HIGH ADVENTURE TRAVEL

Review by Barb & Ron Kroll

Travel Book Title:

The Lunatic Express - Discovering the World...via Its Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains and Planes
(Broadway Books) ISBN 978-0767929806 0767929802

Theme:

Mention international adventure travel and most people think of mountain climbing, white water rafting and Antarctica expeditions. Carl Hoffman did not take an adventure travel package. He spent five months traveling through five continents in overcrowded ferries, poorly maintained buses and airlines with terrible safety records.

Carl Hoffman's adventure holiday carried a high actuarial risk for travel insurance coverage, as readers can see in the Appendix. The lack of private, quiet, reliable and safe transportation was far from luxury adventure travel.

While dangerous, traveling by modes of transportation used by millions of people daily leads to human encounters, which make this adventure travel book especially fascinating.

Sample Items:

In chapter 7 of Lunatic Express, Carl Hoffman describes India train travel from Mumbai to Kolkata. Even though he traveled third class (non-air conditioned, but better than fourth class), he sat on a hard bench for 15 hours. Everyone in the crowded car was covered with dust and grime from the open windows. A complete stranger insisted that he eat his dal, naan and vegetable curry lunch.

Notable Elements:

In this 287-page adventure travel book, Carl Hoffman shows readers that traveling with local people, using their everyday modes of transport, is true adventure. Lunatic Express offers insights into local customs and people that are impossible to obtain with adventure travel packages.

Tone / Style:

Easy to read, and filled with quotes from the people Carl Hoffman met, Lunatic Express is a compelling description of international adventure travel.

Organized into three parts, Americas, Africa and Asia, each of the 12 chapters begins with a newspaper report of a travel disaster, such as a bus crash or a ferry sinking.

Visuals:

Black and white maps at the beginning of Lunatic Express depict Carl Hoffman's international adventure by airplane, bus, car, truck, train and boat.

Contents:

Prologue: Time for Prayer

AMERICAS

• Go!
• Hope for Buena Suerte
• Your Time Comes or It Doesn't

AFRICA

• Agents of Death and Destruction
• That Train is Very Bad

ASIA

• Jalan! Jalan!
• The 290th Victim
• I Can Only Cry My Eyes
• What to Do?
• Scariana
• Hope and Wait
• Same, Same, but Different

Appendix

Author:

Carl Hoffman

Claim to fame:

Carl Hoffman has written several travel stories for major travel magazines and U.S. publications.

 
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