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Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel [Kindle Edition]

Rolf Potts
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)

Print List Price: $15.00
Kindle Price: $11.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: $3.01 (20%)
Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
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Book Description

Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life—from six weeks to four months to two years—to discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Rolf Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel. Potts gives the necessary information on:

• financing your travel time
• determining your destination
• adjusting to life on the road
• working and volunteering overseas
• handling travel adversity
• re-assimilating back into ordinary life

Not just a plan of action, vagabonding is an outlook on life that emphasizes creativity, discovery, and the growth of the spirit.


From the Trade Paperback edition.


Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Veteran vagabond Potts regales readers with his mantra: anyone with an adventurous spirit can achieve the feat of taking extended time off from work to experience the world. In 11 short chapters that follow the same structure, Potts tells how to negotiate time off from work, prepare for travel, and get the most out of your time on the road. Each chapter contains a profile of a famous proponent of vagabonding (e.g., Thoreau, Annie Dillard), quotes from everyday people with extensive travel experience, and a tip sheet of print and online sources for practical travel advice on topics such as airline tickets and accommodations as well as safety concerns. Alternately warning readers about using drugs in foreign countries and entertaining them with anecdotes from exotic ports of call, Potts gives a thorough recounting of his outlook on traveling. This book seems squarely aimed at twenty- and thirtysomethings; anyone with decidedly nonvagabond accoutrements (e.g., children or career ambition) might be more skeptical of Potts' philosophy. For those with a bad case of wanderlust. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Inside Flap

Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life?from six weeks to four months to two years?to discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Rolf Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel. Potts gives the necessary information on:

? financing your travel time
? determining your destination
? adjusting to life on the road
? working and volunteering overseas
? handling travel adversity
? re-assimilating back into ordinary life

Not just a plan of action, vagabonding is an outlook on life that emphasizes creativity, discovery, and the growth of the spirit.

Product Details

  • File Size: 1964 KB
  • Print Length: 224 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0812992180
  • Publisher: Villard; 1st edition (December 24, 2002)
  • Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B000FBFMKM
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,304 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • Would you like to give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

This is a great book for anyone with an interest in world travel. Thomas Augustson  |  36 reviewers made a similar statement
For such a short book, Vagabonding packs in a great deal of information, both practical and entertaining. Konrad Baumeister  |  29 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
138 of 142 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars great little travel philosophy book July 14, 2003
Format:Paperback
Rolf Potts' tome of vagabonding is an inspirational work rather than a practical guide. While the same practical information is contained in other books, this book shines in the area of travel philosophy. Travel is like a religion, where some people are incredibly fervent about it, while others just don't understand. This book makes you realize that long-term travel is not only possible, but desirable and worthwhile.

I particularly liked the section on working for travel. As a 9-to-5 worker planning a long-term trip, I needed the inspiration to keep going. I liked being told that working will actually make me appreciate travel more. After all, to afford travel, I have to be here anyway.

Throughout the book, there are great little excerpts from famous travellers, philosophers, and explorers, as well as anecdotes from ordinary travellers. Rolf has a particular liking for Walt Whitman, and I may just have to go pick up some Walt poetry now. The literary references in this book let you know that world travel and a simple life aren't new concepts.

The only problem I see with this book is that it may soon become dated with its references to specific websites.

The book is of a small and convenient size to take on the road.

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76 of 78 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring June 23, 2003
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The hardest part of world travel is acquiring the mindset that nothing else matters as much as the journey. Getting to a place where you reduce your consumption of unnecessary stuff, commit your time, and leave your daily routine behind takes a fair amount of work, and it also takes a major shift in priorities. Vagabonding serves as the kick-start that gets you to that mental place --the "I can do it, and I can do it soon" reply to the siren call of world travel.

This book is inspiring, clear, and helpful. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to roam, but thinks they don't have enough money or time. I also recommend it for those, like me, who have gone vagabonding before, know what it takes, and just need a nudge of renewal in order to get back out there again. Great book!

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39 of 42 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy Class Meets the Road September 18, 2003
Format:Paperback
This book is essentially about the thought process behind taking time off from your regular life to discover and experience the world on your own terms. If you've been around the world a few times, you'll find it puts many of your fuzzy warm thoughts and ideals into words. If you haven't, it'll probably make you wonder why you haven't taken off already.

People who like to plan and be prepared should treat this as a companion to more nuts-and-bolts guides. Others may find this plenty since travel is all an adventure anyway. It depends on your personality and comfort with the unknown. The rarely expressed aspect of Potts' book, however, is the acknowledgement that both work and travel are admirable and that one complements the other. To travel, you must also be productive sometimes. But to be productive, you also have to continually learn and see other points of view. Traveling abroad on more than a one-week vacation makes this possible. An entertaining and inspiring read.

Tim Leffel, author of THE WORLD'S CHEAPEST DESTINATIONS

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Just okay
This book reads much like a college essay written in haste the night before a deadline. Most of the content were quotes from other authors, spans of resources that have the... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Jeff
5.0 out of 5 stars simple awesome
i would recommend this to anyone and everyone who has curiosity about world travel. great travel quotes, inspirational, a great read overall. Read more
Published 8 days ago by ted
5.0 out of 5 stars Not just another travel book
This book is a microscopic spiritual hymn of life as a whole told through the experience of life on the road. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Dane
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read.
More about the right mindset rather than a how to guide, but still worth reading. Many helpful points. Lots of good adivice.
Published 27 days ago by Peterpablo
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational
I've been considering traveling overseas and this book just cemented the idea. It's one of those books that you will either get it or you won't, depending on where your state of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ted Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed my life!
Read all the reviews, synopses, and samples all you want. To experience this book, to absorb the great philosophies from this book, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. Read more
Published 1 month ago by John
5.0 out of 5 stars ate it up!
This book is for any one who has the hunger for adventure...def a great guide and inspiration for getting out there!
Published 1 month ago by Andrea
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
This is an awesome, book. My girfriend and i have travelled to many places together and this book came with us everywere. Read more
Published 1 month ago by patrick seguin
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for travelers and dreamers.
When I first saw this book I knew it was my type of reading. It has great travel advice and is also very motivating and enjoyable to read.
Published 1 month ago by M. Stefani
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Excellent book! Potts is very informative about an alternative view to travel. Potts also shares a general philosophy of life informed by travel.
Published 2 months ago by Christopher R Link
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More About the Author

Rolf Potts is the author of two books, Vagabonding (Random House, 2003) and Marco Polo Didn't Go There (Travelers Tales, 2008). He has reported from more than sixty countries for the likes of National Geographic Traveler, The New Yorker, Slate.com, the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Believer, National Public Radio, and the Travel Channel. His adventures have taken him across six continents, and include piloting a fishing boat 900 miles down the Laotian Mekong, hitchhiking across Eastern Europe, traversing Israel on foot, bicycling across Burma, driving a Land Rover across South America, and traveling around the world for six weeks with no luggage or bags of any kind.

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