Secret Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Best Hidden Travel Gems

by National Geographic Society, Katrina Goldsaito (Contributor)

The latest in the highly successful Journeys of a Lifetime series and the sequel to the original bestseller, Secret Journeys of a Lifetime offers in-depth site descriptions; dozens of fun, themed top ten lists; locator maps; illuminating sidebars; and oversized, lavish full-color images that bring to life 500 novel destinations that have managed to fly under the radar.
 
Divided into themed chapters, the book features the "World at Your Feet", "Last Wildernesses", "Island Getaways", "The Road Less Traveled", "Secret History", "Spiritual Havens", "Hidden Treasures", "Undiscovered Villages", and "City Secrets". This book will also feature numerous short sidebars by National Geographic contributors entitled "My Secret Journey" that will eloquently describe and personalize travel experiences for readers and will also provide insight on bonus excursions near the featured destinations.
 
Additional eclectic sidebars will highlight intriguing ancillary information, including entertaining snippets on the local culture or history as well as other sights to see while in the area.
 
As with other books in the series, each chapter contains two to five lists of "Top Tens," shorter features describing experiences in a wide variety of categories, from quirky museums and quiet city garden oases to atmospheric ghost towns and the best spots for amazing ocean views.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Photography, Coffee Table Books, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.

Reviews

[Mikel Stinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some wonderful places listed in this book along with great tips to find them. That being said, some of the "Secret Journeys" are pretty popular and touristy areas.

[Jocelin · Rating 3 out of 5]

National Geograpic never fails to amaze. The pictures are so inviting; makes you want to go out and get your passport and start traveling. There were amazing places here in the United States that I did not know even existed. It completely shows that there is such great beauty in our very own country. This book makes a great coffee table addition.

[Ela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! I was biased to look for entries from my country, and I was more than delighted to see Palawan in it. Makes me want to visit Mexico for its Monarch Butterflies, too!

[Ay Oh Be · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was enjoyable but I think the best part of it was sharing the amazing places with my friends. I loved learning about the different secret places in the world but every now and then I would read about some place and think, “So and So would LOVE this” so I would share it with my friends. Which would lead to great conversations about dream vacations, interests etc. Definitely one of the best books I have had for starting conversations and finding inspiration.

But even more long lasting is the lesson that I took from this book. Reading about all these special secret places made me look even closer at where I live. At all the secret little nooks and crannies that you can find when you slow down, talk to people and really look at your surroundings. The book talks about secret places or local specialties. So now I keep my eyes peeled for local goods and tucked away places.

In the end, this book created great conversation, opportunities and a valuable life lesson. Will I get to go to many of these places? I don’t know. Do I like knowing they exist? Absitively!

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that details some of the World's Hidden travel Gems. Some of them aren't really hidden while others are in places most people can't or won't visit, like Libya and Syria. But some of them are really off beat or hidden places. Lots of nice photo's and a page detailing when is best to go and where to stay.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was beautiful and had loads of places I’ll never visit. A fun book to skim through on a staycation. Or maybe to get some ideas on where to go next.

[Julie Dahlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put some new places in my bucket list travel notebook.

[John Orman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Variety of little-known but wonderful placed to visit--mountaintops, wildernesses, islands, road trips, and historical sites.

I've seen a few of these 500 locations--
Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah
Haleakala Volcano, Maui
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Australian Outback
Grizzly Bears, Alaska
Wildebeest migration, Masai Mara, Kenya
San Pedro Coral Reef, Belize
Umpqua River Trail, Oregon
White Pass and Yukon Railroad, Skagway, Alaska
Great Rift Valley, Kenya
St. Elmo Ghost Town, Colorado
Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
Bandelier National Monument, NM
Cusco Cathedral, Cusco, Peru
Georgia O'Keefe's House, Abiquiu, NM
El Rancho de las Golondrinas, NM
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Central Park, NY--Birding!
Venice's Lagoon Islands, Italy
Tiber River, Rome, Italy


Saw many Secret Journeys I would like to make, though most of them are way out of my budget.

These Ghost towns are way off the beaten path:
Silver City, ID.
Bodie, CA

Maybe I will check them and their ghostly residents out on my next Secret Journey!

[Jim Blessing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book to page through. It offered pictures and descriptions of seemingly hidden places throughout the world. I probably have seen maybe 10% mainly in the USA.

[Tessa in Mid-Michigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course, I didn't read it cover to cover, but I looked at all the beautiful pictures. Lovely as all these are...

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many beautiful places that I now want to go to!

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely book, but not one to carry on your travels!

[Regina Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this one for $2, was worth every penny, so many ideas for travel.

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting places supplemented with convenient lists.