Synopses & Reviews
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.
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
Review
"An inspiration and a springboard...This book can help backpackers put their travel dreams in focus
and then turn them into reality." Rick Steves, author, Europe Through the Back Door
Review
"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." Publishers Weekly
Review
"What you learn is that...young travelers on limited funds can land in some incredible circumstances." Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
If you've ever wanted to backpack in Europe... If you want to relive your adventures... If you love good travel writing... Better than guidebooks, these first-person accounts paint vivid pictures of a traveler's experience in Europe. Like familiar music and favorite scents, they'll awaken a taste for adventure in those who have yet to travel, and bring back memories for those who have. Romance, surprise, discovery and wisdom all bubble through these authors' inviting pieces. At last, a collection of first-person eye-witness adventures that will keep you laughing, wondering, and walking with the well-traveled story tellers who take you inside Europe's must-see places. Billy Anderson stares down death at the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Lisa Cordeiro takes a "will work for food" approach to travel as a waitress at a Paris restaurant. And Mike Riley's desperate search for underwear in a Portuguese market... well, that's another story.
About the Author
Mark Pearson is an avid reader and traveler. After studying art history in Rome and backpacking around Europe for four weeks, Mark decided to compile a collection of the best backpacking stories he could find. So, he created the Europe From a Backpack series. He also publishes other non-fiction books through Pear Press. Martin Westerman, who has lived in and backpacked around Europe, is the author of How to Flirt, Easy Green, TheBusiness Environmental Handbook and hundreds of articles. He lectures on communications and sustainable business practices for the University of Washington Business School in Seattle, Washington, where he lives with his wife, two sons, and edible garden.