2 comments about Michelin North America Road Atlas 2008.

1. I have been using the Michelin Road Atlas for about 4 years now. I buy a new one every 2 years because new roads appear about that often.
   
   I travel frequently, and I used to find the map size and amount of detail very good for my needs. For 2008, Michelin has reduced the page width side-to-side by about an inch per page, with about a 10% reduction in scale. The print is starting to get a little small for easy reading. I wish they had kept the original size.
   
   Having said that, I still find that the atlas fits nicely in the door pocket of my vehicle. The page-to-page organization is very logical and easy to follow, with good overlap from page to page. Michelin has done a good job on this atlas series.



2. The key feature of this atlas is the maps division principle. Michelin divides the whole US into equally-scaled rectangular pieces and puts each such piece on a page. This means that they don't put each state on a separate page. This way you get a more logical, uniform organization of maps with predictable transitions between them. The overlaps between the maps are large enough to make it easy to find where you were on the previous map. There are special large-scale maps for the East Coast region, also nicely arranged in an overlapping manner. And of course, many city maps. The atlas also contains a lot of useful information, such as mileages, scenic routes, etc. Be aware that the atlas is smaller than the RandMcNally's big one, I think it is about the size of the smaller RandMcNally atlas, the one which is supposed to fit into the gloves compartment (it does, actually, in my car). I give four stars to the atlas rather than five stars because it is a bit small so the fonts are not large enough to be easily read when driving. But in all other aspects the Michelin atlas is better than its competitors.

2 comments about Streetwise Transitwise Map - Laminated New York Metropolitan Commuter Rail Map - Folding pocket size travel map (Streetwise).

1. Purchased for my daughter prior to her attending college in NYC. She says this has been very helpful in navigating her way around



2. I've been using this map (multiple copies) in my classroom during my class' New York City unit for the past several years. It is perfect for our needs, though it only shows half of Manhattan on each side, so it is not great for display purposes. We also take it with us when we visit the City on our class trip and it is perfect for walking/riding around - very clear and easy to read.
   Good value for the money.

5 comments about Bicycling The Pacific Coast: A Complete Route Guide, Canada To Mexico.

1. This book should really be titled, "Touring the Pacific Coast By Bicycle" because it really isn't about the cycling. Following the route in this book pretty much takes you on the most direct route down the coast and misses some great riding roads. Might be OK if you are pulling a trailer or carrying too much stuff but if you are travelling light and like riding, I'd suggest the Adventure Cycling and Krebs Maps as better routes. It does suggest some nice parks to stay at but I found it not worth the weight and ended up leaving it at a friends halfway through my trip.



2. I used this book for a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles and found it to be extremely useful for determining route, elevation changes, distances and overnight stops. Its up-to-date and informative, and you don't have to follow the described overnight stops for it to be useful. I brought regular maps for the trip, but ended up only using BTPC for reference throughout. The book is portable enough to bring along for the ride, or you can easily photocopy just the pages you need and stick them in your mapcase. I'll be taking another trip further up the coast this year and will be using this guidebook again.



3. We just completed a coastal ride from San Francisco to Mexico. I bought this book prior to the trip hoping it would shed some light on what to expect, tips, training, etc. I was initially disappointed.
   
   But..as we started our trip we found the maps were very valuable (the rest of the book..so/so). The altitude scales were okay, but good enough to set some level of expectations. They didn't always reflect the map in the right scale, but it worked well enough. We initially thought we could ride route 1 the whole way, but found we couldn't in many of the bigger cities, which is where the book came in handy. The maps showed which side streets to take. You can also follow bike signs or bike lanes along the way, but they're not always around when needed. We usually ripped the page out of the book and only carried the small map vs a bunch of maps. You will be surprised how many different maps you would need to carry. Use the book and maps as a general guide, but don't be afraid to wing it. In a few areas like Santa Cruz, South LA, La Jolla and South San Diego (near the boarder) we couldn't find the streets on the map. We got lost, but usually found our way via other streets using general navigation.
   
