These coffee-table-style guides provide inspiration for travelers in search of wellness, wildlife, or solitude.
Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures
The second volume from the creators of the 2 million follower–strong Accidentally Wes Anderson Instagram account is another color-saturated, symmetrically pleasing compendium of real-world locales that could have been plucked from the namesake director’s visual vocabulary. Retro maps pinpoint the globe-spanning locations: the Coastal Line Railway Station of Midigama, Sri Lanka, where the Sinhala-language signs refer to trains as “coal-eating, water-drinking, sprinting to Colombo metal devils”; the century-old Haskell Free Library Opera House, which straddles the border between the U.S. and Canada: in the auditorium, the seats are in Vermont, while the stage is in Quebec; and nearly 200 others.
Atlas Obscura: Wild Life
Science journalist Giaimo and Atlas Obscura cofounder Foer compiled this global flora and fauna guide “in the spirit of adventure and regard for nature,” they write, advising the curious that some of the book’s locations do not welcome visitors. Many do, however, and the book’s “how to see it” sidebars direct readers to, for instance, Finland’s Lake Saimaa, the only home of a particular freshwater species of ringed seals; and Chingaza National Nature Park in Colombia, home to some of the largest specimens of the frailejón flower, which can grow to 30 feet tall and which shares its water reserves with neighboring plants and streams.
Fifty Places to Travel Solo
For this installment of Santella’s long-running Fifty Places series, the authors interviewed seasoned travelers about their favorite destinations to visit solo. In Tokyo, says lifestyle journalist Stephanie Yeboah, “A lot of cafés and restaurants are set up with little booths with dividers to give single diners a bit of privacy. Eating alone can be so stigmatized elsewhere. But not here.” Along the Norwegian fjords, says adventure guide Spencer Seim, though “it’s a seldom occurrence to see another person while hiking, it’s customary to say hello and share where you have been and where you are going. Ironically, there’s a camaraderie in the experience of exploring alone.”
Kinfolk Journeys
The editor-in-chief of “slow lifestyle” magazine Kinfolk rounds out a trilogy of travel books (after Kinfolk Islands and Kinfolk Wilderness) with a sustainability-minded collection of 18 itineraries grouped by duration: day trips, weekend breaks, and grander adventures. Captioned photo essays accompany each section, allowing readers to tag along with a goat herd in the mountains of Andalucía, or board a train into the Australian continent, spending “hours winding through the Blue Mountains, startling flocks of rainbow lorikeets and cockatoos.”
The Wellness Bucket List
Luckham, coauthor of The Family Bucket List, here compiles 1,000 “escapes and experiences to enrich your mind, body, and soul” across six continents. Classed by benefit and purpose, such as “relax and indulge” and “explore and thrive,” suggested activities include getting a foot massage in Shanghai in order to “stimulate your vital functions, eliminate toxins, improve blood circulation, and reduce anxiety,” and taking surfing lessons at Solscape, a New Zealand “eco-resort that emphasizes doing good for the community, your body, and the planet.”
