Travels Along the Edge: 40 Ultimate Adventures for the Modern Nomad--From Crossing the Sahara to Bicycling Through Vietnam

Adventure travel has become big business; in 1996 alone, 15 million Americans spent roughly $8 billion on adventure travel and related gear, leading outfitters and packagers to carve up the globe into customized adventures. In this compilation of challenging outings to remote corners of the globe, Noland attempts to help adventure travelers hook up with the trips of their dreams.

Three brief sections prime us for travel, advising how to make the basic choices of what trip and how to prepare. What sorts of details does Noland discuss in "Getting Ready"? Not the stuff of Travel 101--more like helicopter evacuation insurance and malaria pills.

Forty arduous adventures across seven continents follow; there are those to inspire fear and trembling-- "The Arctic: Skiing to the North Pole"; "Venezuela: Living with the Fierce People"; and "Nepal/Tibet: Climbing Mount Everest"--as well as those for the more sensuously inclined--"Belize: Kayaking the Offshore Islands" and "Portugal: Cycling in Wine Country." Each excursion is followed by recommendations of appropriate outfitters and reading material, a brief dispatch on what to expect, and a rating of the challenges that lie ahead.

Blessed with an enormous capacity for risk-taking, a sense of humor, and an impressive knowledge of the remote corners of the world, Noland has designed both a paean to the art of travel and, for the daring, an informative how-to guide.