Abroad: A Travel Organizer and Journal [Paperback]

Julianne Balmain (Author), Bas de Graf (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Hit the Road | Publication Date: May 2001

Going somewhere? Wish you were? There's no time like the present for planning that dream trip. Both travel guide and travel journal, this is the place to plan, dream, document experiences, and keep track of important details. Abroad is packed with inspiring tips and travel information, and features two pockets for storing tickets and maps, an elastic band, and enough amusing asides from fellow travelers to keep you smiling through most train and bus rides. With Abroad in hand, the trip never has to end.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julianne Balmain is a San Francisco-based writer whose many books include Abroad: A Travel Journal and Organizer and Office Kama Sutra, a humorous guide to romance at work. Writing as Nadia Gordon, she is the author of the Sunny McCoskey Napa Valley mystery series, including Sharpshooter, Death by the Glass, and Murder Alfresco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811828867
• ISBN-13: 978-0811828864
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #835,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Julianne Balmain is a novelist and author of several nonfiction books. Using the pen name Nadia Gordon, she is the author of a series of culinary mystery novels set in Napa Valley, including SHARPSHOOTER, DEATH BY THE GLASS, MURDER ALFRESCO, and LETHAL VINTAGE, which was nominated for a 2010 Mystery Writers of America Mary Higgins Clark Award. Featured in the documentary film MYSTERIOUS CALIFORNIA, her mystery series has been called "jolly, high-calorie pleasure" by the Chicago Tribune, "highly enjoyable" by the Washington Post, and "rapturous" by the Los Angeles Times. Writing under her real name, Balmain is the author of numerous books about food, relationships, and travel, including THE KAMA SUTRA DECK, a romantic how-to guide, and the humorous OFFICE KAMA SUTRA, which together have been translated into six languages. Her travel books include NIGHT + DAY SAN FRANCISCO, which the New York Times called "astute" and full of "details that can make out-of-towners want to pay a special visit." To find out more, visit www.juliannebalmain.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this journal - repeat user, July 30, 2005

By 

chitowngirl0 "chitowngirl0" (CHICAGO - North Sider) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Abroad: A Travel Organizer and Journal (Paperback)

I bought this right before a 10 day trip to Mediterranean France 2 years ago, I bought again for a week in Aruba last year and I've ordered another for my dream trip to Maui coming up in December. It's a lot of fun writing in this thing and makes you that much more excited to travel or just plan your travel actually. You can start with no destination in mind and read the little blurbs about promising itineraries...practically speaking it very functional too. Rubber cover (great for the surf splash, spilled coffee, wine at the cafe), plastic pockets on front and back cover to hold receipts, & all those little pieces of paper you collect as memorabilia, and the content: list of what to bring --I scribble and edit all over this page because I hate to forget anything, yet I'm a one suitcase girl...) Address pages, contact pages so I don't forget phone numbers and I also keep my credit card numbers passport numbers in this journal (I write it in code for would be identity theives, however). BEST of ALL, the budget page. I can easily calculate my per diem and track my spending. I pack a lot into my vacations and I am always under or right on budget, very important for single female traveler. There are at least 100 pages, plenty blank space to write your thoughts during an extended trip. There's a elastic band to hold the whole shebang together. I like that I can keep everything in one place with this book: budget info, train/bus/air tickets, journal section, memorabilia. The profile is small, thin enough to fit into an inside pocket. I find myself going through my old Abroad journals and reliving my vacation. For modern nomads like me, This journal helps me enjoy my precious time off and get me geeked for my next vacation.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for backpacking or active travel, May 29, 2009

By 

Katlanta (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abroad: A Travel Organizer & Journal (Paperback)

This is the most practical, useful travel journal I've seen, and I've looked at a lot of them. This is a great travel journal for active travel for a number of reasons:
- It packs easily. No wire binding to squish, no hard cover to bend.
- The vinyl cover can take abuse from weather, repeated pulling in and out of a backpack, daypack, or purse, being sat on, or drink spillage.
- It is narrow enough to fit in a pocket if you're writing and suddenly find the need to have both hands free.
- The paper is nice and heavy so it can take some abuse -- or a variety of media.
- It has separate sections for emergency contact info, addresses for postcards, a packing list, a proposed itinerary, an actual itinerary, a list of souvenirs to buy, places to see, things to do, people to contact, and all kinds of other information, while still leaving enough space to do some inspired writing.
- It has places to brainstorm your next trip and contains unexpectedly inspirational quotes from real travelers.
- It has little pockets inside both covers for transport tickets or other ephemera. It's the perfect size, for instance, to hold a boarding pass or train ticket.
- My favorite part -- and it's surprising how hard this is to find -- is that it has lined pages for writing plus about 10 unlined pages to sketch, stick stamps/tickets/beer labels, or otherwise fill at your own whim. It even comes with a sheet of sticky corners you can use for this.
I've purchased this journal for 2 separate trips and would buy another.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travel Organizer, June 21, 2001

By 

Robert Koagedal (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abroad: A Travel Organizer and Journal (Paperback)

Lots of tips on how to make your next trip a great adventure. I recently returned from Paris and don't normally like to carry much with me when I travel, however this sleek little organizer, aside from being the right size and very cool when your sitting at a Parisian cafe, is full of great advice on seeing life with new eyes when your abroad, or even in your own backyard.