One for the Road (1987)

Again with steadily working my way through the collected works of this author; it's interesting to read what is obviously his first book, and remark at the differences in his writing style as he goes along. While I would personally recommend Bryson's "In A Sunburned Country" as an Australian travelog, this book provides a different layer of insight not merely for Terra Australis, but for a now-vanished part of first-world culture: hitchhiking as entertainment and legitimate travel. ( )

I'm still reading travel books. (I've got to get this out of my system soon. Maybe I should go on another long trip!) This book is about hitchhiking around Australia. Probably not something I am going to be doing anytime soon, although I do have another trip to Australia planned for next month. Still, Horwitz is a fairly entertaining guy, and it's fun to read of his adventures with the usual suspects you run into when you are traveling. ( )

Horwitz writes excellent travel lit, although this book on Australia isn't really one of his best. ( )

Dreamed of, or been through one. While I think he's nuts to hitchhike, this is a great story of both an Australia that most people don't see and an Australia of the 80s that is only partially still there.

Haven't finished yet but some of the best bits:

I like how he mixed Aboriginal aspects in with the rest. He integrated the two rather than just treat them as something apart. I also think he did this while still acknowleding the feeling of uncertainty that can be present. I still remember my initial uncertainty and trying to understand that, as much as I tried to understand anything else about Australia.

"...that was one of the things I liked so much about hitching: getting a personalized tour of the continent with people I'd otherwise never meet." I can say the same thing about backpacking, Greyhounding and BookCrossing. I met so many wonderful people in my travels and learnt so much that I wouldn't have otherwise . Kinda sad the upcoming trip will be plane only due to a lack of time :(

More to come when I've finished the book, but I'm definitely loving it. So much so that I don't want to go to sleep even though I have the chance after being up at 5 AM.

I thought this was going to be my ring in 07 book, but I finished it a couple of hours before the ball dropped. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It was great to see his perceptions of places I'd seen, and to hear about places I hadn't seen.

Love that he stayed at some of the same places, such as Radeka's in Coober Pedy. And his trip up the coast of WA made me really nostalgic for my own trip. ( )

I love Tony Horwitz's books. They're funny and full of information. In this one, Horwitz hitchhikes across most of Australia. Along the way, he sees a few of the sights and drinks pots and pots of beer. While I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Confederates in the Attic or Blue Latitudes, it was a fun read and one I'd recommend to fans of Horwitz's or of Bill Bryson's travel writing.

My favorite quote from the book was:

A middle-aged woman smiles at me from behind a pile of filing cards. Apparently, it's acceptable behavior in Broome to collapse in a sweaty heap at the first public building you come to. Smiling back at her, it occurs to me that I've never met a mean librarian. ( )