I’ve probably mentioned before but, I love my Kindle. I’ve always been a big reader but what a pain in the ass that turned out to be when you had to buy or borrow big lumps of paper just to read what someone had to say. It made travel difficult as you really could only take one or, at the most, two books on a vacation.
And then, the fragility of the whole thing could drive someone crazy. You leave a book out in the rain just once for just ten minutes or so and that mass of paper is done for. Chances are you spent as low as $5 but probably as high as $40 for that lump of paper. Even worse, if the book was borrowed from the library, even if it was a $5 book, you’d be paying $40 or more for its replacement.
With Kindle, that whole problem came to a crashing halt. Now, I can go on vacation with a nearly unlimited number of publications, all stacked in neat little files inside this compact electronic reader.
Of course, the reader is directly tied in with Amazon. This is not a bad thing. But, you don’t have to purchase everything from Amazon. Often, I’ll take PDF’s I’ve downloaded from websites and send them via my personal Kindle email address to my device. Often, I will cut and paste articles from around the web, convert them into a PDF and send them to my device, completely free of cost.
However, there’s another way you can get free books for your device. Simply go on Amazon Kindle, search your desired topic then sort by price from lowest to highest. You will most likely see several publications listed for the high price of $0.00. Some books are designated forever to the free pile. Some are free temporarily. If you have KindleUnlimited, well, everything is pretty much a free download for you…
These are not Pulitzer Prize winners. These will not be on the New York Times bestseller list. However, when it comes to travel, you can find some pretty informative and inspirational shit.
3 Great Travel Books Free From Amazon Kindle
Drive, Ride, Repeat: The Mostly-True Account Of A Cross-Country Car And Bicycle Adventure
A long winded title to what was surprisingly a great read. Author Al Macy gives us his personal journal, written while on a trip with his wife from the San Francisco area to St. Louis, Missouri and back. He promises early in the book that it won’t be a boring ‘journal entry compilation’ and he doesn’t disappoint.
Al and his wife hit some pretty great spots on their adventure while toting two bikes and all their luggage and camping equipment in a sub-compact car. These folks are not 20 somethings out searching for themselves. This is not Rolf Potts going on a vagabonding adventure. But, this isn’t a couple of old cronies going from spa hotel to spa hotel either.
Both are retired. They retired early because of great jobs that a great education can get you and because they are frugal and proud of it. In fact, as you read through the journey, you realize that Al is a frugality fanatic.
Why did I like the book? Being from Ontario, Canada, the American west is exotica within driving distance. I’ve explored some of the same areas they visited but plan to explore much more and in more fine detail. In fact, this summer, there is a planned trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota, an area that was discussed in fair detail in the book.
There is an awesome accompanying website with pictures from this journey – check it out here: Drive, Ride Repeat. Al Macy is an author who dropped the non-fiction after this book. For more on his works of fiction, check out his author page: Al Macy Author.
The image above is borrowed from Macy’s website. It is a shot of the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming as seen from their tent. As mentioned, this is an area I hope to visit in the summer of 2016.
Update from October 22, 2016 – In fact, we did visit the Devil’s Tower over the summer of 2016. We stayed at the Devil’s Tower KOA. It was very near the end of a long road trip in July but will remain one of the top highlights from a trip with an awful lot of highlights.
Tatra Mountains – Ultimate Hike And Trekking Guide
Up until a week or so ago, I did not know the Tatras existed. This is a mountain range that divides Poland and Slovakia. The highest peak is not Everest but still a respectable 8,710 feet or 2,655 metres. In both countries, the land has been protected by the Tatra National Park since 1954. The headquarters of the national park are located in the Polish town of Zakopane. This is a city with less than 30,000 residents but it receives some 2.5 million visitors each year.
The book is written by Wojciech ‘Kevin’ Marchwiak, a Polish born adventurer that lives in the Netherlands. In the reviews, complaints from readers centre around the overall grammar in the book. This is because it is written as an Eastern European would speak English.
Yes, there are a lot of mistakes and Kevin would not pass an English class in Canada. However, that’s not the point. He can be understood. He enthusiastically goes into much detail about hiking in the Tatras. He gives resources where you can very detailed information about hiking the Tatras.
In fact, for me, I made it very enjoyable to read by changing the voice in my head. I read with the voice of Gru from ‘Despicable Me’. The reading flowed and I was able to really get into that enthusiasm and excitement Marchwiak is trying to convey.
He has an excellent website related to hiking and traveling. You can access his YouTube channel from there. Check it out: Go Travel, Go Hike.
The Mojo Diaries – How A Dangerous And Hilarious Journey Changed Everything
Once again, I learned about something that had never crossed my thought path before. Author Leon Logothetis enters the Mongol Rally on two occasions and writes about both. The first attempt ended in a near fatal car crash. The second attempt brought success.
What is the Mongol Rally? This is a car race from London, England to Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Vehicles must have engines no bigger than 1.2 litres displacement. Teams of two must be totally unsupported. Teams need to raise a minimum of 1,000 GBP for charity.
What Logothetis turns this into is more of a motivational book than a travel adventure book but all the above elements are present. Leon is actually a pretty well known adventurer and more on him can be found here: Leon Logothetis Official Website.
