David Axelrod’s travel book Get Away！ promises to help you achieve an “exploratory flow state” where you’re inspired to seek out interesting ports of call， in the right frame of mind for adventure， and sufficiently savvy to avoid common traveler mistakes。 That’s a tall order， given that his target travel literally spans the globe。 But while Axelrod proffers some anecdotal destination-specific advice， he acknowledges this isn’t a guidebook。 Rather， he zooms out to capture the core knowledge you’l David Axelrod’s travel book Get Away！ promises to help you achieve an “exploratory flow state” where you’re inspired to seek out interesting ports of call， in the right frame of mind for adventure， and sufficiently savvy to avoid common traveler mistakes。 That’s a tall order， given that his target travel literally spans the globe。 But while Axelrod proffers some anecdotal destination-specific advice， he acknowledges this isn’t a guidebook。 Rather， he zooms out to capture the core knowledge you’ll need to turn any good guidebook into a successful trip。 He opens explaining his main themes – the importance of travel， and that it should be mindful – and thereafter punctuates his nuts-and-bolts travel advice with entertaining vignettes from far-flung locales that either formed the basis of， or illustrate， his advice。 It’s a quick， fun， and informative read。I didn’t read Axelrod’s book to inspire wanderlust—as an Australian， I’m already DNA-coded to go walk-about。 And I didn’t really read it for travel advice。 I’ve collected enough stamps in my half-dozen old passports to have learned （often the hard way） many of the lessons Axelrod teaches。 Even so， Axelrod has been around。 （At his “over 50，” he probably has me beat on number-of-countries-visited。 I say “probably” because comparing such lists can be surprisingly complicated， to wit: the real estate I covered in the USSR （my #23） is four separate countries today。） So， what I was looking for was someone with some travel experience to grade my paper。 Have I been missing out on the inside scoop all these years？Thankfully， the answer appears to be， no。 I found myself constantly nodding along in agreement as I read， especially as he described why travel’s important。 “Experience yields greater happiness than material possessions。” Yep， exactly right。 “One of the toughest balancing acts in travel is picking a destination that is neither too remote nor too trampled。” Couldn’t agree more。 “A nine-day trip is long enough to be immersive but short enough to force a healthy respect for the decided itinerary。” Spot on。 “Hangry desperation ruins trips…。” No kidding。 “Have a clear takeaway” from your trip that you can share with friends and family。 Sounds good。 “No matter how carefully you plan， travel is wrought with uncertainty。 That’s part of the fun。” Agree， 100%。 “Thank people in their language， not yours。” Every time。There’s more to the book， though， than Axelrod’s philosophy of “mindful travel。” He provides organized， concrete advice for every stage of your trip， from planning to packing to flying to enjoying the destination。 He also collects in one place the best references for making travel happen seamlessly。 Obviously the internet – and carrying it in your hand – revolutionized travel （obvious to me when comparing my two trips to Hong Kong， first in 1996， then in 2015）。 Axelrod provides an internet travel greatest hits list， cataloging his up-to-date go-to web resources for itinerary-building， hotel booking， flight booking， ground transportation， dining selection， tours， airport navigation， jet lag mitigation， and many more。As I pawed through page after page of his sensible recommendations， I lamented that as entertaining as Axelrod’s prose is， some of his material would be more useful as checklists。 Turns out， Axelrod agrees: in a post-script， he promises checklists at davidaxelrod。co。 That said， like some other great how-to books with checklist addenda （e。g。 Chris Voss’s negotiation primer， Never Split the Difference）， you’ll do yourself a disservice if you skip Axelrod’s commentary。Axelrod acknowledges that you might disagree with some of his recommendations that tend more toward style than strategy， e。g。 his preference for a hard-case， non-expandable suitcase。 “If you want to roll in a different direction， suitcase yourself。” But he lets you know when something’s non-negotiable: “never travel with a banana” or， more seriously， avoid tour buses except under certain rare circumstances。 Subjects are helpfully subtitled and indexed so you can pay more attention to （or find again） what you care about。 Want some useful “point” hacks？ Reread “Get to the Points。”I did laugh out loud at a handful of Axelrod’s suggestions， cognizant that I’m probably not in the target audience。 Sorry， but when deciding what to pack， there’s no chance that I “check Pinterest for location-specific outfit inspirations。” In the should-you-carry-cash department， while Axelrod helpfully reminds us we can purchase food and drink with our phones at Starbucks the world over， I wouldn’t bank on it: N=1， but maybe half of the Starbucks I’ve patronized abroad had working scanners （Axelrod does recommend carrying local cash）。 Finally， while I’m sure he’s right that someone has done a study suggesting airplane water isn’t ideal， you won’t find me on the plane taking a “hard pass on coffee…。” As Felix Leiter said， “That’s why I eat the peppers。”My only real criticism of the book is perhaps not a fair one: shouldn’t this be two books？ Does a meaningful discussion about mindful travel belong in the same book as a list of the best cards and accounts to avoid foreign transaction fees？ Get Away！ is hands down worth reading， as the pragmatic travel advice is spot on。 And I get it that， in 2022， when you publish your first travel book in your mid-thirties， you don’t get to act like you’re Mark Twain。 But I think in Get Away！ we only get a teaser of the insightful travel commentary Axelrod has to give us。 I， for one， am looking forward to his Holidays in Hell， his Last Chance to See， his Following the Equator。 。。。more