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Armchair travel

Few of us actually undertake the ultimate journey—a trip around the world. But all of us can experience the fun, adventure, and surprises of a journey to faraway places.

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Wild romance : a Victorian story of a marriage, a trial, and a self-made woman
Chloë Schama.
New York : Walker & Co., 2010.
From her days as a convent schoolgirl on the European continent to her later life traveling across the wilds of America as an independent woman, Theresa Longworth Yelverton becomes a woman larger than life, when all she had wanted was a life as large as a home with a husband inside it.
     
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A tramp abroad : Following the equator : Other travels
Mark Twain ; Roy Blount, Jr., editor.
New York, N.Y. : Library of America : Distributed to the trade in the U.S. by Penguin Group, 2010.
Featuring authoritative texts drawn from the acclaimed Library of America series and introduced by today's most distinguished scholars and writers, this collection includes Twain's "A Tramp Abroad, Following the Equator," and other stories.
     
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Sea of dangers : Captain Cook and his rivals in the South Pacific
Geoffrey Blainey.
Chicago : Ivan R. Dee, 2009.
In 1769 two ships set out independently in search of a missing continent: a French merchant ship, the St. Jean-Baptiste, commanded by Jean de Surville, and a small British naval vessel, the Endeavour, commanded by Captain James Cook. That Christmas, in New Zealand waters, the two captains were almost within sight of each other, though neither knew of the other's existence. This is the stirring tale of these rival ships and the men who sailed in them.
     
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Voyages of discovery : a visual celebration of ten of the greatest natural history expeditions
Tony Rice ; introduction by David Bellamy.
Richmond Hill, Ont. : Firefly Books, 2008.
  1. Includes index.
  2. Includes bibliographical references: p. 330-331.
     
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Around the world on two wheels : Annie Londonderry's extraordinary ride
Peter Zheutlin.
New York : Kensington Pub., 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [177]-196) and index.
     

Phileas Fogg was one of the first to invite armchair travelers on a worldwide journey.

Go 'Around the World in 80 Days' with Jules Verne

In Jules Vernes’ novel, Around the World in 80 Days, fictional character Fogg and his manservant Passepartout travel around the world in 1872 to win a bet. Adventure finds them at every stop.  Not halfway through their journey Passepartout recounts for the furtive Mr. Fix:

"The affair at the Bombay pagoda, the purchase of the elephant for two thousand pounds, the rescue, the arrest and sentence of the Calcutta court, and the restoration of Mr. Fogg and himself to liberty on bail." (p. 127)

Like Fix, all who read of these exploits are there in spirit if not fact.

More adventures await the armchair traveler who joins real-life travelers exploring the world.

More about Verne's adventures

Discover the world with Captain James Cook

Author Hammond Innes’ portrayal of Captain James Cook’s voyages uses a fictionalized, but historically accurate, diary to bring to life the hardships and dangers faced during his final Pacific voyage:

"The condition of the masts...is causing us all great concern... After getting the Main rigging up on the 11th, we next day attempted to get the Mizenmast out, but it was so rotten it fell while the mast was in the slings." (p. 171 of Last voyage: Captain Cook's lost diary)

If sailing is not your idea of adventure, consider joining the men who cranked up the 1911 Hupmobile called the Little Corporal and hit the road. You get to see all the sights and meet all the people along the way.  But bring warm clothes. The car had no top or windshield. 

'Three men in Hupp' go round the world by automobile, 1910-12

(p. 167) ‘Hupp’s global envoys were determined to be the first to drive a motor car up to the Sphinx and the Pyramids…Determined to drive to the Spinx’s ear…the car bucked into the sand in which a person walking would sink to his ankles and came to a halt on the brink of the pit in which the wonderful old sphinx is located."

More exploits chronicling travels by foot, air and now space provide stories too good to miss.

So, pull up your favorite arm chair, put your feet up and get ready to enjoy the trip of a lifetime.

Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff