Product Description

Fifty-eight real stories from young travelers abroad offer the budget, independent, and youth traveler vivid first-person accounts of the countries and experiences of backpackers, students, and sojourners. Offering more than just traveling facts, this guide actually invites readers to see, taste, and experience European adventures-from sneaking into Rome's Coliseum to running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. These backpackers relate experiences that people with suitcases and reservations wouldn't necessarily experience, including sleeping in streets and hostels, 24 hours of clubbing on the Spanish island of Ibiza, and train-travel debacles. The stories offer dozens of glimpses of the most worthwhile destinations in 11 of Europe's most well-traveled countries, not to mention lesser-known lands revealed in the "Off the Beaten Path" section. This collection of youthful adventures will keep aspiring travelers laughing, wondering, and walking with the storytellers who take them inside Europe's must-see places. Countries explored include Amsterdam, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #342647 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Pearson and Westerman's anthology of short essays by young travelers confirms every stereotype about American college students studying and traveling abroad: they are naive, determined to party and reckless. Given the ubiquity of these themes within these 58 pieces, the book's main readership would appear to be any 20-something with wanderlust and a propensity for nightlife. Recent grad Pearson and University of Washington lecturer Westerman organize the often colorful narratives (by novice travel journalists and former students) by country, allowing readers to explore Germany's club life, France's bar world and other social scenes. Tyler Toby, writing of his wild time in Majorca, sums up the tone of many of these tales: "Our mission was to booze up on the way there and dance all night with women from all over Europe. The music was fantastic and the good times were there for the taking." Some pieces, however, offer more cultural and historical meat, with important lessons about travel safety and strategies that will enrich soon-to-be young travelers' ideas of what to expect, including how to best enjoy the running of the bulls in Pamplona, and tips for artists on capturing offbeat Paris on canvas. And the book fills a void in the study-abroad genre, as it isn't a guide book or a how-to. For the thousands of students who make the trek across the ocean in search of adventures, this collection will foreshadow much of what is in store and, when they return, echo their experiences. Maps.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"An inspiration and a springboard . . . help[s] backpackers put their travel dreams in focus and then turn them into reality." -- Rick Steves, author, Europe Through the Back Door

"The book succeeds at grabbing the attention of the reader and not letting go until the last quest is finished." -- The Hurricane (University of Miami)

"What you learn is that . . . young travelers on limited funds can land in some incredible circumstances." -- Los Angeles Times

"[G]ive a more accurate description and feel of Europe than anything I have ever read or heard before." -- Tiger News (Clemson)

"[I]ntended to go deeper than a typical travel guidebook, to convey the youthful follies of journeying with a backpack." -- Boston Globe

About the Author
Mark Pearson backpacked around Europe while studying art history in Rome. He is the president of Pearson Venture Group. He lives in Seattle, Washington. Martin Westerman has lived in and backpacked around Europe and is the author of How To Flirt and The Business Environmental Handbook. He lectures on communications at the University of Washington business school. He PHOTOGRAPHER: Thomassen, Nicolay

Customer Reviews

First in a New Travel Series
Europe From a Backpack is the first in a series of backpacking anthologies that editor Mark Pearson is planning. The essays in this volume are written mostly by young backpackers who are not professional writers. The lack of polish is somewhat compensated for by the enthusiasm that shines through, though not entirely.

Europe From a Backpack is a bit like the Travelers' Tales books, except that all the writers in the Backpack series are (so far) unknown. A few of the writers rise to the top of this collection, notably Lisa Cordeiro and Mike Riley. Cordeiro's two essays about living in Europe after a hitch in the Marines left me wanting to know more about her adventures. She writes as if telling a story, not just relating her experiences. Riley's essay is a funny, punchy story of how he found himself in desperate need of a restroom, then of new underwear in a small town in Portugal.

Pearson has a website to promote his "From a Backpack" books and to solicit essays. There are instructions for submitting stories, but no mention of payment if your essay is included in one of his anthologies. While most of the authors in Europe From a Backpack might be satisfied by the thrill of seeing their writing in print, I certainly hope Cordeiro and Riley, at least, were paid for their stories.

WONDERFUL
This is a great book to hold you over from one European trip to the next. Quite entertaining and funny. A good "easy read".

Great essay collection
Europe from a Backpack is just plain good travel writing. It is pure nostalgia and is sure to inspire fond memories in anyone who has traveled the country. On the other hand, it can serve as an inspiration to armchair travelers, or an underground guide to places off the beaten track. If nothing else, this collection should inspire any traveler to record their memories in a journal. At the very least, take away the lesson that a few unforgettable travel anecdotes are far superior to a collection of a hundred of photo slides to torture your friends and family with.

The collection is divided into twelve chapters by region--Spain, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and so on. Stories focus on the hazards of a pilgrimage, on fleeting friendships formed in small cafes, on opulent stays with exchange families, and most of all, on the rare chance to fully experience local culture.

Read this with a notepad in hand, because you will not only want to jot down the must-see sights and experiences, but the advice imparted by the book. Reading stories of travelers' sticky situations will provide the reader wisdom that comes only from hindsight.