   Other tips the book doesn't give...wear bright colors, in SF and LA you will be on busy streets with cars zipping by. I hear going in April or Sept are best to avoid tourists and still have really good weather. We used Yahoo Yellow Pages to print out high level city maps with all the hotels listed with contact info and pre-plotted on the map. This was very handy when trying to find a motel in the evening. I also recommend buying the toughest tires you can find (i.e. Specialized Armadillos). Normal road tires are too soft and get too many holes. Between the two of us we had 6 flats and a tire slash in the first day leaving SF..very discouraging. We bought heavy duty tires at a bike shop in Santa Cruz and never got another one the whole trip! We avg. about 78 miles per day with an avg. speed of 15.5 miles per hour, allowing us to get from SF to Mexico in 8 days. Make sure you know how your bike fits you and your body reacts to long days, esp multiple days. I started to ice my knee and quads every night, which made me feel much better the next day. All in all...it was a lot of fun!



4. Today, I finished cycling the Pacific Coast from the Oregon border to Los Angeles [900 miles] and can say without hesitation this is one of the most inaccurate guidebooks I've ever used. Mileages often were wrong; elevations frequently were wrong [one climb described in the book as 800' turned out to be 300']; climbs were in the wrong place; towns which were on the bottom of climbs were placed by the book at the top; important places were missed entirely; the maps often did not conform to road maps. Worse, some alternate routes, such as the ride over San Marcos Pass into Santa Barbara, were described positively, but were found to be hellish experiences---5,000' total of climbing, bumper-to-bumper traffic driving at high speeds, minimal shoulders. The authors also missed some obvious alternate routes, such as Santa Rosa Road from Lompoc to Buellton, a gorgeous lightly-traveled country road through wine country in favor of highway 154, a boring 4-lane highway with fast-moving traffic.
   
   A much more accurate, and easier to use, cycling guide is the Krebs map for the Northern California coast. Unfortunately, Krebs has published no map for the Southern California section. Let's hope Krebs produces a riding guide for the rest of California.
   
   Despite the many inaccuracies of the Kirkendall book, this is a great bike ride and no one should be deterred by a crappy guidebook. Some sections are absolutely sublime. Riding from Half Moon Bay to Morro Bay in three days, our riders, some of them very experienced [one had ridden the Road Across America], said, "This is the most beautiful day of riding I've ever had," only to say the next day, "Today was even better." Some of the riding encounters fast traffic and no or small shoulders, so take care in those sections. Also, avoid weekends in the more tourist-oriented sections.



5. I bought this because I wore out the old copy I had and it was a little out of date. This book is so valuable to cyclist up and down the coast that they simply refer to it as "The book". While I did notice some inaccurate information, specifically, the book mentions that there is no camping on Hornby Island while I stayed in a huge campground there, It is mostly accurate as I read it cover to cover upon receipt to relive my last ride from Powell River BC to Seattle. This book is indispensable for anyone considering cycling any part of the coast from Canada to Mexico. Don't leave home without it!

5 comments about The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas.

1. A remark that one reads often about Paul Theroux is that he is grouchy, critical of the people he meets, and generally unpleasant. Some readers seem to suggest that this makes him a worse traveller, not being pure-of-heart or sufficiently open-minded. On the other hand, some others suggest he is worth reading as a travel writer precisely because he's not afraid to tell-it-like-it-is. I think it is likely that both of these ideas are wrong.
   
   When Paul Theroux writes a travel book, he is not a journalist writing simply to produce a faithful depicition of the places he visits. He is not a social crusader writing in order educate the reader about the lives of the poor or to stimulate the reader to see the richness of life outside of North American. He certainly not an egotist like Thomas Friedman who writes in order to put himself in a positive light. He is simply an intelligent man who has enough humility to try to write down what he has experienced without drawing too many clumsy conclusions or false symmetries. When he writes that he didn't like a certain person sleeping in his train compartment, he doesn't expect the reader to sympathize with either him or the unpleasant companion. I don't think he means to argue that his dislike has any special significance beyond the fact that it was part of the travel story that he is telling. I like the fact that when Theroux narrates an encounter with someone in his travels he doesn't smooth out the details to make the encounter unambiguously positive or negative. For example, when he describes meeting Jorge Borges, the Argentine writer, he clearly admires Borges' memory and sensitivity and yet he doesn't avoid commenting on Borges' stuttering and his clowning smile. And yet again I don't think Theroux's remarks are meant to be cynical or knowing. When he tells-it-like-it-is he is not trying to steer an intellectual or moral high road and he is not valiantly trying to see past illusions. I believe that when he writes down a conversation or encounter he intends only to include his side as one of the characters in his story.
   
   Theroux has the patience to travel by train across a hemisphere and, thankfully for this reader, he has the patience to delay the moment when the mind can no longer calmly observe and rashly commits itself to streamlined answers and silly pet theories about what one sees and what it 'really' means. His books are, to me, humble because in them he shows us moments when he feels superior and they are wise because he doesn't try to step outside of his story to engage in falsely-wise pronoucements.
   
