Travel

DISCOVERIES IN JOURNEYS

Today, we are presenting a curated selection of beautiful books about discovery. We’ve got a new book on ancient maps with gorgeous monster illustrations, others documenting amazing road trips, a historic race around the world, and a delightful way to armchair travel.

Photo: Courtesy of the University of Chicago Press.

“Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps,” by Chet Van Duzer, is a gorgeous book, filled with fanciful ancient maps, embellished by the imagined dragons, serpents, and other fantasy creatures that kept ancient mariners up at night.

Image: Courtesy of British Library.

Beginning in the tenth century, through the end of the 16th century, cartographers used to decorate their maps with them to indicate yet-to-be-discovered areas, as if to discourage exploration. Van Duzer presents sources, influences, and methods used to create these cartographic masterpieces.

Beautifully illustrated, full of charming stories and detail, this large-format book is looking to discover your coffee table. It belongs there.

(British Library, 2013)

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon.

Perfect for armchair explorers, “The Traveller's Daybook: A Tour of the World in 366 Quotations,” by Fergus Fleming, is a collection of snippets from the journals and writings belonging to travelers, explorers, and adventurers throughout history. You can read about one discovery a day for a year.

It is an interesting way to experience world travel, through the eyes and pens of people who discovered the different parts of our planet. You’ll be privvy to Christopher Columbus's notes as he "discovered" the West Indies in 1492. You’ll travel with Anton Chekhov as he makes his way across Siberia in the 19th century. You might learn something from Napolean’s travel tips in his note to his niece. You’ll be moved by Captain Scott’s diary entries as he faced his freezing death in Antarctica.

Each quoted extract is accompanied by a brief commentary that introduces the writer and establishes the context of the excerpt, while integrated paintings and black-and-white etchings charm with the period of the chosen extracts.

Fergus Fleming is one of Britain's leading historians of exploration and the bestselling author.

(Atlantic Books, 2013)

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon.

“Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World,” by Matthew Goodman, is a recreation of passionate feat, with speed added to the thrill of discovery.

On November 14, 1889, Bly, a young reporter for the World newspaper set out from New York on a steamboat to break the record for the fastest trip around the world. Bisland, a reporter for Cosmopolitan Magazine, set out from New York, at the same time, in the opposite direction by train. They wanted to beat Jules Verne’s fictional hero Phileas Fogg and travel around the world -- 28,000 miles -- in less than eighty days.

The book is a double adventure, with each woman advancing in her respective journey, through exotic locales, rough terrain, magical oases, and a rainbow of cultures. Remember, passenger steamships, trains, and the telegraph were in their infancy at the time, while they aided Bly’s and Bisland’s discoveries, these early technologies added color and drama to their adventures.

(Ballantine Books, 2013)

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon.

“Hitchhiking with Larry David: An Accidental Tourist's Summer of Self-Discovery in Martha's Vineyard,” by Paul Samuel Dolman is a memoir about the summer he spent recovering from a broken heart, while hitchhiking around Martha’s Vineyard. And, yes, he really does score a ride with Larry David, of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, who asked, prior to opening his door, “You’re not a serial killer or something, are you?” David offered more than a ride -- he offered counsel and friendship.

Dolman rediscovers himself along the way, meeting a wild colorful cast of benevolent drivers.

With Larry David as a central character, of course the book is funny. But it is poignant too. It is a beautiful, yet quirky, tale of self-discovery.

(Gotham Books, 2013)

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon.

“Into the Wind: My Six-Month Journey Wandering the World for Life's Purpose,” by Jake Ducey, is an astounding recounting of self-discovery and transformation. At nineteen years old, Ducey made a break with everything in his life -- both good and bad -- drugs, college, and a basketball scholarship.

He had no map, no money, and no plan as he traveled through Guatemala, Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand, almost dying along the way. He ended the trip with two weeks of silent meditation. His story is powerful and empowering. You may discover things about yourself as you read it.

Now, at 21 years old, Jake is the world’s youngest published inspirational author, and is the Director of Self Reliance Institute, where he has built both a school and an orphanage in San Marcos, Guatemala.

(Waterfront Digital Press, 2013)

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon.

“An American Nomad: A Road Trip in Search of America” and “A Baby Boomers Road Trip,” by Stephen B. Thompson, is twinned book set that features a memoir documenting the discovery process during a year-long road trip around the US. Thompson’s experiences come through brilliantly, thanks to his vivid writings and the 250 photographs taken along the way.

Photo: Courtesy of Photoscapes USA. Stephen B. Thompson. An American Nomad.

Forty thousand miles of ground was covered as Thompson set out to look for America and discover himself. His writing will grip you and lead you along in his adventure, through back roads, meeting luck, adversity, and a beautiful collection of people.

(Outskirts Press, Inc, 2013)

Read about beautiful discoveries all this week, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact, including Discover New Books on Discovery, New Discoveries, New Scopes, Beautiful Food Discovery Apps, and Discover Cool Art, Books, & Sound.