Book Review: What! Me Travel?

Useful Primer
What! Me Travel? by Dan Rosendahl a.k.a. Traveldan; Frontage Publishing; Price: Rs.938; 284 pp

By common consensus the world’s largest and most high-potential industry is travel and
tourism. Last year (2002-03) 715 million people across the world spent US$4 trillion (Rs.19,200,000 crore) travelling across continents for reasons varying from business and education to leisure and health. France was the most popular destination, with 76.7 million tourists visiting the country. Spain came second (51.7 million) followed by the United States (45.4 million) in the tourism destination popularity chart. Italy, China and Britain were other popular choices.
In sharp contrast and despite its huge size (3,287,590 sq. km and mountains, hill stations, beach resorts and historic sites galore), India attracted a mere 2.5 million foreign visitors. But fortunately for the country, the domestic tourism industry is booming. A massive number of 60 million citizens travelled for business and pleasure within national borders. This despite a pathetic road infrastructure, chaotic and accident-prone trains and inflated airfares. But the some good news for the Indian traveller who wants to hit the road is the Union government’s ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ project (an estimated road network of 14,850 km, across the length and breadth of the country is being constructed at a cost of Rs.54,000 crore), slated for completion in 2007.
Though with mushrooming travel agencies, introduction of package tours and deals, online train reservation and the growth of the internet, travel has become much easier, the pitfalls have also multiplied commensurately. There is a mountain of groundwork – visas, reservations, itinerary planning, health and security clearances to contend with. With holidays having transformed into short duration, intensive experiences a small slip-up could prove ruinously expensive. What! Me Travel? by Dan Rosendahl a.k.a TravelDan is a travel guide which offers advice on the dos and don’ts of travel.
In this book, the best-selling US-based travel consultant Dan Rosendahl who has also authored 20,000 Vacations and The Good, Bad and Weirdest Places to Stay, following his bestseller 10,000 Vacations (1996) offers valuable advice on how to plan a holiday from scratch, how to clinch value-for-money deals and how to most enjoy your destination once you get there. The book comprises four sections: ‘Ten Commandments of Travel’ (Use common sense; know when and where; ask questions first; reserve after you decide; buy from someone you like; be a travel hero; keep your sense of humour; use a credit card), ‘Going, Going, Going’ (Trip Attack; travel agents and their ilk), ‘I’m There’ (Upon arrival; sight seeing; well fed; health is wealth; the dangers) and ‘Appendices’ (The 30 types of travellers; travel reservation helper; simple truths; the history of TravelDan; best country guide). Such a step-by-step travel guide is useful for novice and intermediate tourists as well as experienced travellers.
Unlike the usual travel guide, What! Me Travel? doesn’t tell you what to see, but how to make sure you get to your chosen destination smoothly and how to make the most of the experience. Therefore it’s a general rather than a destination-specific guide. Each chapter offers useful tips on saving time and money gathered by the author from years of experience in the travel industry and personal travel experiences.
The introduction titled ‘A subdued introduction or The Zen of Psycho-travel’ divides holidays into four different types: the weekend getaway (WEG), the vacation, the holiday and travelling. The distinctive character of each is described in detail so that the reader can choose the type that suits him best.
Each of the four sections of the book dwells upon a different facet of travel, viz, Section I: ‘The Ten Commandments of Travel’ advises the reader on how to start planning and researching for a dream holiday. Section II: ‘Going, Going, Going!’ contains information relating to different travel options (road, rail, sea, air), how to deal with travel agents, etc. Section III titled ‘I’m There’ tells you how to enjoy your trip once you are on the road, what to do on arrival, how to bargain to get the best deal, what to eat, how to take care of your health etc. Section IV titled ‘Appendices’ explains the jargon of the travel trade, describes 30 different types of travellers, is a travel reservation helper and also includes a biography of the author.
Unlike the many destination-specific travel books which crowd the bookstore shelves, this zanily written travel book offers a one-stop guide to travellers with clear instructions, referrals and amusing examples.
The book though well written and packed with hard information on budget travel, is too US-specific, with most of the website referrals catering to American travellers. But that doesn’t diminish its international appeal.
It is a useful primer as well for a first time traveller in the subcontinent who has been shackled to home and hearth for the past five decades by the chronic scarcity of “precious foreign exchange” and the perpetual scarcities created by the monopoly Indian Airlines and Indian Railways. Suddenly after the economic liberalisation initiative of 1991, the 50-year-old foreign exchange scarcity has been transformed into an embarrassing $80 billion surplus, and computerisation of reservation systems supplemented by the automobile revolution has boosted domestic travel. For such recently unshackled and enthusiastic new generation tourists, this is a particularly useful book.
It’ll get you more bang for your buck!