gleaned from Budget Travel magazine.

The World Awaits, by Paul Otteson, is a guide for how to travel far and well. Philosophy of the road meets lots of practical travel advice.

Bruce Northam's Globetrotter Dogma book is a pocket guide to giving up the rat race for a while and seeing the world.

World Stompers, by Brad Olsen, has become a classic for those first-time travelers who fit firmly at the bottom end of the budget scale, especially younger ones who plan on partying their way around the world for cheap. On a more serious note, he wrote Sacred Places Around the World

 

WORK/STUDY/LIVING ABROAD

Work Your Way Around the World, by Susan Griffith, is an inspiring must-read for anyone hoping to land some kind of short-term job overseas. (I read it and the more specific Teaching English Abroad books before taking my first trip and landed several jobs based on its advice.)

Teaching English Overseas--A Job Guide for Americans and Canadians is geared more toward North Americans, who can't just waltz into the EU and start teaching. Written by a guy who has taught in seven countries.

Also worth checking out for working possibilites are Work Worldwide for those seeking real careers overseas and The Back Door Guide to Short-term Job Adventures for those who just want to pass through.

The Big Guide to Living and Working Overseas is an exhaustive, 1,085-page reference for those who are serious about making a career for themselves overseas or are interested in building up experience abroad. If you want to start off on the right foot, with the right resources, this is the place to go.

Work Abroad, now in its 4th edition, is as straightforward as it sounds, with detailed listings of sources and plenty of advice from experts in each area. Published by the people at Transitions Abroad, who know more than a thing or two about living overseas.

Speaking of Transitions Abroad, this link will give you an exhaustive list of book resources for study abroad programs. See the separate web resources page for on-line sites to visit.

SPECIAL INTEREST & SPECIAL NEEDS

The Rough Guide to Travel with Babies and Young Children is packed with advice and stories of people who have made it work. Great Adventure Vacations With Your Kids is one of the best guides to doing something besides Disney World with the little ones. Includes info on Nepal, Turkey, and Honduras. Family Travel: The Farther You Go, The Closer You Get is a Traveler's Tales collection of essays on family travel. Lonely Planet Travel With Children is primarily written by well-traveled Maureen Wheeler, half of the Lonely Planet guidebook founding couple. The Penny Whistle Traveling With Kids Guide covers keeping them occupied while on the move.

Most gay travel guidebooks deal with urban destinations that are far from cheap. Try The Gay Vacation Guide. Guys should check out Spartacus or Damron Men's Travel Guide. A better bet may be to download guides by subscription from www.outandabout.com . Lesbian travelers now have their own Damron guide.: Damron Women's Travel Guide.

For Vegetarian Travelers, choices are surprisingly sparse. One of the better guides out there, The Vegetarian Traveler has gone out of print, so you'll have to get it used. There are a few regional guides for the U.S. and Western Europe, but your best bet is to browse through a few detailed guidebooks on where you're planning to go.

 

Most people on a budget are generally carrying a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide edition for where they're going and in most cases, you'll be in great hands if you have a copy of both. Moon Handbooks are the most thorough choice for many locations though and the Footprint guides are especially good for Latin America--the ones that aren't four years old that is. Let's Go is the budget choice for college kids, though it's best for dedicated barhoppers and those on a summer trip to Europe (the typical experience and research timeframe of their writers). More options are out all the time--especially for city guides--so spend some time evaluating which is best for you.