Prepare to get lost on the beaten path

When Doug Mack picked up a 1963 edition of Europe on Five Dollars a Day, he stumbled on an inspired idea: to boldly go where millions have gone before, relying only on the advice of a travel guide that's nearly a half century out-of-date. Add to the mix his mother's much-documented grand tour through Europe in the late 1960s, and the result is a funny and fascinating journey into a new (old) world, and a disarming look at the ways the classic tourist experience has changed- and has not-in the last generation.

 

After a whirlwind adventure spanning eight countries-and costing way more than five dollars a day-Mack's endearing account is part time travel, part paean to Arthur Frommer's much-loved guide, and a celebration of the modern traveler's grand (and not-so-grand) tour.  Read more ...

“Refreshing in its intelligence, candor, good-humored self-deprecation, and insightful redemption of the much-maligned tourist, Mack’s account is a trail-reblazing testament to the transformative power of travel in the modern world, and to the enduring richness of those well-trod places where authenticity, history, culture, and fame compose their own never-ending narratives.” - DON GEORGE   » More Press ...

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FIG. 1

1967. It starts here, with

my mother. Hippie Grand

Tourist and letter-writer

extraordinaire.

FIG. 2

2009. It leads here. Yours truly, mildly inept traveler, using those letters and that guidebook for my own Not-So-Grand Tour.

LATEST NEWS

 

Audio book now available on Audible.com or iTunes.

 

In December, Doug was a featured speaker on an Enrichment Voyage. Along the way, he kissed a fish, transited the Panama Canal, and challenged one of his fellow speakers, Sandra Day O'Connor, to a game of shuffleboard. All of this is true. Read the stories over at Doug's blog.

 

Read more updates and see photos from recent events at the book's Facebook page.

 

For all the latest praise and press, please head over to, well,

the Press & Praise page.

 

 

BOOK TRAILER as seen on BoingBoing

COMMENTARY TRACK

BOOKMARK

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Send me a postcard or come to a reading to get one. More than forty different bookmarks--collect 'em all!

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