From the prolific keyboard of David Millett along with the
photo-journalistic eye of Julia Buss, this traveling couple has compiled a
delightful “Coffee Table” photo album of far-away and exotic places in their
new book, Continental Drifting:
Exceptional Destinations Around the World.
No moss gathers under these authors’ feet; as we have first
been introduced to David and Julia with their debut book, Flying the Edge of America, in which David piloted his private
plane circumnavigating the USA with Julia as his intrepid companion.Now they have expanded their range to that of
the entire world, traveling to each of the 7 continents and descending upon some
of the most interesting and culturally diverse places on earth.One could associate each letter of the
alphabet to a location described and pictured in the book, many of which I
challenge anyone (besides David & Julia) to recognize without referencing:
such as Aoraki, Bruges, Cradle Mtn., Fox (Glacier), Gard, Hanging Rock, Iguanzu
(Falls), and so on to Kaikoura, Picton, and many more.In fact, there’s literally a world of
destinations, climates, animals and cultures for the arm-chair explorer to
visit by simply paging this book.It
opens the reader’s eyes to the vast differences of our planet, with a focus on
the natural beauty and ecosystem.
Each destination is written poetically in the first person,
whereas the location is “speaking” about itself as if it were being its own
tour guide.The use of “I” becomes subliminally
anticipated, and the friendliness of this style of writing brings this book
down to the comprehension of many children and young adults; enabling perhaps
for their life goals to “want to go there” being formed and dreams designed.Many locations are further embellished with a
thought provoking poem or essay describing itself within the colloquial
vernacular or prose of the region.The
pictures, along with captions, are a collection of personal photographs as well
as sourced from the public media.A
brief narrative and history lesson is written as a prologue which serves to set
the tone of the book well, relaxing the reader to simply enjoy what is about to
become revealed.As a picture is worth
1,000 words, this is a voluminous work of thought provoking travel information
that will educate while entertaining all lucky readers.
If you think about the adventure of traveling; which
ultimately results in mere memories and photographs, Continental Drifting is a way to traverse the world vicariously
through the exploits of David Millett and Julia Buss, by reading about their
mémoires and seeing their photographs.Graphically
laid out in an artful fashion, this book is a wonderful gift or reference for any
family library; even ideal for a waiting room whereas it can be started or
stopped at any point, or flipped through quickly pausing as your attention gets
focused on a “wow” photo.The feeling I
had from Continental Drifting:Exceptional Destinations Around the World
was how much there truly is to see, as this book can be a “bucket list” for
those with the means and time to travel, like globetrotters David Millett &
Julia Buss.With their adventurous,
spirited and exotic thirst for travel, the authors are courageous in their
quest for seeking out the essence of the diversity of the world we all call, somewhere,
home.
