The Size of the World: Once Around Without Leaving the Ground - Paperback

Described as "a travel book like no other" by Publishers' Weekly (starred review), The Size of the World is an extraordinary snapshot of Planet Earth at a time of global transition.

By the time travel writer Jeff Greenwald reached his late 30s, he had covered more ground than Magellan, Marco Polo and Columbus combined. But he'd also come to a sobering conclusion: Airplanes had reduced his exotic explorations to a series of long commutes. So he set out to rediscover the size of the world. His mission: to make a land and sea pilgrimage around the Earth, by whatever means necessary, without leaving its surface. And while doing so-at the dawn of the Internet Age-Greenwald succeeded in creating the very first travel "blogs" on the World Wide Web.

This 30th Anniversary edition of Greenwald's best-selling odyssey features a new Introduction, a Foreword by Don George, and some surprises. Join Greenwald as he scales an active volcano in Guatemala, rides a rat-infested ferry across the Persian Gulf, visits Paul Bowles in Tangier, saves a baby snow leopard in Tibet and spends his 40th birthday marooned in the Sahara. A pilgrimage both hilarious and harrowing, insightful and wise, The Size of the World takes you on an adventure you will never forget.