audiobooks

.....but the information contained in this book was not of tremendous value to the common traveler.

While I learned a lot, I was hoping to get more run-of-the-mill, everyday travel advice. There was some of that in the book (such as having a list of alternate flights with you when you go to the airport, as well as the phone numbers of the airlines; if you are traveling with someone on a plane, pack half of your stuff in each other's suitcase. That way, if one suitcase gets lost, you are not without anything at all).

I also learned that most fire ladders only go up seven stories (from the street), so if I am in a hotel, I will request a street-side room below the 7th floor. I also found out how to escape from a rip tide, emergency braking for a car, and how to avoid a common scam at an airport X-Ray machine.

I did not really need information about jumping from one rooftop to another, removing a leech, crossing a piranha-infested river, surviving a trip over a waterfall, escaping from a tsunami, or catching fish without a rod.

This information that I did not need was, nevertheless, interesting to read. Almost as good was reading about the various experts whom the author consulted in order to write these scenarios.

If you are a nervous traveler (armchair or actual), this book will put you over the edge. You could memorize these scenarios and their protocols, but more likely you will not. The phrases-for-the-terrorized section is my favorite. It includes multilingual versions of requests such as "Please do not hurt me" and "Please take me to a clean hospital," as well as a variety of courteous pleas that one might imagine would be of use in a dire, horrific emergency. But what, really is the point? It's entertaining and bizarre and silly. Also great reading for the Indiana Joneses - or the Walter Mittys - of the world who would never (for example) need to stop a runaway camel or save themselves or another in a fall through ice - because we just would never be there in the first place. The sources are impressive: the scorpions information comes from an entomologist who is also an Army major, and the section on surviving a swim among the piranhas credits a leader of Amazon (the river) tours. Each terrible possibility and its antidote seems well-researched. Not a good travel gift for any but the toughest folks, but nerve-wracking fun nonetheless.

Very, very funny. And if I ever need to stop a car without brakes or deal with a mass riot, then I'll do my best to follow the advice in WORST CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK-- because I have no alternative ideas. Useful for dinner parties and during long car journeys when the conversation runs out.

To look into the heart of true survivalist at work, under very weird circumstances, I highly recommend Peter Hillary's IN THE GHOST COUNTRY. The pleasures are many and surprising, and the shocking revelations are no joke. Great stuff.