Around the World in 50 Years by Albert Podell (910.4 Pod)

In his mid-20s, the author sets off with friends for a road trip across Africa, India and other countries in a Toyota 4x4, a camper and a trailer loaded with supplies.  At the end of the trip (581 days later) he is hooked on the idea of travel.  Never-the-less it would be almost 20 years later before he decided to visit all 196 established countries in the world.

When I first heard about this book I was intrigued.  Just thinking about the logistics seemed overwhelming to me.  And then there are those countries that our government warns us in no uncertain terms NOT to visit.  Cuba, for instance, and any number of other countries currently in turmoil.

Undeterred, the author describes not just the routes he took and the means he used to get visas into some countries but what he finds there.  He is intrigued by local cultures and meeting as many local people as possible.  He recommends eating local food but found some of them intimidating - such as eating monkey brains from the monkey just killed at his table (in Hong Kong, I believe) or fruit bat pie in Palau.

The author sometimes brags about his attractiveness to the opposite sex but balances those comments with thoughtful remarks on the effects that staffers from humanitarian organizations can have on the local economy.  The ability of these workers to pay $60 for a meal in a country where most people don't earn that much in a month drives prices up to the point where local residents, the very people they are there to help, can't afford them.  He worries about the effect that radical Islam is having on countries in Africa.  Global warming also receives attention as some of the island countries he visits are in danger of being covered completely within a very few years by rising water.

At 345 pages long with small print, this book seemed overwhelming.  But by page 10 I was hooked and found myself laughing, shaking my head or nodding in agreement.  And when the flight I was waiting to board was cancelled after four hours due to mechanical difficulties, I only had to start reading again to be reminded that there are much worse travel difficulties to have - such as being on a remote island with only one flight out every eight days and not able to find a way to get to the airport...

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