Book Review: By the Seat of My Pants

By the Seat of My Pants (Lonely Planet Travel Literature Series) edited by Don George

2 out of 5 stars

The 31 stories in the book were all chosen from 600 entries in a contest on the Lonely Planet website. Most of the stories were just not that good or funny. At least to me, they weren’t. Some of the stories were quite old which wasn’t a problem but they just didn’t seem to me that spectacular enough to be put in a book like this. The book was published in 2005 but some of the stories go back to the 70s and 80s. I’ve read funnier and better travel blogs.

The best one of all though was Simon Winchester’s story called “The Most Perfect Hotel in the World.” It was so good not only because he’s a wonderful writer, I’ve read many of his other books, but he uses big words. The ones that make you look them up to see what they mean and they sound so glorious you just feel smarter from knowing them.

Amazon Summary:

Humorous tales of travel and misadventure.

Lonely Planet knows that some of life’s funniest experiences happen on the road. Whether they take the form of unexpected detours, unintended adventures, unidentifiable dinners or unforgettable encounters, they can give birth to our most found travel lessons, and our most memorable – and hilarious – travel stories.

These 31 globe-girdling tales that run the gamut from close-encounter safaris to loss-of-face follies, hair-raising rides to culture-leaping brides, eccentric expats to mind-boggling repasts, wrong roads taken to agreements mistaken. The collection brings together some of the world’s most renowned travelers and storytellers with previously unpublished writers.

Includes stories by Wickam Boyle, Tim Cahill, Joshua Clark, Sean Condon, Christopher R.Cox, David Downie, Holly Erikson, Bill Fink, Don George, Karl Taro Greenfeld, Jeff Greenwald, Pico Iyer, Amanda Jones, Kathie Kertesz, Doug Lansky, Alexander Ludwick, Linda Watanabe McFerrin, Jan Morris, Brooke Neill, Rolf Potts, Laura Resau, Michelle Richmond, Alana Semuels, Deborah Steg, Judy Tierney, Edwin Tucker, Jeff Vize, Danny Wallace, Kelly Watton, Simon Winchester, and Michelle Witton.