Globe Corner Blogs

A few weeks ago, I had a work dream. You know, the kind of dream with not quite enough monsters to qualify as a nightmare but which nevertheless extends your eight-hour work day into the wee hours of the morning. Luckily, I work in the travel department at Booksmith, so while some of my work dreams have me shelving for 12 hours straight, other times I get to slip off into an unknown land I glimpsed on the cover of a guide during the day.

On this night I dreamed I was sorting through some folded maps at Booksmith. But instead of dividing the White Mountain National Park maps from the Green National Park maps, as I had during the work day, in my dream I was sorting National Geographic’s new line of “Maps to Marriage.” The bride’s maps were white, and the groom’s–green.

This dream may not come as a surprise to those of you who know I eloped to Europe last month and returned to Booksmith a married woman. We conceived of our elopement as a Voyage Out, after Virginia Woolf’s first novel, which is at once a travelogue about a group of British citizens adventuring in South America, and the story of a young girl’s initiation into life and love.

Travel, I discovered over the past few weeks of strolling the boulevards of Paris, hiking in the French Alps, and gazing over the red tiled roofs at the Tagus from the top of one of Lisbon’s seven hills–is the perfect metaphor for marriage: a dreamscape of new discoveries difficult to map, unpredictable, and sometimes startling, but always full of the potential for new life for the way it brings us out of our individual habits of being and plunges us into new encounters with the other: be that a new  language, landscape, or lover.

So go find your traveling partner, book your flights, and we’ll supply the maps.

 

Read more: Elopement, France, General, Lisbon, Marriage, National Geographic Trail maps, News, The Voyage Out, Travel, Virginia Woolf

Countless times customers come into the bookstore asking for a book they heard on NPR, only they forgot the author…and the title. I usually enjoy the challenge of tracking down the book based on the strains of story the customer picked up on their morning commute or over lunch break. Sometimes, however, the search is in vain, the sound byte too short.

So if you heard the Globe Corner Travel Annex at Brookline Booksmith mentioned on your local WBUR station over the past few days, but didn’t quite catch the full range of travel resources we now have on hand at Booksmith, we’re here to fill you in and make sure you’re prepared for your next destination.

If that destination happens to be one of our country’s grand national parks, Lonely Planet has several guides to take you through the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite National Parks. These books have everything you need to explore, from detailed mountain hikes to cycling paths, nature and wildlife to watch for, and information on accommodations, including camping.

Want to leave the country without going overseas? Our neighbors to the north are waiting with open hands. But don’t go with empty hands, pick up one of our Moon Handbooks for Montreal and Quebec, Nova Scotia, and even the Canadian Rockies.

If you’re in the Boston area, we’ve got National Geographic Trail maps for the Boston Harbor Islands and Cape Cod–the perfect place to spend the upcoming holiday.

And for those of you lucky enough to be traveling to Europe this summer, check out Rick Steve’s guides to European countries, including the Rick Steve’s pocket guides to cities such as Paris, Rome, and Athens. These books are full of trip planning and touring advice you do not want to be without.

Looking forward to seeing you at Brookline Booksmith’s Globe Corner Travel Annex. Happy Travels.

Read more: Athens, Boston Harbor Islands, Canada, Canadian Rockies, Cape Cod, Europe, General, Grand Canyon, Lonely Planet, Montréal, Moon Handbooks, National Geographic Trail maps, News, NPR, Paris, Quebec, Rick Steves, Rome, Travel, Travel Tips and Resources, WBUR, Yellowstone, Yosemite

Ever since I finished Cheryl Strayed’s new book Wild, about her journey along the Pacific Crest Trail, I have been craving a good long hike. I can get caught up in the routine of urban life, thinking my walk to work is exercise enough, my pause by the Charles River a sufficient enough breath of nature to get me through. I forget what a good hike can do, until a book like Strayed’s or a brilliant summer day reminds me: I’m due for a hike. 

Luckily I have two spectacular mountain ranges within reach: the Green and White Mountains. And luckily, we have a plethora of National Geographic Trail Maps to guide me to my next day hike. Just unfolding one of these maps makes my feet ache to hit the trails.  

If you’re Boston-bound but still craving a hike, take heart, or rather, Take a Hike, Boston, the title of Moon Guide’s latest trail guide for the Boston area. Look to Moon Handbooks to guide you into your next summer destination in North, Central, or South America, be it to a beach in Cancun or the wilds of Glacier National Park. 

Traveling with kids? Check out Lonely Planet’s new travel series geared specifically toward young travelers. The Not For Parents guides, available for London, New York, Rome, and Paris, are filled with brilliant graphics, photos, and illustrations along with information and tips aimed to engage children with their new surroundings. 

You may have heard these guidebooks mentioned on your local NPR station recently. We’re excited to be part of your summer plans, bringing you the latest and best in travel guidebooks and maps at our new Globe Corner Travel Annex at Brookline Booksmith. Happy Travels.

Read more: General, Green Mountain National Park, Lonely Planet Not for Parents, Moon Handbooks, National Geographic Trail maps, News, NPR, Travel, Travel Tips and Resources, White Mountain National Park