Book
Summary
80
Stories, 25 Countries, 5 Continents, One Heck of a Ride! A journey of
captivating true travel stories from that will inspire, amuse and amaze. This
fascinating kaleidoscope of people, places, food and culture brings to life the
colourful experiences of travelling the world on a budget!
Book
Review by Nadaness In Motion
Around the World in
80 Tales by Dave Tomlinson is a contemporary journey across several continents
and countries. Tomlinson says he's been to five continents and almost 60
countries, and in his book, he tells the reader about his adventures.
The
book is an excellent example of travel literature. Tomlinson makes sure that
the reader does tire of any of his stories by ensuring that none of his tales
exceeds 500 words.
I
must say the opening was a little rough for me though. The first tale in the
book annoyed me because of the author’s negative comment on something
religious. Awakened by a resounding Islamic prayer, the author's description of
“the rudest wake-up call imaginable” irritated me. Still, I had never
considered how others might view the prayer calls, so I let it slide while
bearing in mind that some places might have it higher than others, especially the
dawn prayer, when everything is very calm and there isn’t the hustle and bustle
of everyday life.
After
that first bit, the book moved smoothly and was quite exciting in certain
places. Among my favourites were the stories on the Cambodian and Indian
temples.
"My first experience on the Indian railway wasn't just a train
journey, it was an endurance test."
Tomlinson
has a thing for hiking – in fact you might get a little tired just reading
about all the hiking he does. But there are other times when he recommends
certain beaches, how to get there and informs the reader what each country,
region or place is popular for.
One
of the things I liked about Around the World in 80 Tales was the way Tomlinson gives
recommendations and sometimes warnings, particularly about dangerous roads,
hikes or simply areas popular with pickpockets. He also makes a lot of notes on what to do if you're travelling on a budget.
"There is something about clinging to a rope on a steep granite
slope in bone-chilling wind that almost makes you question your sanity a
little. The mountain is unforgiving and if you don't rise to its challenge it
will defeat you." From “Climbing Mount Kinabalu in
Malaysia”
In Around the World
in 80 Tales, Tomlinson provides a photograph after each tale, commemorating
the event or the adventure. Almost all images are his own with the exception of
two or three.
The
Camel safari in India’s Thar Desert is definitely one of the funniest stories
in the book. Tomlinson is honest, often sarcastic and definitely lands himself
in a few dilemmas and funny situations.
"In the first hotel the staff looked at me like I'd just crawled
out of a swamp. I wouldn't have boarded my dog at the second one. Another
didn't have any vacancy followed by one where nobody seemed to know
English." – From "Trouble in the capital city of Sri
Lanka"
I
also liked that Tomlinson isn’t merely promoting certain places in Around the World in 80 Tales, but is rather giving his honest
opinions and experiences.
At
the beginning, Tomlinson says that he separated the tales so that they are not
all grouped by country. Having finished the book, I felt that I would have
preferred reading the tales of each country separately instead of jumping from
Australia to Morocco to India then back to Australia or going to Ecuador then
jumping around a bit then back to Ecuador 10 tales later. However, that is just
a personal preference.
Around the World in
80 Tales is a quick
and light read. You don’t need to read the stories in order. The book serves as
a small guide to places worth visiting – or worth skipping – depending on your
taste and preferences.
Overall, I’ve found Around
the World in 80 Tales by Dave Tomlinson to be exciting, interesting and
most importantly informative. I highly recommend it.
(There are a few stories
that contain adult content due to the nature of certain temples and you can
tell those from the names given to them, but otherwise the book can be read by
all ages).
There are places in the
book that I would never have considered but now might put them on my list,
while I’m satisfied to merely learn about others or know they are not for me.
Overall rating: 4 stars
Note: I received a free copy of Around the World in 80 Tales from the author, Dave Tomlinson, in exchange for an honest review.
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