Traveler's Handbook, 8th: The Insider's Guide to World Travel

There are so many travel choices it's frightening, or it would be if not for Miranda Haines's Traveler's Handbook, which helps with issues like when to travel, where to travel, which festivals to aim for or avoid, what guides to buy, and what kind of focus you want in your trip: independence, adventure, romance, luxury, work, or eco-travel. The Handbook explores each option, describing the ups and downs of traveling alone, as well as the practicalities to consider for pregnant, elderly, and diabetic travel, honeymoon, gay, and vegetarian travel, and female, student, and business travel.

There are chapters on all the concerns of flying (how to choose an airline, getting a good deal, traveler's protection), overlanding (motorbikes to trucks to buying and selling a car abroad), train travel, river travel, hitchhiking, foot, and microlight travel, cargo ship, horse, and camel travel. There are chapters on visas and money, health and luggage, communication, computers, and theft, as well as surviving a hijack, a kidnap, and a civil war. No travel stone is left unturned. And as if this weren't enough, there follows a directory of all the countries in the world, with info on population, capital, currency, government, religion, safety, and best times to visit for each. This plus world weather charts, rainy season guides, sea temperatures and city altitudes make this an incredibly thorough and useful book.

Travel is the unknown, and the unknown promotes anxiety. It's reassuring to read these careful, perceptive words penned by someone who's given some thought to all the angles.