Review: Half Full
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 12, 2012
I remember being fascinated when I read about the guy who sold his life on the internet and went on traveling the world, so when I stumbled upon this book--and considering my own interest in travel--it was a no brainer for me to grab it. Unfortunately, I have to agree with some other reviewers: this book is really short and just too basic to be of serious help to anyone who has traveled abroad even a couple of times without the help of a travel agent. It does contain some good info and advice, but someone who has traveled as extensively as Mr. Usher has, could've and should've done better.I was especially amazed that the author doesn't even once mention frequent flyer miles and hotel loyalty programs, the element that every budget-minded traveler must keep in mind in my opinion. I was amazed to the point that I almost felt sorry for him. With the sheer number of flights he's taken and some basic planning, he could've gotten up to 1/3 of his flights for free and sometimes even in the first or business. And having stayed in so many places around the world, he could've accumulated a lot of free hotel nights that would've made his couch-surfing unnecessary in many cases. Another point I have to disagree with the author is his assessment of one-way travel. It's just the matter of choosing the right airline for your goal: some like US Airways, Delta and LAN base their operations on a round-trip purchase, but others like American or United, will gladly sell you a one-way ticket for  of the price. So one could still take advantage of one-way travel by researching airlines' policies beforehand.One more thing that strikes me as odd is that the author doesn't mention Priceline. I understand he didn't use it for his own travel, but still if one can play the Priceline game right, one can really, and I mean REALLY game the system to get 50% or more off the hotel stay. I think that [intelligent] Priceline bidding for hotels is one of the most important and indispensable elements for a budget traveler.Having said that, there is still some good stuff contained in this book, and if you are looking for some tips for international travel you might find the info in this book useful. I'll also make sure to buy and review author's first book that started this all.