Title: Continental Drifting: Exceptional Destinations Around the World
Author: David Millett & Julia Buss
Publisher: David Millett Publications
ISBN: 1456507796
Pages: 234, Paperback
Genre: Travel/Non-Fiction
Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
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.
