After the publication of The Short and Wonderful Life of Henry Hemingway – Fred’s wildly humorous and hard-hitting memoir of his years in Berlin, the USA and Canada in the 1960s – he surprises his readers with an enchanting and tender travel and love story about a two year journey through India, Sri Lanka and Australia. Travelling with Maria is an entertaining book, a page-turner, full of amazing events like running away from wild elephants, meeting a goddess in a Hindu temple, exhausting negotiations with an extraordinarily helpful Indian customs bureaucrat, about love and friendships, a fortune in a biscuit tin, lunchtime striptease shows in Perth, crossing the Nullarbor Plain with a baby in an old Holden HR, about perfect peace and happiness in the middle of nowhere, an amazing man with a slightly damaged brain and two Land Rovers and a lot, lot more.

Real-life psychic, near-death, and paranormal experiences are combined with cutting-edge science and vivid adventure stories in this energetic look at why extreme athletes and mountaineers take the risks that allow them to push the limits of consciousness, and what they encounter there. In the life-or-death world of extreme adventure sports, there is one thing that athletes often keep quiet about: the “forbidden” territory of paranormal experiences. Ranging from fleeting moments of transcendence to full-blown encounters with ghosts and everything in between—visions, near-death experiences, psychic communication—many extreme athletes have experienced these moments of connection with the beyond, but have been reluctant to talk about them. In Explorers of the Infinite, award-winning outdoors journalist and lifelong adventure sports devotee Maria Coffey probes the mystical and paranormal experiences of mountaineers, snowboarders, surfers, and more. She reviews cutting-edge science, and consults the history of philosophy and spirituality to answer the question: Could the state of intense “aliveness” that is the allure of extreme sports for so many actually be a route to a connection with the beyond? Coffey investigates the scientific explanations for mystical phenomena, ranging from simple explanations to theories from consciousness studies and quantum physics, and leaves us wondering where science ends and spirituality begins. An energetic, you-are-there look at the spiritual lives of extreme athletes, Explorers of the Infinite asks why extreme athletes take the risks that allow them to push the limits of consciousness, what they encounter there, and what we can learn from them.

These chapers include discussion of travel writing by such major figures as Mary Shelley, Isabella Bird Bishop, and Mary Kingsley as well as that of less-known travel writers such as Charlotte Eaton, Frances Elliot, Amelia Edwards, and Florence Dixie.

A love letter to Rome, with beautiful food and location photography, classic recipes, and stories from the heart of the Eternal City. Rome is an open-air museum; it's a modern-day marvel of a city that has seen centuries of emperors, popes, movements, triumphs, and tragedies. It's a city where the present and past sit side by side and interact in a beautiful, yet sometimes complex, kind of way. Rome begs to be uncovered at every turn. Through quirky local stories and glorious pictures, I Heart Rome takes you on an inspiring journey through the Rome that tourists rarely get to see. In a country justifiably famous for its food, Rome boasts its own fascinating and unique cuisine that is intrinsically tied to its history. Influences from Ancient Rome through to more recent events are reflected in the food culture of the Eternal City today. And given the passionate nature of Romans as a people, it's no wonder that dining is taken so seriously. From carbonara recipes to artichoke-frying techniques, just about everything food-related is up for--and causes much--debate in Rome. You too will heart Rome after delving into this book.

In today's world, we read more but learn less. We travel more but change less. We've seen all the tourist destinations thousands of times on the internet and therefore fail to be amazed when we actually visit a place. So why do we bother to travel at all? 203 Travel Challenges is different from any travel book you've read before. It's not just for reading, it's for taking action. It will give you ideas of destinations and new experiences but, above all, it will challenge you to do, see, hear and try things you've never thought of doing while traveling. It will make you open your mind to the exciting opportunities that you have but rarely use. It will give you useful information and advice. It will inspire you to transform every trip into your very own personal adventure. This book is for anyone who thinks they have tried everything. For anyone who thinks they just can't. For any ordinary person who loves traveling, the new things in life as well as life itself. For any tired, busy, serious, conservative, disappointed or sad person - you're the person who needs a little change of scenery the most! We'll challenge you to change the way you travel in at least 203 different ways. Take the ingredients of the challenges, stir them, move them and change them to create your own challenges.

I left too early, before tanks rolled into Moscow in 1991, and before Gorbachev was put under home arrest in a failed coup. I left before Russia and Ukraine became separate countries, before the KGB archives were opened, before the Russian version of Wheel of Fortune, before the word 'Gulag' appeared in textbooks. I left before Chechnya, before ...

Welcome to the vibrant world of Maria Gabriela Brito, the New York-based interior designer, tastemaker, and authority on mixing contemporary art with home decoration.