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This was an interesting book. I just found it in my pile of books that I've read and haven't journaled from a few months ago. Will set aside for my next travel narrative bookbox.

Sent out in the 2018 thegoaliegirl's travel narrative bookbox to start the box off!

I'm claiming this from the Travel Narrative bookbox. Another hard-to-resist title!

Later: Interesting range of "hellholes" here, in order from largest area to smallest: "Continent: Africa", "Country: India", "City: Mexico City", and... "Calamity: Walt Disney World" {wry grin}. (That last one has a chapter titled "To Sneer or Not To Sneer", and - as the author was surprised to discover - it was a lot less sneerworthy than he had feared.)

The author's goal here was to find out whether the "worst places to visit" actually lived up to - or down to - their bad reputations. In some cases they do; at least, there seem to be levels of crime, expected bribes, lackadaisical schedules, and sometimes-extreme bias against the perceived-wealthy tourists. (Those reactions sometimes make sense; even a not-wealthy-at-all Western tourist is probably carrying more portable wealth than some local folk could earn in a year.) Taking suitable precautions helps, but our author did choose badly now and then - from an untrustworthy guide to a too-relaxed attitude towards making travel arrangements. In most cases the worst that happened to him had to do with being stuck in a remote region in between buses and with no option but to wait it out...

He did discover things about local culture - and about foreign perceptions of Westerners - that he wouldn't have learned any other way, and I appreciated reading about this without having to make the trips myself {rueful grin}.

The author did seem to enjoy Mexico City, despite all the chat about kidnappings - for a while that was something that happened quite frequently, rather like being mugged in New York City but with more fear and inconvenience. From the author's viewpoint, though, "Mexico City is shaping up as a colossal waste of time on my tour of fear and danger. After a week in town I've an alarming situation on my hands: I think I'm falling in love with this hellhole."

I do give the author props for meeting as many local folk as he could manage; that's something I tend not to do even just wandering around my town, never mind while traveling, but it's clear that he got a lot out of the various conversations, transactions, and occasional arguments, things that wouldn't be part of a typical tourist-visit. Not a travel-book that makes me want to do what he did - well, except for visiting Disney World again so that I can experience "Soarin'", the high point of the entire book for the author - but quite interesting.

I left this book on a bench at the corner of the common on this warm day; hope the finder enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2018 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***