Customer Reviews

Adventures of a Continental Drifter: An Around-the-World Excursion into Weirdness, Danger, Lust, and the Perils of Street Food

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Former flight attendent Elliott Hester takes a leave of absence after the events of 9-11 and opts to take his own journey around the world. We are taken along on the trip with him in an assortment of amusing and embarassing anecdotes. He starts in Miami going to Argentina, South Pacific, Australia, SE Asia, India, North Africa, and into the European countries before landing back home. He regals us with stories of topless Scrabble addicts, Dehli Belly, transvestite islanders, the dangers of driving in other countries, sauna in Finland, impersonating Samuel L Jackson in Czech, and other great stories. He runs continual risks of intenstinal problems and is not above humiliating himself. All in all, this is a splendid book showing you how you too can go across the globe on $60 a day. As with most travelogues, it loses a star because the book would have been benefitted by the inclusion of photos he took on the journey. Fast and easy read, I'll be picking up future books of his.

I really liked this book, it's one of my favorite in the genre of travel writing, with some very funny stories from the author's travels. I do wish he took more of a postive approach though, it seems nine out of ten stories show the negative side of travel, though I guess it's good to tell it like it is. Highly reccomended for a good laugh!

Rarely have I come across a travel memoir that transports me the way Adventures of a Continental Drifter has. With wit and laugh-out-loud humor, the author not only brings to life some of the most exotic places in the world. He takes you along with him as if you are a vicarious sidekick, stumbling and chuckling along the way. I loved this book. It made me consider quitting my job and traveling the world like Hester did. But then I came to my senses.

I LOVE humorous travel books but they are far and few between. I bought this book on sale and was pleasantly surprised. I laughed my way through the whole book. I will be sure to pick up anything else from him now!

I can not say enough about this book. I absolutely loved it. I am a Geography teacher and I am ordering a class set for my classroom. I think my students will fall in love with this book the same way I did. You should buy this book without even thinking twice. You will laugh and learn so much about the world from first hand experience. Enjoy and BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!

I bought this book at an airport bookstore before a fight from Miami to Paris. Unfortunately for the passengers seated near me, I laughed out loud all the way across the Atlantic. And my laughter is kind of obnoxious, or so my friends say. Some of the stories were so funny I almost wet my pants. Thanks, Hester, for making my flight more enjoyable.

I loved this book. Elliott Hester's great writing style and self-deprecating humor make for a great travel read - it's mainly about the travel experience, far less so about the writer, and not at all about the writer's ego. Seasoned travelers will laugh and nod in agreement as they recall similar adventures of their own; armchair travelers will see "the other side of the coin" that's not usually highlighted on travel websites or in the Sunday Travel Section of your favorite paper. And if you read this book while you're on travels of your own, it's even more fun. Highly recommended.

I read this book with jealousy & envy. After Mom & Morty moved down to Florida from Brooklyn; my plan was to put all my stuff into storage & travel around the world for one to two years, having adventures, writing & selling articles along the way, publishing a book about my travels, perhaps find a place in which I wanted to settle down, find a job & perhaps find a woman to live with. Any one of those aims would have been sufficient
Instead, my old friend Carol convinced me to come out to Missouri to live & work with her. Our living & working together experiment fell apart after less than two months.
The author of this book, Hester, lived my dream. In 2002, he sold his car, left his apartment, sold all he owned, & set off around the world; drifting through some 50+ destinations. From his travels were birthed this book & his currently syndicated travel column: "Continental Drifter." He still travels with no permanent fixed address.
This is one fine book. Armchair travelers will love it! Hester takes them everywhere. Vignettes from around the world. Hilarious. Dangerous. Erotic. Diarrheaish. Wander with Hester & enjoy what should have been my life.

Expecting an insider view to travel .. author is flight attendant .. but instead it's a compendium of his travel anecdotes .. some funny .. some not .. none really give any insight about travel .. other than .. believe Lonely Planet and don't eat street or train vendor food .. which is a big DUH!

Hester's style of writing will pull you in from "takeoff to landing." It's as if he's sitting right beside you on a transcontinental flight, telling you all about his wacky and wicked experiences. You'll find yourself laughing out loud! A good followup to his first book, PLANE INSANITY.