"In this collection of twenty exquisitely crafted pieces, award-winning travel writer Mike Tidwell shatters the mold of the travel genre. His writing is more than just adventurous tales of getting from here to there. There's plenty of that, of course, whether it's getting marooned on a desert island or traveling the Silk Road with nomadic shepherds or getting caught in a deadly rock slide in the Texas desert. But what makes Tidwell's writing different is his uncanny ability to draw out those he meets -- a Hanoi barber, a Columbian innkeeper, a homeless fisherman in Washington D.C. Such encounters allow Tidwell to probe his own emotions for the sort of edification and larger rewards that only thoughtful travel can bring. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.

I. Around the World Hanoi Haircut Christmas Miracle in the Andes Sibling Revelry on the Rhine A Journey to the End of the Earth ... Really! Tramping Across Sicily II. Outdoors in America A Wilderness Island in Angry Lake Superior Amazing Grace in the Texas Desert Capital Fish Story III. In the Mountains of Heaven Going Manhole Crazy in Kyrgyzstan Silk Road Shepherds

Saving Ishen IV. North of the Border, South of the Border Marooned on a Desert Island Montreal, Expos'd Peccary Hunting in the Amazon V. Planes, Trains, Cars John T. Love and the Flight from Hell Old Ghosts on a Southern Highway Relic Hunting on a Pioneer Trail Night Train to Georgia with a Very Little Boy VI. Departure Small Paradise in the Congo.