"…given
a bit of slack, I’ll wander all over the place when telling
a story..."
- 
- 
And
so begins the introduction to Strange
and Unexpected: Backpack on the Road,
the latest effort from Bob. The books were released in paperback
and Kindle versions on April 9, 2013.
Strange
and Unexpected is a trilogy of sorts, divided into multiple
volumes that include material based around Florida, California
and Las Vegas. But that's not all...
These
travel journals will cover adventures from Key West to San Francisco...
Everglades to Joshua Tree... Grand Canyon to Muir Woods... Disney,
Hoover Dam, wine tastings, casinos... a lot of miles were covered
while assembling these stories.
Material
was drawn primarily from the tour diaries that have chronicled
several of the trips and have been published here at In My
Backpack. For a bit of a preview, you can head over to the
Travel
section of In My Backpack -- where
some of the material continues to reside -- as was the case with
Time
Just Drifts Away, most of the content for the
books includes material that is (or once was) posted here on the
site.
But
that's not all.
Terry
and Bob are leading the way, as participants in each of the trips.
And they have a set of companions that include family and friends
with world-class, world-wide experience. A total of 18 people
take part in the journies chronicled throughout Strange and
Unexpected, and all of them offer some feedback on these
travels.
In
addition, there will be new efforts and segments from Bob developed
specifically for the books.
"Let’s
have this understood… I am not a travel insider or professional,
nor am I attempting to be one. We are not going to cover getting
great discounts, whether or not to buy travel insurance, or
the best ways to navigate a theme park so that all the big rides
are included in your visit. (At least not in a consistent way
that a table of contents, chapter heading, or a cross-referencing
index might assist in finding. It’s honestly not the point,
so it isn’t really a featured concept.)
In
fact, there is a good chance that some people will read these
stories and have one of these reactions: 'Wow, I can’t believe
they think the food at that place is good.' -- 'How can they
claim to have visited that park and yet fill-in-the-blank.'
('they never got on that ride'… 'saw that attraction'… 'tried
that food cart'… 'bought that hat?'… and any number of other
possible thoughts.) -- 'There is more to the city of fill-in-the-blank
than this group saw. Much more.'
You
get the idea. These are our trips. We’ve missed things that
perhaps you’ve seen. And yet -- again, perhaps -- we’ve seen
things you haven’t. Consider the source...
...There
are restaurants some of you love that we didn’t know existed
back then… and still don’t even know exist today… and might
not care for even if we did find them. Apply that idea to rides,
hotels, shopping and every other part of a vacation and travel.
We
are going to share some opinions… maybe create a few laughs
with our experiences… and occasionally, there might just be
a moment or two that actually does help you with your plans.
We’d
like to invite you to join our group… become a part of our travelling
gang… share our adventures and experiences… and, hopefully,
recognize the different people as they appear in each travel
journal and on different trips."
Once
again, CreateSpace
and Amazon.com are the two main locations for ordering the book
once it is available.
For
more details, send along an e-mail or check back soon.
