Compulsively Aimless

For two years, I lived ten miles from the Iranian border.  I had always wanted to see it's great religious and historical sites going back to the days of Xerxes and Darius the Great.  But at the time Iran was off limits to Americans and in any case belligerent toward American hikers.  Meanwhile, I collected some books to help me with armchair travel to Iran.  1. Touring Iran, Philip Ward (1971).   The author published a series of tourist guides to middle eastern hot spots (Touring Libya (3 volumes) and Touring Lebanon) back when  A tourist guide adventurous westerners might have been able to travel there in relative safety.  Ward's guide is definitely for the intellectually minded tourist.  Maps, black and white photos, useful words and phrases and basic information about the cities.  Bought used at the State Department Bookstore.   2.  The Legacy of Persia, Ed. by A.J. Arberry (1953).   Collection of histories wr...

The most remote place on earth is the expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  I've flown over it and traveled to some of its remote islands.  The first adventure was to visit a friend who had signed onto the Peace Corps and was posted Fiji and the Bikini Atoll.  The second was to the Bikini Atoll to return with my Dad 60 years after he had been stationed there as US Navy Corpsman as part of Operation Crossroads--the test of two Atomic bombs. Bikini was the most remote place I've been on earth.  One plane a week that island hopped from a series of other remote islands.  The remoteness felt like a physical presence hanging over your shoulder.  Here's my short collection on the Pacific Ocean.  1.  A Pattern of Islands, Arthur Grimble (1952).    Grimble started his career as an official in the British Colonial Service posted to small British possessions in the Pacific.  He collected his stories of life among local fisherman, tribal chiefs, and...

Africa holds the largest desert, greatest jungles, mythic rivers, and a intense, almost destructive draw for European explorers.  Here's my smattering of books on the second largest continent.  1.  The Lost Cities of Africa, Basil Davidson (1959).   Fifteen hundred years before Europeans explored the interior of Africa, cities thrived with trade.  Davidson tells the story of these lost cities through the detective work of archeology .  Bought used State Department Bookstore.     2.  The Africans, David Lamb (1985).   Part travelogue, part history, Lamb traveled 300,000 miles through sub-Saharan Africa.  Lamb talks with Presidents-for-life, guerrilla leaders, and even witch doctors.  Bought used State Department Bookstore.     3.  Venture To the Interior, Laurens Van Der Post (1952).  Van Der Post lead an extraordinary life as a a farmer, soldier, prisoner-of-war and writer.  This...