Customer Reviews:
 Excellent Exploration of the Act of Traveling March 19, 2007
This outstanding book by Canadian journalist Grescoe is an absolute must for anyone who, like me, likes to travel overseas or read a good travelogue. It combines a history of tourism (ranging from the Roman Empire to modern package tours) and participatory journalism (ranging from solo hiking pilgrimage to all-inclusive cruise ship) with a very personal examination of what compels the author's own wanderlust. This is all woven into a nine-month journey that takes Grescoe from the end of the Camino de Santiago on the West coast of Spain, to the Window to the World theme park in Shenzen, China.
Grescoe is the perfect kind of writer for a book with this broad a scope: erudite, witty, adventurous, insightful, and most importantly, reflective and honest. Seasoned travelers will enjoy the mini-histories, such as how the Romans established the first resort towns to indulge in outrageous behavior, how the first international travel agency (Cook's) grew from the temperance movement, the rise and fall of the "Grand Tour", the emergence of guidebook-led tourism from Michelin to Lonely Planet, and much more. As compelling as these bits are, the book's real strength lies in its provocative examination of the act of tourism.
Grescoe purposely sets himself an itinerary of "where the tourist ruts have been plowed the deepest" in order to play sociologist amongst the tourists. The book's main theme is how the tourist's quest for unspoiled terrain and/or a totally "authentic" experience leads to the exact opposite of these things. This is, of course, directly linked to themes of cultural imperialism, although Grescoe is careful not to become hectoring or pedantic about any of these matters. At the same time, Grescoe is interested in why people embark on tourism and the rather depressing answer is often merely the freedom to transgress the rules of their home culture, generally in relation to some combination of alcohol, sex, or drugs. He himself falls prey to this in a low moment in Thailand, when he belatedly realizes his actions are just as ethically wrong as those of several traveling companions he's been critiquing. And that's hopefully the effect of the book on the reader -- to provoke an examination of why we want to travel and what the effects of those desires are.
[...].
 Not living up to promise January 23, 2005
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
A really good idea for a book but the ennui of the author saps the project from the beginning to the end. It could have done with more desk research into the topic for one thing. So the writer doesnt like whirlwhind coach trips round 'auld Europe'?
I wouldnt expect him to. To really make the idea work the author would need more detachment or engagement- he just seems a travel addict that got a little bored and wanted to explore the 'tourist rut'. Sad thing is this is a much bigger topic than he could handle.
Politics of Travel September 5, 2004
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a superb book, which should be required reading for all travellers. Taras Grescoe samples many types of travel (pilgrimage, hire-car, cruise, Club Med, sex-tourism, etc.), and in the course of a compelling narrative, while providing factual information about the origins of certain types of journey (e.g. Thomas Cook, Lonely Planet, etc.), raises in an almost casual but thought-provoking way profound questions about the purposes and effects of travel. What are people trying to find by travelling? Are they deluding themselves? He explores the ambivalence of travel/tourism, through which the search for unspoiled innocence destroys what it is looking for. It is not a doctrinaire book, and he is a sympathetic listener to those he meets (some of whom are awful bores). He also does not excuse himself from the criticisms he makes of others. The book is a combination of travelogue, history, philosophy, psychology and wit, with a very personal voice. Though Bryson is enjoyable, Grescoe makes him seem utterly trivial. (I want to know whether Karen was there for Grescoe
when he got back to Canada!)
Do you still want to travel? October 6, 2003
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic book - it's an addictive read, very funny, but also thought-provoking. Grescoe tries out many different styles of travelling during the course of the book, observing his fellow travellers and their reactions to the places they are travelling in. It's full of amusing anecdotes, but there are also many observations about the impact of tourism in its many guises. His stories from routes that I had done, particularly Lonely Planet, made me laugh out loud because it was all so familiar. If you want to read about what other countries are like, this is NOT the book for you, but if you've ever done any travelling, I really recommend this book, something in this book will resonate with you.
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