Perceptive Travel Back Issues - 2013

December 2013

Denmark al Dente - Tony Cohan
Finding adventure in safe, civilized Denmark isn't always easy. But it can be done if you know where to look, and the Baltic island of Bornholm just may be the place.

How to Accept Your Donkey - Robert Reid
On and off the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail in rural France.

From Miners to Movie Stars in Park City, Utah - Tim Leffel
Some towns grow over the course of centuries. Park City took mountains full of mine shafts and turned snow into gold instead, with three elite ski resorts and a celebrity-studded film festival.

World Music Reviews - Laurence Mitchell
Cuban Klezmer, the first chicha music recording reissued, Roma rock, and retro kitsch exotica.

Travel Book Reviews - Gillian Kendall
Reviews of Chocolatour, The Coat Route, and Travel Tales I Couldn't Put in the Guidebooks.

Maldives travel

November 2013

Manta Patrol: Freediving with Rays in the Maldives - Michael Buckley
In the clear waters of the Maldives, one of nature's most spectacular sea creatures seems to fly underwater and glide right up next to the "bubble creatures" visiting their world.

Osaka in the End - Edward Readicker-Henderson
And then that night, when you get home, a giant lizard is stomping half of downtown Osaka. Including the office building you left an hour ago. What else is there to do but cheer? Well, this.

The Shaman of San Regis - James Michael Dorsey
Deep in the jungle along the Amazon River, a seeker finds a shaman who moves between the seen and unseen world.

World Music Reviews - Graham Reid
Exceptional desert blues for the 21st century, an archive trawl through Tito-era Gypsy-pop, a singer who has gone from Las Vegas to Womad, and apartheid-era punk from Johannesburg.

Travel Book Reviews - William Caverlee
A bestselling author investigates American minutae, two boomers give the blow-by-blow of a long motorcycle ride, and Alaska comes alive at the hands of a great writer.

Plymouth

October 2013

The Ugandan Goat Who Became A Harp That Nearly Stranded Me In Kenya - Luke Maguire Armstrong
One Ugandan goat's musical history, from a Kampala market to the USA via some Egyptian Air pocket lining.

In Canada's Forgotten First Capital - Tim Leffel
Despite a UNESCO World Heritage fort, the Thousand Islands nearby, and a pleasant historic center, Canada's original capital city of Kingston remains off the radar.

Exploring my Pilgrim Past at Plymouth - Becky Garrison
A writer with relatives who 'came over on the Mayflower' heads to trinket-laden Plymouth, Massachusetts to see where her ancestors landed and survived.

World Music Reviews - Laurence Mitchell
The latest "Red Hot" charity collection channels Fela Kuti, Brooklyn does Balkan, a musical mandala, and historic funk tracks from Ghana.

Travel Book Reviews - Susan Griffith
From the sublime (meditations on following footpaths across familiar and distant landscapes) to the ridiculous (the antics of a television angler compelled to catch fish on cue in beautiful and remote bodies of water). Plus an hilarious road trip en famille around France.

Mursi travel

September 2013

How Ted Turner Helped Me Fall in Love With Nature - Judith Fein
A certified city slicker ventures into the American West and discovers a whole other world, one to be admired instead of feared.

Diving into Timor-Leste - Michael Buckley
Disappearing into The Coral Triangle—and delving into the mystery of the missing fish.

The Mursi, Money, and Mayhem - James Michael Dorsey
In the pursuit of a strange tribe in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia, a photographer endures not just the emptying of his wallet, but the physical abuse of his body in the process.

World Music Reviews - Graham Reid
A collection of contemporary interpretations of voodoo, Spanish folk with a tough twist, MOR pop-folk out of Africa and a punky-reggae party from acclaimed Gypsy-punk rockers.

Travel Book Reviews - William Caverlee
Noted fiction authors in a compilation of travel essays, an expletive-filled guide to sex and partying around the world, and a visceral look at traveling through war-torn West Africa.

Italy travel

August 2013

Heretics on the Cathedral in Como, Italy - Samuel Jay Keyser
They're not saints and it's more probable that at least one is a serious sinner. So how did these two guys end up adorning a prominent cathedral beside Lake Como, in Catholic Italy?

