by Carl Hoffman
First published 2010
Carl Hoffman noticed those brief newspaper items about ferry disasters and bus crashes in distant countries. These tragedies seemed worlds apart from comfortable tourism, so he decided to experience them firsthand. Hoffman spent six months traveling around the globe using only the most perilous transportation options. He flew Cuban Airways from Havana to Bogotá. He rode overcrowded night buses from Lima toward the Amazon on washed out roads. He boarded deadly ferries across Indonesia and Bangladesh that kill a thousand passengers annually. He squeezed onto Mumbai commuter trains where dozens die each day. He crossed Afghanistan as Taliban forces advanced. He even braved a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. Hoffman traveled without credit cards on vehicles that rarely accept them, heading to places most tourists avoid. His fellow passengers were ear cleaners, bus drivers, and migrant workers seeking better lives. This journey revealed both the harsh realities of global poverty and the remarkable kindness of strangers.
Genres: travel, adventure, memoir, non-fiction
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-journey
Setting: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bogotá, Cuba, Havana, Indonesia, Lima, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Washington D.C.
Period: 21st-century
304 pages · Hardcover · Broadway Books