Getting Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad (Paperback)

by Dave Fox (Author)
Key Phrases: magic vest, salmon pasta, cafeteria ladies, Dave Fox, New Zealand, North of Darkness (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Dave Fox's writing is hilarious ... It's rare to find a person who has such unique stories to tell and can write about them to boot. --Time Bete, Director of the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
"When you travel, things go wrong."

That might not sound like uplifting advice, but in this hilarious collection of stories about mishaps in faraway places, award-winning humorist Dave Fox proves otherwise.

At age eight, Dave moves to England and nearly starts a riot in Northern Africa. As a nerdy teenager, he smuggles illegal radio equipment into Finland on his way to spending a year in Norway. In his college days, he discovers it is not wise to seek inner peace inside an Icelandic volcano, and he thwarts the Italian Mafia, only to find himself surrounded by machine gun-toting cops in Greece. A few years later, he does something exceptionally reckless. He becomes a professional tour guide.

Whether he’s chasing down runaway sheep in Ireland, munching antibiotics in Turkey, interviewing drunken nomads above the Arctic Circle, or helping diffuse knife fights in the Vatican, Dave travels knowing that when things go wrong, they might not seem fun at the time, but the resulting stories are worth the chaos.

Getting Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad spans 30 years of adventures and misadventures overseas, from Dave’s year as a British school boy, to his teenage days as a foreign exchange student, to his so-called "adult life" as a professional traveler. He weaves together tales both poignant and funny in this memoir of a travel-obsessed geek.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (June 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425923615
• ISBN-13: 978-1425923617
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,219,235 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As if traveling wasn't funny enough on its own..., August 23, 2006

By	coachwriter "Lynn" (Washington state) - See all my reviews

Dave Fox's stories had me laughing out loud. And any book that can do that is worth having.

I've done a lot of traveling myself and can appreciate Fox's take on it. Most often, visiting a foreign land is not a life and death experience although it can feel like one and certainly several times WAS for Fox. I loved traveling vicariously with him--all the pleasure without the personal pain!

Fox is a freelance writer and works for the Rick Steves travel organization. After zipping through his book, I might be more inclined to read more of his stories than to sign on his next trip!

If you're looking for a book to top off your summer reading, this is one to enjoy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly funny and equally informative, December 4, 2007

By	Howard G. Franklin (Lake Oswego, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The best way to summarize my feelings about LETTING GO is to say that it is a totally enjoyable read. It's witty. It's clever. It's funny. And it's informative.

Dave Fox has a gift for sharing his travel adventures with the reader. His personal style combines with a warm and very active sense of humor to place the reader right alongside Dave as he explores, for example, the ancient and mysterious streets of Istanbul, allowing one to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of a foreign culture.

You laugh. You learn. You laugh some more. And you don't want it to end.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dave Fox can sure tell 'em, August 14, 2006

By	Schuyler T. Wallace "Author of TIN LIZARD TAL... (Bakersfield, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Many things can go wrong when traveling. Dave Fox seems to have a penchant for finding them, living through them, laughing about them, and then telling others about them. He's daring, foolhardy, and funny. I enjoyed his book but came away with a nagging question; how can anybody get so fouled up mentally and physically and go back for more? Play on, Dave.

Schuyler T. Wallace