Are you a baby boomer who likes off the beaten path travel? Alan and I definitely raise our hand when asked that question. We like nothing better than to take to the road, visiting sites and attractions that are off the usual tourist scene. That’s why we were excited when Reader’s Digest asked me to review their newly revised and updated book, Off the Beaten Path.
For the last two months, Alan and I have browsed the pages of the coffee table-sized book, looking for places we’ve been and making notes for future trips. Off the Beaten Path, a travel guide to more than 1,000 sites in the U.S., is organized by state with detailed maps and excellent photos. Each attraction includes a description, phone number and website address plus a row of icons at the bottom indicating things like accessibility, pet-friendliness or wi-fi availability. A “Seasonal Events” sidebar, included for each state, alerts readers to festivals and events.
Off the Beaten Path avoids mentioning the well known national parks opting for lesser known state parks and national monuments. For instance, the Arizona section leaves out The Grand Canyon, focusing instead on places like Canyon de Chelly and Chiricahua National Monument. And don’t think you have to travel into the wild to visit many of the attractions. The road trip book includes plenty of quirky museums and road side stops.
Alan and I consulted Off the Beaten Path while planning our recent baby boomer get-away to the Big Island and Molokai’i. The book introduced us to Waipi’o Valley Lookout and Akaka Falls State Park.
You can find Off the Beaten Pathh at your local bookstore ($35) or on Amazon
So now it’s your turn. Post a comment on why you would like to win Off the Beaten Path. Please include your email for contact purposes. You might be planning your next road trip with this excellent resource. Contest ends on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 11:00 p.m. Arizona Mountain Standard Time. Winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 3, 2009. Please see general contest rules.
UPDATE: June 3, 2009. This contest has expired. As soon as the winner acknowledges receipt of my email, I’ll make the announcement.
{ 85 comments }
← Previous Comments
It seems like an interesting book.
I am always up for a good traveling experience. My camera and I have the eye for the outdoors, and we love going places we’ve never seen before. This prize would be an awesome insight on the places we’ve never seen, and maybe places we’d like to see again. It would be a great win!
my husband and i take mini road trips all the time, it’s our favorite thing to do! all back roads too of course, we’d love this book!
I would love to win this book because my husband and I love to travel to “off the beaten path” destinations. Thanks so much for the chance!
I would like to win because we love to take small day trips with our kids. We like to find things that are interesting for all of us to see.
I’m going on a cross country vacation next year and we are looking for fun and interesting places to stop and see.
I love to travel and hate crowds of people. I like to immerse myself in new destinations and culture. This book looks fantastic!
My husband and I are always looking for those places off the beaten path so this would be really interesting for us!
We love to find places that are not filled up with tourists — places that are unique and a bit different. This sounds like a great book for just that!
I like to travel!
Just like to go to quiet calming and soothing places
We take alot of driving vacations. This book would come in handy
My work takes me to alot of odd little places. I would like to learn about those non-touristy treasures that I can discover along the way.
This would be great to give to my parents who travel off the beaten path.
I love exploring but hate crowds and this would be a great guide for daytrips and weekend trips.
I’d love to win a copy of this book for a summer road trip my friends and I are planning. We’ve been scouring the internet trying to find places that are lesser-known and quirkier than the typical tourist traps along the way, and this book seems like it would be invaluable on our journey. We love to find unique stops that not many others know about – I think it makes a trip more special and memorable! Thanks for the chance to win!
That book sounds like something I can use to “inspire” my husband to take some short-term trips.
This sounds like a very interesting travel book
I love off the beaten track places- I REALLY hate tourist traps.
I’d love to learn about more great places to visit!
Thanks for the giveaway!
I would like to win this so it can give me inspiration on where to go for my next vacation!
Life is made of memory and experiences and there’s no sense living a cliche. I love the idea of seeing the offbeat!
I would love to win this book because I love finding new places to visit that are off the beaten path of tourists.
How cool is this book? I have to admit, I am weary of crowds, moreso since moving next to Disney. When tourist season heats up (when does it end?!), we try to get away. I’d love to see what places we could visit as suggested by this book!
Oh, and Happy Blogging Birthday!
My favorite way to travel…
id love this our kids are almost grown and hub and i are going to do some traveling
The travel bug bite both my husband and I a few years back. Since then we try to travel as much as our finances allow – traveling always off-the-beaten track.
I would actually like to win this as a gift for a very dear friend of my who has always been there for me who takes road trips with her husband all the time.
I would love this book so I could dream and plan my next vacations. I’m the anti-tourist tourist
love road trips
I would love to win this book because I am a travel enthusiast.
We love to travel together as a family. It sounds like an intesresting read
I’m a boomer, getting ready to retire and plan some road trips. This would be a marvelous help!
I’m a late boomer. Always looking for somewhere new to explore.
I would like to win Off the Beaten Path because it sounds very interesting!
Well I am kinda quirky so the odder the better
← Previous Comments
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 4 trackbacks }