I have never wished to be 20 years younger any more intensely than while reading Border Crossing: A Journey on the Trans-Siberian Railroad (Harper Design, 2022) by Emma Fick! Every page made me yearn to rush out, buy railroad tickets and set out on this Trans-Siberian journey. Fick ‘s unique and entrancing tale of the train journey she and her husband Helvio took from Beijing to Moscow made me yearn to pack my backpack and replicate this trip.
Travel books are hard to write! Too often they turn into a dull list of places seen, food eaten and history learned. Emma turns the genre on its head and this journal-style story is crammed with vividly evocative watercolor illustrations and hand-written observations. I learned an amazing amount while falling in love with the intrepid Emma and Helvio who saw, explored, tasted and enjoyed everything they encountered.
Somehow there is a wealth of information, history, geology, and culture shared but it is never boring! I loved the descriptions of the opulent interiors of the Mongolian Gers, etiquette for sharing train couchettes, visits to markets, the views from the train windows, Russian subway stations and the food – especially the food! I’m not sure I’d be as delighted as Emma with “Herring Under a Fur Hat” dish as Emma was but I loved her enthusiasm for sampling so much. I had no idea that the largest fresh water lake in the world is in Siberia or that Russia has ELEVEN time zones! The friendliness of the people was encouraging but there were also real challenges and bureaucratic roadblocks.
The charm of the story underplays a bit the actual demanding nature of the conditions but it is also guaranteed to amplify any traveler’s itch residing in readers everywhere.
This is a not-to-be missed book and I sincerely hope that Emma will undertake and chronicle another exotic journey! I am ready to travel with her and I think teens will be too,
Pack Your Bags! Border Crossings Will Have You Booking a Trip!
Lynn: I have never wished to be 20 years younger any more intensely than while reading Border Crossing: A Journey on the Trans-Siberian Railroad (Harper Design, 2022) by Emma Fick! Every page made me yearn to rush out, buy railroad tickets and set out on this Trans-Siberian journey. Fick ‘s unique and entrancing tale of the train journey she and her husband Helvio took from Beijing to Moscow made me yearn to pack my backpack and replicate this trip.
Travel books are hard to write! Too often they turn into a dull list of places seen, food eaten and history learned. Emma turns the genre on its head and this journal-style story is crammed with vividly evocative watercolor illustrations and hand-written observations. I learned an amazing amount while falling in love with the intrepid Emma and Helvio who saw, explored, tasted and enjoyed everything they encountered.
Somehow there is a wealth of information, history, geology, and culture shared but it is never boring! I loved the descriptions of the opulent interiors of the Mongolian Gers, etiquette for sharing train couchettes, visits to markets, the views from the train windows, Russian subway stations and the food – especially the food! I’m not sure I’d be as delighted as Emma with “Herring Under a Fur Hat” dish as Emma was but I loved her enthusiasm for sampling so much. I had no idea that the largest fresh water lake in the world is in Siberia or that Russia has ELEVEN time zones! The friendliness of the people was encouraging but there were also real challenges and bureaucratic roadblocks.
The charm of the story underplays a bit the actual demanding nature of the conditions but it is also guaranteed to amplify any traveler’s itch residing in readers everywhere.
This is a not-to-be missed book and I sincerely hope that Emma will undertake and chronicle another exotic journey! I am ready to travel with her and I think teens will be too,
I have never wished to be 20 years younger any more intensely than while reading Border Crossing: A Journey on the Trans-Siberian Railroad (Harper Design, 2022) by Emma Fick! Every page made me yearn to rush out, buy railroad tickets and set out on this Trans-Siberian journey. Fick ‘s unique and entrancing tale of the train journey she and her husband Helvio took from Beijing to Moscow made me yearn to pack my backpack and replicate this trip.
Travel books are hard to write! Too often they turn into a dull list of places seen, food eaten and history learned. Emma turns the genre on its head and this journal-style story is crammed with vividly evocative watercolor illustrations and hand-written observations. I learned an amazing amount while falling in love with the intrepid Emma and Helvio who saw, explored, tasted and enjoyed everything they encountered.
Somehow there is a wealth of information, history, geology, and culture shared but it is never boring! I loved the descriptions of the opulent interiors of the Mongolian Gers, etiquette for sharing train couchettes, visits to markets, the views from the train windows, Russian subway stations and the food – especially the food! I’m not sure I’d be as delighted as Emma with “Herring Under a Fur Hat” dish as Emma was but I loved her enthusiasm for sampling so much. I had no idea that the largest fresh water lake in the world is in Siberia or that Russia has ELEVEN time zones! The friendliness of the people was encouraging but there were also real challenges and bureaucratic roadblocks.
The charm of the story underplays a bit the actual demanding nature of the conditions but it is also guaranteed to amplify any traveler’s itch residing in readers everywhere.
This is a not-to-be missed book and I sincerely hope that Emma will undertake and chronicle another exotic journey! I am ready to travel with her and I think teens will be too,
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I always thought Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake
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I just read this book a few weeks ago and spent a lot of time showing the lovely drawings to my husband. My kind of travel story! Thanks for the review!
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This sounds fascinating! I wonder how long it will be before a trip like this will be possible again.
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