Rating: 
Summary: These People Really GET IT
Review: "[I]f travel is like love, that is, in the end, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity, and ready to be transformed."So observes Pico Iyer at the end of his foreword to this magical collection, adding that the above is also the reason that "the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end. "Anyone who has traveled at least a bit, who has loved at least once, or who is ready to be transformed should read this book. High praise is due Don George and Salon.com for gathering such a stirring and tantalizing collection of writings together: in forty short pieces not one dull or sappy note is struck. For romance, the standouts of this collection are Maxine Rose Schur's "Passionate and Penniless in Paris," about the time she spent with her husband living in a van by the Quai de la Tournelle; Simon Winchester's "Romance in Romania" where the Rolls Royce he happens to be driving brings both him and a young Romanian girl into a beautiful moment that takes its romance from its very fleetingness; Iyer's own short, musical "Bewitched in Bali"; "Fade Into Blue," written in the third person by Amanda Jones; and most memorable of all, Laura Fraser's "Italian Affair," one of the most personal pieces in the book, but written completely in the second person (let's just say it begins with "Let's say your husband leaves you" and ends with her discovery of "la bella vita"). Notable for their adventurous qualities are Bill Belleville's "Looking for Mr. Watson" in the heart of the Florida Everglades; Don Meredith's relaxed brush with death in "Sleeping With Elephants"; Jeffrey Tayler's not-so-relaxed brush with death in "Lost in the Sahara"; editor Don George's surprising fear of climbing Half-Dome in Yosemite while watching his 8- and 10-year-old children scamper up like squirrels--he not afraid for them, he's jealous of them; and Susan Hack's humorous "Tampax Nightmares." Of course romance and adventure are not mutually exclusive, and many of the stories here exhibit both. The writers of SALON.COM'S WANDERLUST convey the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feel of the places they go--both externally and inside their own heads. The reader is transported to all seven continents and several states of being (drunk on absinthe, crashing a motorcycle while on heroin, eating the ambrosial sauces of the Memphis World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest). It will be hard to read just a quarter of these stories and not want to make your plane reservations, stuff a new notebook into your backpack and just go.
Rating: 
Summary: great literary traveling
Review: A fantastic book from a fantastic website. The stories from Europe seem strongest, including Bill Barich in Italy, Maxine Rose Schur in France, and Simon Winchester in Romania, but Wanderlust covers the entire globe, from 1st world to 3rd world, from the luxury of club med to the drug-fueled violence of Columbia. While some stories lag behind, as should be expected with 40+ tales, there is certain to be something for everyone. One reviewer found Barry Yeoman's piece about lonliness in Spain and Karl Greenfeld struggle to stay sober in Thailand as two of the worst, but I would highlight the same pieces as two of my favorites. For any wayward traveler forced to take a break from the road, salon.com's Wanderlust makes for a great escape.
Rating:
Summary: Travel and Romance
Review: Although the theme of Wanderlust is supposed to be the combination of travel and romance, editor Don George has chosen to define romance broadly. So while there are pieces here about conventional romance, such as Laura Fraser's Italian Affair, which she eventually expanded into a full-length book, there are also essays about love of books, of country, of food, and of travel itself. In other words, this is a garden-variety travel anthology. And it's a winner! As with any anthology, you will enjoy some essays more than others. Some of my favorites were Taras Grescoe's Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder about drinking powerful absinthe in Spain, one of the few countries where it is still legally sold; How to Buy a Turkish Rug by Laura Billings about how the experience of haggling over a carpet was more important than the carpet itself; and Laura Fraser's Italian Affair, in which she actually pulls off the feat of writing the whole thing in the second person and makes it work. Other outstanding entries include Tampax Nightmares by Susan Hack about finding tampons in countries that frown upon such evil devices; The Last Tourist in Mozambique by Mary Roach, who does yoga with the president; and Lisa Michaels's The Man Who Loved Books in Turkey about packing books for the journey and what happens to the books you leave behind. I love to read anthologies, especially travel anthologies. You get to read some old favorites, read new pieces by authors you like, and discover new writers. Don George is always dependable as editor. In addition to this collection, try his A House Somewhere and The Kindness of Strangers.
Rating:
Summary: What life is really about!
Review: Easily our minds to become clouded as to what life is really about. This book puts things back in perspective. Life is love, adventure, meeting new people, and seeing new places. One can find themself on a tiny Greek island seashore or travelling through the ancient ruins of Ankor Wat. The want for love and adventure will fill your heart as you read each essay. This is what life is really about.
Rating: 
Summary: Joe Haschka is right on
Review: I finished Wanderlust yesterday, and in reading Joe Haschka's review, he picked out both my favorite essays in this collection and the ones I found insufferable. There were several essays I thought were very good, and several that I wondered why they made it into the collection. I also didn't finish the essay on Africa travel writing-it read more like a second-grade college paper than a travel essay.
