Perceptive Travel Back Issues

June 2009

Pirate Chic in Honduras - Bruce Northam
On Roatan and the other former buccaneer haunts of Honduras, an anti-fashionista finds solace in a land of washed-ashore people wearing thrown-together outfits on tranquil beaches.

Granada on Haphazard Guitar Strings - Luke Armstrong
While backpacking through Central America, Luke Armstrong lands in Nicaragua and confronts the clash between carefree, idealistic youth and the melancholy of a fading revolutionary.

Travel by the Glass - Chris Epting
The author of The Birthplace Book explores the historic watering holes of America and the original homes of some of the USA's iconic cocktails.

World Music Reviews
This month we review the debut from Guatemalan American rapper/DJ Santero, a collaboration between Robert Plant's Guitarist and a musician from Gambia, plus Putumayo's new collection: Italia.

May 2009

A Technicolor Dream Cruise - Amy Rosen
Moving along the North Atlantic Coast of Norway in a ship stopping in Arctic Circle towns along the way, Amy Rosen watches gray and white give way to resilient rainbow houses and the flickering Northern Lights.

Where Queens Come for a Fight - Donald Strachan
In Italy's Valle d'Aosta, offbeat sporting passions run high, especially when it's time to gather in a stadium to watch fighting cows...

The Goddess Still Lives Here - Beebe Bahrami
While following up on tales of villages where women have always called the shots, the author of Spiritual Traveler Spain encounters surviving vestiges of Northwest Spain's matriarchal past.

Salmon and Red Cedar - Pam Mandel
Crossing the Canadian border to British Columbia, Seattle resident Pam Mandel moves from the new world to the old, seeing the local creatures through the eyes of First Nations people. The salmon are less cooperative.

Plus Travel Book Reviews
Editor Tim Leffel reviews the vodka-soaked Murders in Mausoleums and National Geographic's 10 Best of Everything Families

and World Music Reviews
Graham Reid checks out the slick sound of Mali from its most popular export; a collection of funky Afrobeat from 1970s Lagos; a live recording of a deeply moving Italian singer-songwriter; and tango from an unexpected source.

April 2009

Breaking Frontiers - Maliha Masood
Observing weapons bazaars, smuggling routes, and endemic corruption first hand, the author of Zaatar Days, Henna Nights uses her Pakistani passport to travel the Khyber Pass to Afghanistan's border.

Unbalanced in the Sinking City - Tim Leffel
In Mexico City, all signs point to a metropolis that shouldn't even be here, much less be functional. The co-author of Traveler's Tool Kit: Mexico and Central America explores the crooked lines of buildings and the straighter lines of segregation in the world's second–largest city.

Lost in the Mangroves of Belize - Steve McNutt
It was supposed to be a simple day of fishing for Barracuda, just take the motorboat out through the mangroves of Belize to where the fish swim around the cayes. But the co-editor of Americans Do Their Business Abroad: The Peace Corps Latrine Reader should know that easy days often don't work out that way.

and World Music Reviews
New Putumayo collections from India and the world of Salsa, Indian club music from Midival Punditz, and the latest from Mexican-American singer Lila Downs.

March 2009

Showdown at the West Esplanade Canal - Darrin DuFord
Our fearless writer heads to New Orleans to try some rodent stew in the course of research. Instead he ends up riding with a SWAT team tasked with a less savory method of eradication.

Cuba's Port of Hope, on Hopeless Machinery - Luke Armstrong
Rent a decent bike, ride down a scenic roadway and back. In most countries a simple task, but this is Cuba...

Born in the USA: an Apple, a Taco, and a Doctor's Soda Syrup - Chris Epting
Our author goes in search of U.S. birthplaces that are not exactly major tourist attractions. In some cases, you'll have to work pretty hard to even find them.

Plus Travel Book Reviews
The parody book Drink, Play, F@#k and the latest from Richard Bangs, Quest for the Kasbah.

and World Music Reviews
Laurence Mitchell brings us five musical journeys abroad, from Norway to Mali and Poland to Colombia.

February 2009

Into the Heart of India's Punjab - Joel Carillet
Which is more unholy: a sausage pizza or cell phone porn? In the Punjab temple city of Amritsar, the answer can be as dense as a Sikh's beard.

Tibet, a Third Eye, and Our Journeys Through Time - Michael Buckley
Regular contributor and Tibet guidebook author Michael Buckley examines the strange case of Tibetan lama and bestselling author T. Lobsang Rampa, more accurately known as Cyril Henry Hoskins, a plumber from Devonshire.

Uluru from a Different Angle - Graham Reid
Sometimes all it takes to see a popular tourist site in a different light, Ayers Rock perhaps, is just to avoid the crowds and get a different perspective.

Plus World Music Reviews
Editor Tim Leffel reviews a foursome of interesting music: the throat-singing stars of Tuvu, the Fado diva of Portugal, Africans jamming on reggae, and a new world beat electronica trio.

January 2009

Kirkegaard in Mongolia - Edward Readicker–Henderson
Through the steppe, the desert, and across a quiet lake in Mongolia, is it possible to leave all comparisons behind and just soak up the land anew, in silence?

Sex, Lies and Desert Dust at Burning Man - Brad Olsen
At the annual Burning Man Arts Festival, it may be hard to get completely clean, but it’s easy to be really dirty.

Strange Sensations in Iceland - Tim Leffel
In an isolated country where everything seems alien, unusual feelings and encounters are a regular occurrence.

Plus World Music Reviews
Graham Reid reviews the Bar Mexico double disc; Ost Klub, Kapitel 2; Cuba's Omara Portuondo; and heartbreaking songs from Savina Yannatou and Primavera en Salonico.

Travel Book Reviews
Spiral Jetta, State by State, and Lonely Planet's The Europe Book.


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