Tour Books

I reviewed my annual reading list and noticed a trend of “tour” books that I particularly enjoyed. Recently these have served well as a way of seeing the world while stuck at home

In this genre, the author provides a guided excursion centered around a particular interest, highlighting regional varieties and exuding both passion for and deep knowledge of the subject. They often travel with interesting characters and guides of their own, and we get to tag along.

Here are some tours I particularly enjoyed:

• 🥃 Distilling - By the Smoke and the Smell: My Search for the Rare and Sublime on the Spirits Trail (opens in a new tab)

• 💀Death rituals(!) - From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death (opens in a new tab)

• 💦 Bathing - Sweat: The Illustrated History and Description of the Finnish Sauna, Russian Bania, Islamic Hammam, Japanese Mushi-Buro, Mexican Temescal, and American Indian & Eskimo Sweatlodge (opens in a new tab)

• 🍄 Psychedelics - How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence (opens in a new tab)

And here are a few in my current queue:

• ⛷ Skiing - Higher Love: Climbing and Skiing the Seven Summits (opens in a new tab)

• 🌋 The literal underground - Underland: A Deep Time Journey (opens in a new tab)