   It doesn't matter whether Paul Therous is a 'good' traveller or not. Few travellers have the writing ability to produce any sort of record of their travels anyway, whatever their nature. The reason one ought to read Paul Theroux is be reminded of what the world and oneself can look like through the eyes of an ardent traveller who just happens to love books a bit more than he loves people.



2. In 1979, Paul Theroux departed from his childhood home in Medford, Massachusetts, and began his train journey from the East Coast of the United States to Patagonia, on the southern tip of Argentina. A seasoned traveler, fluent in Spanish, Theroux brings to life his trip through the northern and southern hemispheres, traveling without a schedule and observing his fellow passengers on the train and people at stops along the way.
   
   In Texas he is astonished at the contrasts between Laredo on the Texas side of the Rio Grande and Nuevo Laredo across the border in Mexico, commenting on society and governments. Traveling through Mexico and Guatemala, he observes the poverty of the Indians and their lack of opportunities. In El Salvador he attends a soccer game and gets caught up in the melee and riots which follow it. In Costa Rica, the cleanest country he has visited, he finds himself stuck on the train with Mr. Thornberry, a New Hampshire tourist so boring that Theroux cannot wait to escape him--only to have Mr. Thornberry "save his life" by offering him a place to stay upon his arrival in Limon. In Panama he meets the "Zonians," from the Canal Zone, and in Cali, Colombia, he meets a married "priest" who cannot tell his devout mother in Belfast that he has "left" the church to marry and have children.
   
   Throughout his trip, Theroux reads classics, particularly enjoying Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson and Edgar Allen Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, both of which provide ironic reference points for his own journey. For literature lovers, the most fascinating section occurs in Buenos Aires, where Theroux spends many days visiting blind writer Jorge Luis Borges, who persuades Theroux to read to him. Ironically, one of Borges's favorite novels is The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. As Theroux takes notes on his meetings with Borges, he becomes Borges's Boswell.
   
   More an observer than a participant, Theroux has an unfortunate air of superiority about what he sees and hears. Sparing little sympathy for American and German tourists, he rarely gets excited about his surroundings, expressing genuine emotion only when he talks with three boys, ages ten to twelve, who live in a doorway and scavenge for food because their rural families have abandoned them. Theroux's self-congratulatory attitude gets a bit wearisome, but the picture of Central and South America, thirty years ago, and the section with Borges are unparalleled. With beautiful, carefully observed prose and a great ear for dialogue, Theroux's Patagonia Express is a landmark travel memoir. n Mary Whipple



3. One of Theroux's best train trips. You can really feel the shifting landscapes as he moves through the latitudes...



4. Terrific in every way, as all of Theroux's travel books are! Not a word too many, and not an insight overlooked in this adventure through the Americas. Wonderful, beautiful, and a treasured book in my library.



5. Note: I made some immature Mormon angry because of my negative reviews of books that attempted to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews almost as fast as they are posted.
   
   So, your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks, and note that a short review is not necessarily a bad review if it leads you to a great book.
   
   From Boston to Patagonia by train. What an adventure. As I wrote in my review of the "Great Railway Bazaar," treat yourself to traveling the easy way and read one of Paul Theroux's books.
   
   Peter Mathiessen described the "Old Patagonian Express" perfectly: "Sharp-eyed, honest, and exceptionally well-written...an implacable landscape, conveyed through a series of marvelous encounters."

5 comments about The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life.

1. If we could just forget about work, children, pets, parents, and other responsibilities, it might be easier to find the time to have fun. The great thing about this book is that you don't have to search - the best possibilities and ideas in 4 distinct categories will guide you - Arts & crafts getaways; volunteer vacations; brain retreats; and wellness escapes. Each entry is jam-packed with the kind of important as well as peripheral information that makes me veer toward an out of the way destination. From an Architecture Fantasy Camp in Oak Park (IL), home of Frank Lloyd Wright to a Frontier Science Workshop at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (CA), there is truly something here for everyone, no matter what part of the country they hail from. Index and many Web site references included. This is a perfect birthday gift for that person in your world that is realizing a milestone in their life.