Off the Beaten Path with a Wayward Bat, in Florida - Gillian Kendall
As a writer's hometown gets more domesticated, she finds spots to hang out with the wildlife.

The Fruit of Empire in the Banana Republics - Richard Arghiris
Once the headquarters of a giant empire that fed bananas to the world, Panama's Bocas Town is a crumbling ghost of what it used to be. A worker there for 50 years explains the United Fruit Company's former glory and downfall.

World Music Reviews - Laurence Mitchell
Reviews of music by Lord Mouse and the Kalypso Katz, The Ultimate Guide to Spanish Folk, Jason Seed Stringtet, and The Krayolas.

Travel Book Reviews - Susan Griffith
A wise philosopher comparing ways of growing older in rural Greece and his native America. Then a pair of seventy-somethings traveling the world outrageously. And an entertaining little volume about the most westerly peninsula of England where many folk traditions survive intact.

Portugal travel

July 2013

Soldier and Savior in the Cambodian Minefields - James Michael Dorsey
Stepping into a minefield gives one a whole new appreciation for the term concentration.

Victoria: The Lake That Wasn’t There - Luke Armstrong
One would naturally assume that a trip to Lake Victoria would involve seeing a grand expanse of water. These days it takes a lot of work to find a distant patch of blue.

Wildflowers and Wine - Biking Through Castle Country in Rural Portugal - Tim Leffel
A "Castles and Wine" cycling tour through the Alentejo region of Portugal turns up stunning landscapes where both the roads and villages are close to empty and flowers outnumber any living creatures.

World Music Reviews - Graham Reid
A collection of out-there Indian soundtrack songs, jazz-cum-folk from an unexpected amalgam of different worlds, entertaining gypsy tango, and subtle Middle Eastern electronica-lounge music for the small hours.

Travel Book Reviews - William Caverlee
A transplanted Pakistani returns to her homeland at the worst possible time, a poet walks from Scotland to England relying on strangers, and a book celebrating an unlikely great art museum in unlikely Arkansas.

Sri Lanka travel

June 2013

An Apocalyptic Vision on the Hippy Side of Hawaii - Camille Cusumano
A simple visit to a spring-fed bathing spot on the Big Island of Hawaii leads to an encounter with visions of doomsday and heavy musings on twin gods of good and evil.

Tipsy in Transnistria: Trying to Stay Sober in Nowhereland - Rory MacLean
Spending a month in an unrecognized speck on the map, a writer finds it is hard to get to the soul of the place without first going through its bottles.

On Safari in Sri Lanka - Michael Buckley
After emerging from decades of civil war, Sri Lanka welcomes a growing number of tourists back to its eco-adventure wildlife refuges in the south, with the usual mix of grand successes and ugly growing pains.

World Music Reviews - Laurence Mitchell
Kuti the Younger's latest, India meets Africa, Balkan reggae dub, and a Finn goes fretless to channel Persia..

Travel Book Reviews - Susan Griffith
Two women fulfill their quest for independence through travel: one a New Yorker in challenging destinations around the world, the other a Briton on an idyllic Greek island. The final book uses the medium of photography to record the horror and celebrate the spirit of the slums of Rio at a time when positive changes are a possibility for the first time.

May 2013

Going Where No Roads Go in Ontario - Carolyn B. Heller
On Ontario's remote Moose Factory Island, where the Cree First Nation is cautiously courting tourism, a traveler learns that there's more to see than the "sights."

Coming to Terms with Downpours, Bugs, and Visiting Creatures - Lea Aschkenas
A traveler's transformation, deep in the jungle of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Alert in the Americas: Inside the Farms Cranking Out Our Coffee - Tim Leffel
Looking at the source of the most popular drink (and drug) in the world, our editor visits coffee farms across Central America and Colombia, finding the secrets to a splendid cup of Joe.

World Music Reviews - Graham Reid
Soul for your next party or barbecue, a superstar Indo-jazz session which crosses boundaries between East and West, more mesmerizing desert blues, and Autotune goes to Africa.

Travel Book Reviews - William Caverlee
Reviews of Encounters from a Kayak, Food Lover's Guide to the World, and On This Earth, A Shadow Falls.

