Posted by Jason Hussong on Monday, July 26, 2010,
A number of friends have told me that I need to write a book about my travels. They remind me of all the places I've seen, and encourage me to write a book about it all. So, after hearing enough of it, I've finally got the ball rolling and am  about halfway through the story - something I've found to be much more difficult than I had initially anticipated. I knew writing a book would be a lot of work, but you just pour so much of yourself into it that it's difficult not to fuss over every... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Monday, May 24, 2010,
In the past year that I've had my annual National Park pass I've hit 24 national parks, monuments and historic sites. Some I've spent quite a bit of time exploring, and others have been mere afternoon stops on my way to something else. But the one thing that they all have in common is that they've made me more and more c  urious and interested in my country's national parks. Because of this, I picked up The National Parks: America's Best Idea by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns to read and learn mor...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Tuesday, May 11, 2010,
With the exception of maybe going into space, I've never had a great desire for exploratory travel. Paddling down unknown rivers in the deep dark with disintegrating clothing due to the h  umidity and hardships holds very little charm. I think it's impressive what others do on their adventures as they go into uncharted territory, but there's something about a bed and a bathroom that floats my boat. Still though, I have nothing against reading a good book on the subject. The River of Doubt: T... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Thursday, April 8, 2010,
As soon as I finished and put down The Best American Travel Writing of 2008, edited by Anthony Bourdain, I knew I had to pick up the 2009 edition. I enjoyed the previous one enough, my first taste at the series, and wanted to read more. Thankfully the 2009 book was already on the shelves so I could easily run down  to the store to pick up a copy. But, I didn't do this without some trepidation. So many great books I've read, or movies I've seen, have been followed up with flop sequels. Of co...
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Posted by Jason Hussong on Thursday, February 25, 2010,
What travel is to one person it may not be to another; it's all very subjective and personal. The book Weird U.S.: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets reminded me of this once again. It's not as though I see many of the things in the book as actual travel-relate  d places, but really anything can fall under the travel category now as people travel to see different things and have varying experiences; it's not always all about the Eiffel Tower or the Pyramids of Gi...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Tuesday, January 19, 2010,
I've fallen to the hype of Anthony Bourdain and his No Reservations show on the Travel Channel. I've watched it for some time now and attribute it as the sole reason for me turning the ol' dial back there. I was so sick of many of the other  programs they ran that I just flipped it off and never anticipated turning back. But when Bourdain came on, I took notice of the Travel Channel once more and now check back for a couple different shows that I really enjoy. I suppose this is why, when I ...
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Posted by Jason Hussong on Wednesday, December 30, 2009,
With the picture of a gleaming Airstream motorhome on the cover of the book I had initially expected it to be about author Hampton Sides' travels across America; one big road trip of sorts. I  nstead, Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier, are a collection of his essays about what make the United States great. And it's not just specific places, as I had assumed by the cover, but instead about the people, events and ideas that have helped shape this land to what it is over the last few d... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Monday, December 21, 2009,
There are so many historic trails in the United States that it's difficult to pick just one to study. The Lewis and Clark trail though holds a special place in the hearts of Americans, largely because  it's the only one most of us have heard of, as we learned about it in grade school. To further my very limited grade school knowledge, I thought it'd be a good idea to pick up The Journals of Lewis and Clark and give it a go as there didn't seem to be a better way to learn about such a trip th... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Tuesday, August 18, 2009,
Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail turned out to be a much better buy at the Denver Public Library used book sale than the Theroux sadness I recently read. Granted it was only a dollar as well, but what a great find, or gift rather. And that gift is what I want to talk about here. Why not review the book I'm saying I'm going to review? Well, alright, I'll do that first. It's a Bill Bryson book, so everyone already knows it'll be a winner. And yeah... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Tuesday, August 18, 2009,
About a month ago I stopped at the Denver Public Library's used book sale and instantly made for the travel section. I didn't expect to find much more than some old travel guides, but was pleasantly surprised when I started  going through the tables covered in books. I grabbed my fair share of old travel guides, I won't deny, but I also found a few that I considered gems. One of those books was Paul Theroux's The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas, which was published back in... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Tuesday, August 18, 2009,
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is a fantastic memoir of what life was like growing up in Des Moines, Iowa in the 1950s  for Bill Bryson. And as far as I'm concerned, despite a 30 year difference, it's not much different than what it was like growing up for me just a bit farther up Interstate 35 in the Twin Cities. With each page I turned I felt as though I swam a lap in my own memory. The book helped me recall so much of my own childhood that I found it quite difficult to put down. T... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Tuesday, August 18, 2009,
I recently purchased, with my girlfriend Amy, the National Geographic sixth edition Guide to National Parks of the United
States. I thought it'd be a great companion for the American the Beautiful annual National Parks pass I planned on purchasing this year. There are just so many national parks I plan on visiting this year that it only seemed logical. And with one national monument, the Florissant Fossil Beds, below, already under my belt I've already started getting my money's worth.  In re...
Posted by Jason Hussong on Tuesday, August 18, 2009,
I read my first Bill Bryson book about 16 months ago before I took my vacation to Australia and New Zealand. In a Sunburned Country seemed like the perfect book to read before heading downunder, and it came highly recommended to me by several friends. Since then I have not had an opportunity to pick up another one of Bryson's books, which I  regret, until I was given I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away by my father for Christmas. When I first picked ...
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