Anik See, Writer

If I had money, I would buy everyone a copy of Anik See's A Taste For Adventure for Christmas ... it's a stunningly good travel book, in my humble opinion.

Anik wanders the world in it and each chapter gives a taste of a new country travelled 'her way' ... biking, staying with the locals, sleeping on floors, being invited to festivals ... she writes of partaking in a little of every new culture she enters and there are recipes.

An example, in Northern Argentina where she's just come back to the village after exploring some ruins ...

I walk in and hear a big cheer in the distance. The restaurant is completely empty except for a man sitting at the bar. He has his head on the counter, asleep. I hear some faint, tinny music and voices in the back, so I walk past the bar, around a dark corner and into a courtyard, suddenly blinded by sunlight.

I hear a pin drop. I blink. I stand, sunburned, weatherbeaten, dusty in my cycling clothes before a group of two hundred stunning, Brylcreemed, lipsticked, every-hair-in-place individuals seated at an enormous table. I blink again. Directly in front of me sit a woman and a man, he in a tuxedo, she in a sequinned white bodice and flowing skirts, a tiara placed delicately upon her perfect head.

Ah. The wedding.

"Hola," I say, and the group lets out a wild cheer. I am grabbed and shoved down the length of the table where there is an empty seat and am plonked down into it. Someone snaps a napkin open and drags it across my lap, another person hands me a glass filled with wine. All two hundred guests hoist their glasses and we toast the bride and groom.

Anik See
from, A Taste for Adventure