2. The 100 Best Vacations To Enrich Your Life by Pam Grout is a new National Geographic travel guide book with a special twist: these vacations are not to get away and veg out but to get your creative juices flowing, or to educate you, or to heal you, or to enable you to share what you know to help others. The 100 best vacations book is divided into four sections, each focusing on one of the types of trips mentioned above. The vacation experiences are described in detail, as well as what you will learn, how you can give back, and the type of people who will enjoy such an experience. The trips are within the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico and the book is written by an outstanding experienced travel writer, published frequently in top publications and the author of 13 travel books. This compilation of tour ideas and opportunities is meeting the needs of the new kind of travelers who want to have a meaningful vacation and give back to the places and people they visit, or to learn away from stresses of their normal environment. The book is EXCELLENT, with all the information you need to choose and sign up for leisure time well spent which will keep you smiling and promises to change you forever.



3. This is a short review. The book is fine and dandy for north america but there are quite a few of us who live in other countries that use the english language. It would have been helpful if the title of the book had been a bit more specific.



4. This book with help you find places to go that will enrich your spirit.
   What better way is there to spend your free time?



5. This book is great for old people. I bought this as a gift for my mother in law, and she loved it. She is well traveled and well read, so this is perfect for the person that has everything and needs nothing.

5 comments about Places Rated Almanac: The Classic Guide for Finding Your Best Places to Live in America (Places Rated).

1. Even the older editions give you a lot of valuable information.
   I highly recommend it.



2. Savageau has surpassed himself. The new PRA has more criteria, more detail, and more pages. I checked his new data on my city and he's got all the new info in it, which shows his thoroughness. He actually knows more about my city than I do.
   
   I'll be reading this book 'til the next one, which I did with the previous one. Everytime I open it up I find a new category. There's nothing like it! I'm addicted now to demographics.



3. I ordered this book to give me some idea of where I wanted to move to and settled down for retirement. It was very informative with a lot of great information. It gives you a wide range of info from traffic, schools, jobs, housing, cost of living, things to do, etc. This is a very useful resource if you are moving or retiring to another area or state. Excellent research tool!



4. My family is in process of moving, and this book has been a great help in figuring out where is a good place, and where isn't based on what we think is important (crime rates, school systems, etc) and things we don't think are important. Other lists from magazines are loaded with "totals" of what they feel are most important, but that doesn't mean it's relevant or most important to us. With the breakdowns by category of the "best places" and why, it makes it easier to understand, too. And, it's nice to see that where I grew up rates so well, too. The only thing I thought that should be added or different: growing up in the Northeast, within an hours' drive, there are many other rated regions that rated better (or worse) than others. For example, it would have been nice to see that although some areas didn't have a high concentration of universities, that within a 30-mile drive, there actually were a lot, might help people who aren't as familiar with the areas as some that lived there or grew up there.



5. As long as Americans are in love with lists and insecure about keeping up with their neighbors (in some far off state in this case)...books like this will continue to prosper, regardless of whether they actually make sense.
   
   I found the weather section less than helppful as it didn't give any real information (days above 90 degrees snowfall etc) but opted for a 50 page breakdown of "regional weather environments"??
   
   Not taking into concideration that weather can change signifigantly between neighboring cities just a few dozen miles apart.
   
   I wrote them to express my dissatisfaction with this and other aspects and I was told that a new edition will be on shelves next year and that I should just buy the next one and hope for the best.
   
   I donated the book to my local library.

5 comments about North Carolina Atlas & Gazetteer (North Carolina Atlas and Gazetteer).

1. Delorme produces an excellent resource. If you need very specific detailed pages, you'll also need a Thomas Guide.



2. These are one stop maps. Just about anything you need to know to navigate an area on foot, motorcycle or car is on easy to read pages, provided you are not overwhelmed by details normally found on Topographic maps. If you are looking for a road atlas, buy one and leave these to those looking for a little more detail. Plenty of other useful info included such as park information, camping, fishing piers, boat ramps etc. The info varies by Gazetteer.



3. I bought this book to explore the national forest areas of North Carolina. I was very disappointed when I got the atlas to find that even the larger forest roads are not on the maps! The road map I picked up for free at the Welcome Center Rest Stop shows the roads as well as this atlas.



4. We've used this atlas for years, and we were happy to find an updated version. This is so handy for finding a way around accidents or construction on the highway, or for finding alternate directions to your destination. It includes road names and highway numbers.



5. We'll be using this atlas for an RV trip. Although we haven't yet done the trip, the maps look like what we need (detailed, topographic, forest/side roads). I will say that it's missing decent regional and statewide views. The Benchmark California Road & Recreation Atlas, Fifth Edition (Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas) series does an excellent job of panning the state, and then drilling down. The Gazetteer series just has the drill-down. Makes it tough when you want to get a macro-view of your route.

