Based on the author's public television show "Smart Travels in Europe with Rudy Maxa, " this handbook features Maxa's picks of the best of Europe-- where to go, what to see, and why. Maxa includes the history, art, and culture of 13 memorable destinations.

Whether your idea of travel at its finest is trekking through Europe with a backpack, a map and a foreign-language dictionary; road-tripping across America in a fully loaded RV; or cruising the Caribbean aboard a luxury liner, Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul celebrates the people you'll meet, the lands you'll discover and the lessons you'll learn.

Here's the comprehensive travel guidebook and reference for the armchair traveler who is ready to take that leap to the plane seat - and leave their fears in the overhead compartment. The Anxious Traveler lays out dozens of strategies, tips, and resources to empower you to travel both domestically and internationally. It's essential reading for not only the inexperienced tourist, but business and family travelers as well. You'll gain the confidence to navigate an unfamiliar environment, interact with strangers, and enjoy a memorable trip even if you suffer from chronic anxiety. The book contains numerous scenarios, photos, and exercises to help you work through some of the more challenging aspects of confronting your fears and planning a trip. Written by a world traveler and anxiety sufferer, for other anxiety sufferers, The Anxious Traveler doesn't spend chapters dwelling on the author's personal journey, or how and why people develop anxiety - it's a practical reference to help you fulfill your travel goals and dreams, wherever they may take you.

"Travel is no longer a past-time but a colossal industry, arguably one of the biggest in the world and second only to oil in importance for many poor countries. One out of 12 people in the world are employed by the tourism industry which contributes $6.5 trillion to the world's economy. To investigate the size and effect of this new industry, Elizabeth Becker traveled the globe. She speaks to the Minister of Tourism of Zambia who thinks licensing foreigners to kill wild animals is a good way to make money and then to a Zambian travel guide who takes her to see the rare endangered sable antelope. She travels to Venice where community groups are fighting to stop the tourism industry from pushing them out of their homes, to France where officials have made tourism their number one industry to save their cultural heritage; and on cruises speaking to waiters who earn $60 a month--then on to Miami to interview their CEO. Becker's sharp depiction reveals travel as a product; nations as stewards. Seeing the tourism industry from the inside out, the world offers a dizzying range of travel options but very few quiet getaways"--

Running such wild rivers as the crocodile-infested Tekaze in Ethiopia, Richard Bangs used to lived for the adrenalin, for the rush of reveling in the misery of hardship and sidestepping death around every bend. Now a respected conservationist, he still travels to demanding exotic environments, but with a new, more sober objective: he wants to save these special places. Bangs' personal experiences of ""witnessing many special places preserved and lost"" led him to write Adventures with Purpose, and the book follows the author to Bosnia, Libya, Panama, the American West, Rwanda, Thailand, and more as he seeks out disappearing cultures, peoples, habitats, and ecosystems particularly rivers so that he can show readers that the loss of these special places will be a catastrophe. Written in the vivid, intimate style that made his earlier books both critical and commercial successes, Richard Bangs Adventures with Purpose is an unforgettable composite portrait of a world in peril and an inspiring guide to rescuing it.