April 2013

What to do about Barriles? - Jim O'Donnell
Visiting Panama's neglected pre-Colombian archaeological sites in the countryside can present a problem separating facts from legends or...alien invasions.

India of Light and Darkness - Anja Mutić
A first-time visitor taken from one beautiful place to another in the most-visited regions of India finds you're never far from the dark side just around the corner.

Passing the Pipe in Ethiopia - James Michael Dorsey
When you're the elder guest of honor in a remote tribal village in Ethiopia, going with the flow can mean reaching an altered state.

World Music Reviews - Laurence Mitchell
Another collection of music from Afro-beat legend Fela Kuti, a Cape Verde minstrel, a retro Gallic anthology from Putumayo, and a homeless set of Latin fusion.

Travel Book Reviews - Susan Griffith
A novel that captures the angst and contradictory emotions of travel, a travelogue that doesn't fare so well, and a primer on where your backpacking or vacation budget will stretch the most.

travel story

March 2013

Dark Meat, Bright City: Feasting on Seal in Montreal - Darrin DuFord
A search for a culinary specialty of Quebec is made difficult when cross-language homophones get in the way, but the whiskers thankfully prove to be a non-issue.

Moonshine Comes Out of the Woods - Vera Marie Badertscher
With laws relaxing to allow small distillers to practice their craft now in many U.S. states, the Tennessee Moonshiners of the Great Smokey Mountains are coming out of the woods to share their batches with the public.

The Day I Did Not Meet Kenya's Prime Minister - Luke Maguire Armstrong
Cheering on Kenya's Harambee Stars on a day where the pursuit of accomplishment is as elusive as a soccer goal.

World Music Reviews - Graham Reid
A world citizen from Senegal getting his passport stamped again, more Portuguese fado but not as expected, hymns from Turkey, and Brazilian sounds to lively up yourself.

Travel Book Reviews - William Caverlee
The dark side of central Asia's mysterious 'Stan country, a collection of pre-celebrity writings from Agatha Christie, and a detailed look at the past and present of the Appalachian Trail.

Slovakia travel

February 2013

Rolling with the Stones Across America - Chris Epting
One of the world's best-known rock bands has been traveling for more than four decades now, often seeking out USA locations far from the big city crowds.

Rescuing Costa Rica's Howling Monkeys - David Lee Drotar
Tourism and real estate development have been a boon for the people of Costa Rica. For the howler monkeys who find their habitat chopped up, not so much.

Culture and Castles in Secret Slovakia - Tim Leffel
How does a tourism also-ran break into the big leagues? Slovakia tries to shake off the underdog label and join its neighbors in luring tourists to a "Capital of Culture" in Košice.

World Music Reviews - Laurence Mitchell
Persian poetry set to music, Bollywood and Cuba via Toronto, and Mali’s almost-best second-best stringed gourd player.

Travel Book Reviews - Susan Griffith
This month, two esteemed travel writers use contemporary journeys to explore memories of the past and their relationship with their parents. Plus a skeptical look at guidebooks that claim to reveal "hidden secrets."

Azores travel

January 2013

Just a Simple Strip of Cloth: Desert Wear in the Sahara - Jessica Lee
In the beautiful but threatening Sahara Desert of southern Algeria, a white blue-eyed woman with soft feet discovers how the tough Tuareg people conform to their surroundings.

Public Art in the Azores - Judith Fein
Entranced by well-executed graffiti art on a Portuguese island, a visitor digs deeper into Azores art—more often in the streets than in museums—on the isolated Azores archipelago.

A Banquet of Creepy Crawlies in China - James Michael Dorsey
A traveler delivering medical supplies to rural China learns that no good deed goes unpunished when a thank-you banquet turns into an episode of extreme eating.

World Music Reviews - Graham Reid
Contemporary Ethiopian jazz with a twist, Puerto Rico with a party hat on, the big man from Brazil, and fado guitar from a master.

Travel Book Reviews - William Caverlee
An expatriate family's four years in China, Lonely Planet's celebration of expensive adventures around the world, and prize-winning intercultural essays collected in The Chalk Circle.



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