Immersion Travel USA: The Best and Most Meaningful Volunteering, Living, and Learning Excursions (Immersion Travel USA) [Paperback]

Sheryl Kayne (Author)

Book Description

Series: Immersion Travel USA | Publication Date: September 17, 2008

Awarded the 2009 Silver Medal in the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation's annual Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition: the first and only travel book devoted solely to immersion travel—volunteering, living, and learning trips within the United States!

This book will absolutely changes lives and the way you think about travel in the United States. Designed to be a resource and idea book, this guide provides practical information about immersion travel; special considerations and costs; how to plan and take vacations, sabbaticals, side trips, and more. There are chapters filled with candid, warm stories from travelers who have been there, done that. It's exciting to visit a national park, but it's a lifetime experience to live inside one for an extended amount of time.

Help others and enjoy yourself by biking and building homes across the country. Learn the fine art of making an authentic Windsor chair. Work as a caretaker and live in a lighthouse. Care about returning the wolf to its natural habitat. Play in the High Sierra Mountains backpacking and camping. 92 black-and-white photographs

Editorial Reviews

Review

Awarded the 2009 Silver Medal in the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation's annual Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition. Sheryl Kayne’s Immersion Travel USA provides a refreshing approach to travel within the United States. Instead of cataloging landmarks, this book guides you to meaningful travel based on volunteering, working or learning experiences. Kayne invites you to engage authentically with unique regional cultures for a trip that is sure to enrich your life and that of the locals. (Society of American Travel Writers Foundation )

About the Author

Sheryl Kayne has dedicated the last few years of her life to exploring immersion travel and volunteer opportunities around the U.S. Most recently the writer-in-residence at the Everglades National Park, and a writing fellow at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico, Kayne has traveled to Great Britain, Europe, the Caribbean, Bermuda, the Middle East, South America, Canada, and 46 states in the U.S., and has worked in many of the places she has visited in a variety of positions. She is an Adjunct Professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT, where she resides when she’s not off on an immersion travel opportunity. Kayne has experience in stand-up comedy on the New York circuit and her work has been appeared in such publications as the New York Times, Shape, American Profile, Hadassah, and Parents magazine. She has appeared on MTV, CNN, ABC Weekend Evening News, and NPR.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Countryman Press (September 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881508020
• ISBN-13: 978-0881508024
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Book and an Essential Resource, September 17, 2009

By 

BEEditing - See all my reviews

This review is from: Immersion Travel USA: The Best and Most Meaningful Volunteering, Living, and Learning Excursions (Immersion Travel USA) (Paperback)

Immersion Travel USA: The Best and Most Meaningful Volunteering, Living, and Learning Excursions is no ordinary travel guide. Immersion travel is about connecting with the people and places you visit through opportunities to volunteer, learn, work, care, and play in your chosen destination. From volunteering to tutor children or with the Wounded Warrior Project to working as a wrangler or ranch cook, learning to build your own cob house or the art of falconry, contributing to research and the study of diamondback terrapins and other marine life, participating in a bat watch, helping to protect the habitats of unique species, or finding a wide variety of seasonal positions in national parks, there are opportunities for everyone. Also included are trades, internships (for all ages), and short- and longer-term job opportunities: work on a cruise ship, study organic farming, or captain a historic wooden boat. There are activities for photographers, painters, cooks, golfers, surfers, storytellers and poets, would-be race car drivers and astronauts. In addition to the hundreds of detailed listings are informative and inspirational stories from people who have immersed themselves in these programs and activities, helped others, and enriched their own lives. Suggestions for off-the-beaten-path side trips, festivals, and restaurants; tips on getting the most out of your adventure; and invaluable resources that will help you plan your own exciting immersion excursion make this book a travel essential.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Immerse Yourself in This Book Before Your Next Trip, January 8, 2009

By 

C. M. MCCOOL - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Immersion Travel USA: The Best and Most Meaningful Volunteering, Living, and Learning Excursions (Immersion Travel USA) (Paperback)

Sometimes a regular, traditional vacation just does not fit the bill. If you are looking for more emotional or intellectual depth from your next trip, check out Immersion Travel USA.

Immersion trips are for everyone (young and old, rich and not). In fact, immersion travel can encompass a period of less than a day, even in your own hometown. A portion of Kayne's definition of immersion travel is "taking an active part in where you visit." The book is primarily divided into five chapters: Helping, Learning, Working, Caring, and Playing. The book has over 400 pages, so each chapter has dozens of listings. Each listing has contact information, rates, and an explanation. Many entries have accompanying personal stories; they add real weight, as we are mot just reading a travel writer's list of activities.

Many entries are well-known, such as working for the National Park Service, caretaking properties, sports camps, houseboat rentals, and route 66 tours. There are also cooking schools and history, science, and archaeological opportunities. Needless to say, there is something for everyone. A sample of fascinating entries include astronaut camp for adults, coral reef checking, humpback whale counting, and cowboy poetry gatherings. Some entries include suggestions for nearby lodging and dining--but that is not the main purpose. The purpose is to list meaningful trips and it does very well.

I imagine there will be international editions published in the future. I look forward to them.

Reviewed January 2009 by Charles McCool at LowerAirfares.com

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is my favorite travel book!, November 21, 2008

By 

Louis "Louis" (Norwalk, Connecticut United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Immersion Travel USA: The Best and Most Meaningful Volunteering, Living, and Learning Excursions (Immersion Travel USA) (Paperback)

I am so glad I found IMMERSION TRAVEL USA by Sheryl Kayne. It's turned out to be such a great book with very unusual trip ideas, I've decided to give it to all of our friends for the holidays! I particularly enjoyed reading the firsthand experiences from other travelers and the excitement seemed to jump right out of the pages. I've already spoken with my wife about taking these ideas and planning our next vacation.