Journal Entry 1 by GoryDetails from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, August 07, 2011

I stumbled upon this slightly-battered softcover in the used-book section of Toadstool Books in Milford NH, and couldn't resist. It's a collection of excerpts from the accounts of famous explorers, and while many are familiar to me, others are new. I saw a few intriguing photos when I thumbed through it, and that clinched it!

Among the entries here: an excerpt from Nansen's Farthest North, describing his amazing Arctic journey in the 1890's - after deliberately letting his ship "Fram" be frozen into the ice to cross the Arctic via polar drift, he and one companion set out to reach the Pole on foot; George Kennan's account of incidents at sea, on his way to his 1865 exploratory trip through Siberia; a surprisingly charming bit from Charles Darwin about his time in South America, including an attempt to use the bolo (!); Richard Henry Dana Jr. waxes lyrical about the beauty of a ship in full sail; Mrs. Alfred Mummery is here via her husband's book My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus for the tricky Alpine traverse they achieved together; Dillon Wallace writes about a dangerous expedition into the wilds of central Labrador; Isabella Bird's experiences in 1870's Colorado; and many more.

Among my favorites of the new-to-me excerpts: Allen and Sachtleben's entry from Across Asia on a Bicycle, in which they make their way through China, which, in 1890, was quite a challenge. It has its light-hearted elements, especially those having to do with the reactions of local people to the "iron horses" they rode. 

Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Friday, September 16, 2011

Released 8 mos ago (9/17/2011 UTC) at Nashua, New Hampshire USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book's going into thegoaliegirl's Travel Narrative bookbox, which will be on its way Saturday. Hope everyone enjoys the selection! 

Journal Entry 3 by tranq1 at Tampa, Florida USA on Saturday, September 24, 2011

Taken from thegoaliegirl's Travel Narrative bookbox.