Rating:
Summary: Each story is better than the previous
Review: I've been a fan of Salon.com for about a year, particularly their dearly departed Travel section. One or two of the stories in this book, I remembered reading from the online column, but they were surprising and entertaining in a second read. A book of short stories by various authors should be diverse and each story should be somewhat different, but still cohesive enough to hold together under a single theme. This book manages to do that excellently through it's theme of wanderlust. The concept of wanderlust, of desiring to go on a journey that puts you outside your everday life and opens your horizons, is thoroughly elucidated in this work. Reading this book will make you want to travel to distant lands. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Travels along a normal distribution curve
Review: Like all other anthologies of travel stories, WANDERLUST's collected essays will each have a purely subjective appeal based on the predilections of the reader. For me, the thirty-some tales in this book follow a normal distribution curve. My criteria for judging any on-the-road reminiscence are that it be sufficiently descriptive to make me want to visit the place myself (or not), and preferably contain lighthearted elements. (If one can't see the humor in mishaps far from home, he/she will certainly go nuts.) Thus, a few are terrific; a few are positively dismal; and most are just OK. Therefore, my three-star rating. It didn't help that there's no table of contents, a fact that I found annoying for no reason that I can logically defend. First, let me mention some of the best of the lot. Susan Hack's lament ("Tampax Nightmares") on the pitfalls to finding tampons in Third World countries, and Yemen in particular, was hilarious. (Here, I guess I must admit to being an Insensitive Male.) The essay by Mary Roach ("The Last Tourist In Mozambique") on her interview with that island's President, during which transcendental meditation was discussed and practiced, left me with little doubt as to why that country is in such a wretched condition. Don George's recollection of the family vacation ("Conquering Half Dome") with wife and two kids simply reinforced my intention never to attempt the feat myself - I'm sufficiently afraid of heights. While reading Lucy McCauley's "Expatriate, With Olives", I could feel the sun in my face and the olives in my hand as she stripped the latter from their branches in southern Spain. When Simon Winchester drives a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit across Europe ("Romance In Romania"), the reaction this magnificent car elicits in a young woman in a dingy Romanian border town is positively poignant. Laura Fraser's getaway to the island of Ischia ("Italian Affair") is, perhaps, what the rest of us can only dream about during a normal day's silent desperation. Of course, there's the other end of the curve. Wendy Belcher's treatise ("Out Of Africa") examining the opening lines and themes common to a number of travel books on Africa was so excruciatingly ho-hum that I couldn't finish it - the only chapter so dishonored. Barry Yeoman's overwhelming need ("Embraced In Spain") to be adopted by the local crowd in Cádiz, in spite of his nervous stutter and half-out-of-the-closet gay lifestyle, verges on the pathetic. (The fact that he was unconditionally accepted by a group of locals makes for a warm and fuzzy, politically correct ending. But, it was hard to care.) David Downie's record ("Philosophy Au Lait") of the low drama in a Parisian philocafé was so much trivial prattle. (But, then, my shallow character has never concerned itself with life's deeper meanings.) Finally, Karl Greenfeld's self-absorbed jaunt through angst ("Fear, Drugs, and Soccer In Asia") left me hoping he would just snap out of it. There were quite a few "just OK" chapters, but I'll let you discover those for yourself. Indeed, someone else reading WANDERLUST will likely observe a distribution curve much different than mine - perhaps one skewed to the 1-star or 5-star end of the scale. For me, there was enough good stuff between the covers to make the book ultimately enjoyable. In the end, that's all I really ask.
Rating:
Summary: overloaded on European spots
Review: No doubt this is a great compilation but too much on European destinations. Even so anything by Salon.com is going to be first-rate it's just disappointing the focus was not more on the Third World as there's always too much on Europe in this field anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Armchair travel at its very best
Review: Salon's "Wanderlust" section was always my favorite part of Salon -- even more so than "Sex":). This book is a marvelous collection of authentic writing, and answers the kinds of questions good travel writing asks -- what is it like to be drinking absinthe in Spain? to be penniless and in love in Paris? to be a cynic at Club Med? to try to stay sober in Thailand? This is armchair travel at its very best.
Rating:
Summary: Armchair travel at its very best
Review: Salon's "Wanderlust" section was always my favorite part of Salon -- even more so than "Sex":). This book is a marvelous collection of authentic writing, and answers the kinds of questions good travel writing asks -- what is it like to be drinking absinthe in Spain? to be penniless and in love in Paris? to be a cynic at Club Med? to try to stay sober in Thailand? This is armchair travel at its very best.
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