360 Degrees Longitude: One Family’s Journey Around the World

392 Pages·2012·1.9 MB·English

by  John Higham

360 Degrees Longitude
Copyright © 2009 by John Higham Originally published by Alyson Publications Print
book ISBN: 978-1-935212-86-7
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-935212-99-7
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Inquiries should be addressed to:
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To the wonderful people of Lushoto, Tanzania.
May I someday be able to return the favor.
CONTENTS
Author’s Note
0. Countdown
Part I. Splat
1. Geothermal Sludge and a Good Advertising Agency
(Iceland)
2. Home Is Where Your Stuff Is (England)
3. Egad! Cowboys and Croissants! (France)
4. Cyclus Interruptus (Switzerland)
Part II. Shattered Bones, Shattered Plans
5. Gargling with Razor Blades (Czech Republic/Poland)
6. Have You Hugged Your Lawyer Today? (Poland/Sweden)
7. Chocolate Vomit Is a Medical Emergency!
(Denmark/Germany)
8. Touch It, Wimp! (Switzerland … again)
9. The Incredible Disappearing Force Field (Italy)
Part III. Out of Our Comfort Zone
10. Exploding Postal Scales (The Planet of Turkey, with a
Dash of Greece)
11. A Dangerous Place to Be a Chicken (Dubai, United Arab
Emirates)
12. Stranded by Our Stupidity (Tanzania)
13. Eat First, Ask Questions Later (Mauritius/Japan)
14. The Cruise Ship of Pain (The People’s Republic of
China)
15. Immigration Purgatory in the PRC (The Special
Economic Zone of Shenzhen and Hong Kong)
16. Nipple-Nibbling Fish (Thailand)
17. The Ugly Side of Humanity (Cambodia)
18. The Cute One and the Danish Postal Pin-Up Girls
(Thailand, Again)
19. Busted In the Ladies’ Room (En Route over the Pacific)
Part IV. Home Is Where Your Stuff Is
20. Danger! Banana Crossing! (Costa Rica)
21. A Pirate in the Caribbean (Panama)
22. Please Pass the Armageddon Pills (Bolivia)
23. Armageddon Pills—Don’t Leave Home Without Them
(Bolivia/Chile)
24. Roll, Puke, and Yaw (Chile/Argentina)
25. Aerobatic Maneuvers Not Permitted (Bolivia Again!)
26. One Tough Kid (Peru)
27. Kitchen Ballistics and the Cruisers of Paradise (Belize)
Reentry
Appendix of Fast Facts
Appendix of How To
Appendix of Stupid Facts
Google Earth!
Acknowledgments
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Travel can change a person, and it can change the world.
That’s a bold statement, and I believe it.
As we look beyond our borders, it is easy to see how
different people are, over there. It is a lot harder to see how
similar they are. I’m convinced that you have go and spend
time over there to accomplish that. It can be hard to do, which
is why I wrote this book: to take you to distant lands and meet
the people who live over there to show that, at the end of the
day, humankind in all its wonderful weirdness is the same all
over the planet.
A large part of this story is contained within the pages of this
book, but there is more than what you are holding in your
hands. Whenever you see the Google Earth logo there is
more waiting for you online. The Google Earth companion layer
that is available online contains the “Director’s Cut” of
anecdotes, photos, video, and stories that couldn’t be
presented on mere paper. Google Earth is free and is probably
the coolest piece of software developed by humankind. The
extra features add a dimension to the manuscript that will
connect you to the places around the globe in a way previously
impossible. There is a quick tutorial in the appendix that
explains what you need to know to use these features.
The Appendix of How To is chock-full of details about how
one would go about planning their own around-the-world
adventure, from basics on budgeting, to homeschooling
children on the road, to getting immunizations. Even more
information can be found at www.360degreeslongitude.com. If
there is anything you want to know about world travel in
general or about this story in particular that isn’t in this book
or on our Web site, send me an e-mail at
[email protected].