Later this year, I will be traveling outside my comfort zone. Where I know no one, and I will stand out like a circus freak at the yacht club. Because of this, I find my book choices leaning towards "HELP"! Lunatic Express, written by journalist Carl Hoffman, is his personal Odyssey,over 5 months, traveling on the worlds most dangerous and fatal public transports. Think ancient buses careening around mountain passes in South America, bumper-car style Matutus in Africa and enormously overcrowded ferries and trains in southern Asia. I figured, an account of the worst in the world will give me some measure of comparison, and I will feel safe. And, I do find myself a bit encouraged. Nearly everywhere he travels, an English speaker finds him, and even where he doesn't find a conversant, he encounters most generous hospitality by the poorest people in the world. Unfortunately, the hardest time he has communicating is where I'm headed. Huh.
While this book is an account of sweaty, dirty, loud crushes of humanity, it is mostly about connection. A connection perhaps seen least in America, where we have personal space and lots of privacy, and relative wealth and use that as an insulator. After a trip around the world in third class, what depresses the author most is the Greyhound bus from Las Vegas. Can't say I disagree. Vegas creeps me out big time. And it is those contrasts in travel and home that bring the author to epiphany.
Interestingly, it seems that folks in countries that speak little or no English, they know curse words. So, they appear in the print, an invitation from a South American prostitute as playful question: "*&%$#-*&%$ ?" Or, just a statement by an Indonesian cabbie. Otherwise, good choice for the teen kid contemplating a back packing trip. They may see the benefit of Europe!
Quo vadis?
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