5 comments about Streetwise Downtown Chicago Map - Laminated Street Map of Downtown Chicago, Illinois - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated CTA lines & stations (Streetwise).

1. Not as detailed as the other Streetwise maps I have purchased at Barnes and Noble. I wasn't aware there were too standards.



2. We referred to the map and found our way around the downtown area! Very useful!



3. I hate maps but they are a necessary evil. This is the prince of maps. When I was apartment hunting I had everyone looking at this thing before days end ;) Its great and really easy to use. I love th4e index and the color coding. This is one map you will actually get your money's worth out of.



4. This map is absolutely worthless; it really only deserves a half-star because it's laminated. The downtown core - as in the Loop - is the only area covered in detail. It doesn't even show any of the cultural attractions south of the Lakeshore, which means no Field Museum, no Shedd Aquarium, no Adler Planetarium... Worthless.



5. received item in a timely fashion in proper shipping. Thought it would be a book but was a laminated pamphlet. That could be my own fault though. Thanks!

5 comments about Michigan Atlas & Gazetteer.

1. Just fine. No problems at all. Easy to read; clear print



2. The maps in this atlas are clear and up-to-date. You'll find it hard to get lost, but easy to discover interesting new sights and sites.
   
   It's also much cheaper than your average GPS!



3. I have been using DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteers for many states for many years. I have always found them very useful for travelling over the back roads and secondary highways as they give one detail not found on the usual road maps. They also list parks, historic sites, recreaton areas, etc. which are also very valuable when travelling in unfamiliar areas.
   
   While I also own a GPS system for my automobile, it doesn't give you topographic detail or large area views due to the limitatons of the small GPS screen. However, I find using both the DeLorme Maps and the GPS system to make for very efficient trip planning.



4. I spend a lot of time off the beaten path. This map is great for getting there and back. Very useful. This is my third one, as I keep wearing them out.



5. This book is incredibly detailed and easy to use. Along with a GPS, there is nothing you cannot find. Whether an occasional traveler or a resident, this is a must to have for God's Country, Michigan's U.P.

5 comments about John Muir Trail Map-Pack: Shaded Relief Topo Maps.

1. I purchased this Tom Harrison map set to thru-hike the JMT. At the same time I ordered the maps from the national park service. The T.H. maps are thin, tearproof, waterproof, lightweight and they pack down into a small size. The NPS maps are paper, they tear easily, they'd be damaged easily by water, and because they cover the 3 parks/national forests, rather than just the trail, they are about 10 times as large and heavier. When I go hiking later this year, the T.H. maps are coming with me. The NPS maps are staying at home.



2. I've used the same set of Harrison's JMT maps a couple of times now, the first hike took 30 days and second took 18. They're durable, for sure. The scale (1:63,360) is appropriate for the set of 13 8.5"x11" maps - if you really, really hustle you can hike a map per day. The size means you don't have to unfold a huge sheet of paper each time you want to check where you are. The mileage between waypoints on the trail is clearly marked. The maps don't have the detail of 7.5-minute USGS maps but you wouldn't want that kind of detail for this hike. Harrison also has some larger maps, e.g., "Sequoia & King's Canyon Nat'l Parks" with a 1:125,000 scale but the size is inconvenient for the JMT hike. Conceivably you could scissor his larger maps to make a map of the trail but since he's already done the job about perfectly, why bother? (Incidentally the JMT runs between Mt. Whitney and Yosemite's Happy Isles, so being disappointed at not getting a Mexico-to-Canada map doesn't make very much sense.)



3. If you are planning on hiking the JMT, buy this! It is EXACTLY what you need and no more.



4. Tom creates the best maps around. I don't know he does it all by himself. I love having the UTM grid on each page. Each of the 13 pages has just the right amount of detail for my through hike. I think you would be foolish to do the JMT without these.



5. In comparison to the National Geographic Trail illustrated maps Tom Harrison Maps have more user features such as more trail mileage markers and they are slightly more detailed scale. I like the colors of the Natl Geo maps better though. I really like how he's broken his JMT maps into one day's worth of hiking so that you only need one sheet out at a time.
   Note this map pack is centered on the JMT if you are looking for other hikes near the JMT or the connector trails to the various trailheads there is very little additional coverage. If you are actually hiking the JMT only they are excellent.