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Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean: A Guide to Fifty Extraordinary Adventures for the Seasoned Traveler | 
 enlarge | Authors: Don Mankin, Shannon Stowell
Creator: Sir Richard Branson
Publisher: National Geographic
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy Used: $5.70
You Save: $13.25 (70%)
New (40) from $10.67
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 187518
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.9
ISBN: 1426202784
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.45
EAN: 9781426202780
ASIN: 1426202784
Publication Date: May 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
True, the free-wandering ’60s are long gone: you sold your backpack years ago, raised a family, enjoyed a fruitful career. Finally, it’s time to indulge your wanderlust—and rediscover the incredible fun and excitement of traveling off the beaten path.
Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean offers dozens of travel options with the mature traveler in mind. Both an inspiring collection of experiences and a practical how-to guide, the book details 50 of the world’s best adventures, as selected in a survey by the Adventure Trade Travel Association (ATTA) for people over 40. In-depth narratives convey the rich allure of 25 destinations—with first-person descriptions, lively anecdotes, and subjects of special interest—while concise third-person descriptions highlight the remaining 25 amazing adventures. Both formats show why the experts chose each locale and lay out all the wheres, whys, and hows you need to pick the trips most suited to your time and interest.
The most active possibilities include eight days in interior Antarctica, hiking Peru’s Inca Trail, and canoeing the lush backwaters of India. For those with more spirit than stamina, irresistible adventures still beckon: explore history, culture, and scenery in Tunisia…visit the jungle tribes of Papua New Guinea...tour Scotland’s rugged Outer Hebrides for a taste of island life. With an attractive price and expert credentials, Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean delivers inspiration, information, and fantastic ideas to put adventure-hungry boomers back on the road.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Reference Work VS Readability December 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I feel so rotten giving this book 2 stars, but let me explain why. There are travel writers that can describe a place so evocatively that you yearn to be there. My dog-eared Krakauer books attest to my enjoyment of this kind of reading. The authors of this book write, "The scenery was magnificent". This book is a reference work, and describes trips that are adventuresome, but not grueling. The descriptions of the trips are quite short, usually less than 5 pages. The laundry lists that follow the descriptions may be terrific for someone contemplating these trips. They point how how to get there, where to stay,what to see, and other very helpful information. I cannot verify whether their lists are accurate or not, so I can't even rate this as a reference book. If you are planning a trip to see magnificent undeveloped areas, this may be the best work you can find. If you like your travel read to be exciting, compelling, dramatic, or socially insightful, this is not the book for you.
 Pack that bag and let's go! July 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean" is a very enjoyable travel book, an excellent combination of the dreams ever travel book should bring out in us, combined with a good deal of practical advice that would make those dreams more possible.
From the coast of India, to the mountains of Peru, to the colorful lighthouses of the Magdalen Islands...complete with web addresses and phone numbers and lots of practical advice.
Whether you have your suitcase packed and ready to go....or will not likely venture far from your Strat-O-Lounger, I think you will find this book enjoyable.
 New ideas for travel July 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book to get new ideas for future trips, although this book is very useful for armchair travelers as well as each trip is described by someone who has actually made the trip.
I did not realize this book is intended for the senior traveler (50+), but then again I would really hope that by that time that I'm that age I still could make those trips.
The trips described are slightly adventurous but some have a hint of comfort as well. Each of these trips would make for a wonderful experience and I would like to do almost each one of them.
The more challenging trips are listed in the last part of the book in the chapter of future destinations (at the moment infrastructure is lacking in those places for easy travel).
So there is something for everyone who is interested in exciting and active holidays. Recommended.
engaging, intelligent and rewarding read June 26, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Although I am not an adventure traveler, I was just entranced by the descriptive quality of this wonderful book.
It nearly felt as if I'd joined the excursions as the details offered were so accessible and entertaining. It's
almost as if I'd had a little mini vacation . The book is all about getting away and literally vacating ones' life
and after reading (actually flying) through this book , I felt that wonderful relaxed feeling one has after taking
an enjoyable and distracting vacation.
Marcia Stone Tanck, Venice California
Adventure travel for everyone June 11, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
As someone outside the target demographic of this book, and also one who tries to avoid traveling as part of a tour group, I approached this book with a certain amount of skepticism. The book bills itself as being tailored to the "seasoned" traveler, which to my ear sounded like it was for "old farts." While it certainly would be a great book for old farts looking for travel destinations, it's also a great resource for people of any age who are looking for adventure travel, but who can also enjoy an exotic location on its own merits without the addition of a mindless adrenaline rush.
The book consists of several parts: first is the introduction where the coauthors discuss the logistics of adventure travel in the form of "What to do" and "What to bring." Don Mankin handles the first topic and Shannon Stowell handles the second. The tips contained here, e.g., "Get in shape," "Buy trip insurance," and "Bring good footwear" are not revolutionary, but certainly helpful. The specific clothing and footwear recommendations in Stowell's chapter are especially useful.
The next 26 chapters each cover a different adventure travel experience, and are grouped by continent. About half the chapters are written by Mankin, while Stowell contributes two of his own, and the rest are rounded out by other contributors recruited by the authors. It's a shame that Stowell only wrote two chapters as his writing style is very lively and seems to capture the adventure aspect of the trip very well. The form followed in each chapter is a full description of the trip including some of the hardships as well as the beauty and adventure. The end of each chapter covers four topics: "Why Go," "Special Issues and Challenges," "Variations and Options," and "Resources and Information." Within the final topic are two subtopics, "How to do it" and "Where to Stay." This gives the reader plenty of information to make a decision as to the feasibility of the trip from the standpoint of health/physical fitness, level of accommodations that can be expected, and financial burden, as most of the trips list the prices that can be expected in either 2007 or 2008 dollars. There's also contact information for tour operators and others who can help with the planning of the trip.
At the end of these 26 chapters are 26 more trips that are listed in a couple of paragraphs each. These trips were not experienced directly by any of the authors, but rather were gleaned from a survey of adventure travel tour operators who were asked to recommend tours that would be good for the, ahem, "seasoned" adventure traveler. Once again these tours are grouped by continent and all areas of the globe are covered.
The final chapter is titled "What's next in adventure travel" and covers topics such as sustainable adventure travel, and also volunteer adventure tourism, or "voluntourism." This is something that has apparently been catching on lately, and in this chapter they lay out some questions that anyone considering this approach should ask of themselves and of any tour operators with whom they might book a trip.
Overall, the book was very good, especially in the way it captured my imagination and transported me to the location being described. As someone who diligently seeks to avoid crowds, I was pleased that most of the trips also had the same goal in mind, even though they were generally within arm's reach of civilization. The diversity of the trips both in terms of subject and location provides something for everyone. My favorites were the trek to the mountain gorillas in Uganda where Katherine Braun Mankin had a couple gorillas pass by within two feet as she sat trembling with excitement, the walking safari in Zambia where Dennis Hicks and Stephanie Waxman got out of their vehicle and walked through the bush for a total immersion experience in the wilds of Africa, and the trip by coathor Stowell to the Dong village in Guizhou, China where the whole town came out to sing for them when they arrived.
This is not a book you'll want to carry with you on your travels, since it doesn't give step-by-step directions as you go, but it's definitely a book you'll want to read from cover to cover if you're planning a trip somewhere and you'd like ideas on where to go and, almost as important, how to go. Highly recommended.
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