A Woman Alone: Travel Tales from Around the Globe
These two new collections of entertaining travel essays focus on  female travelers. The Unsavvy Traveller includes hilarious  stories of trips gone horribly wrong, while A Woman Alone  contains stories of intrepid women traveling solo. The first is  the more unusual of the two, vividly describing experiences that  are both horrendous and humorous, including getting lost in the  jungle, being chased by a bear, and being questioned by the  police on the suspicion of taking photos of a nude man  sunbathing. Contributors include Caryn Bark, Lucy Jane Bledsoe,  and Novella Carpenter. Many of the stories in A Woman Alone are about women of various  backgrounds (e.g., veteran travel writer Mary Morris and Faith  Adiele, a Buddhist nun) connecting with others while traveling  alone. "In the Ladies' Compartment," for example, describes one  woman's experience traveling by train in India. Her previously  established connection to other women on the train aids her when  the guard thinks she is a man and threatens to throw her off the  train. Other adventures include driving in a snowstorm alone,  going on a religious pilgrimage in Mexico, and befriending women  in Senegal. While many of the tales are unique, the theme itself  is not, and there are already quite a few books in print that  cover similar ground more thoroughly. For example, Susan F.  Rogers's Solo: On Her Own Adventure (LJ 5/01/96) not only offers  a more consistent treatment of the same theme but also addresses  more immediate concerns of women traveling alone in the  outdoors. Nevertheless, with the increasing popularity of travel  essays, public libraries may wish to purchase both of these  volumes, depending on their patrons' interests. Those with  limited funds should opt for The Unsavvy Traveller. Alison  Hopkins, Queens Borough P.L., New YorkCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.