Journeys and Adventures

As I type this, New Zealand and parts of Australia have already welcomed in the New Year.  It’s still nine hours away here in Europe, but I still wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year…in several languages!

Arabic: Kul ‘aam u antum salimoun
Chinese: Chu Shen Tan
French: Bonne Annee
German: Ein Gluckliches Neujahr
Hebrew: L’Shannah Tovah Tikatevu
Italian: Buon Capodanno
Portuguese: Feliz Ano Novo
Spanish: Feliz Ano Neuvo or Prospero Ano Nuevo

For New Year’s greetings in more languages (and some interesting history about January 1^st), visit Fun Facts and Figures from New Year’s Resolution Week by Goals Guy.  And, of course, I wish you the best in 2009!

My family doesn’t really have any New Year’s Eve traditions, so it wasn’t until we moved to Northern Italy and I spent a New Year’s Eve with friends that I realized some cultures have special foods on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck and fortune in the New Year.  My friend’s Italian mother made lentils, while a friend who had just visited Germany brought pig-shaped chocolates, then there was my friend from Alabama who insisted on black eyed peas. 

Whatever your traditions to bring in the new year, enjoy this article by Laura Harrison McBride with worldwide views on New Year’s Eve Foods for Good Luck with recipes, origins, and a variety of chances to have a great year!

Graphic by xymonau, www.sxc.hu

It should come as no surprise to any of my regular followers that I think reading is an important part of travel—it offers a unique perspective on a destination’s culture and history, can reveal possible side trips and hidden gems, and gives adventurers a chance to travel without leaving their living room. 

As 2008 comes to an end and we all begin to look back at the year behind us, I wanted to look at some of the best travel books of the year…thanks to a few of our friends. 

• The Guardian, a U.K. newspaper, asked several leading British travel writers to share their favorites here.

• The Times Online, also a newspaper from the U.K., also published a list of the Best Travel Books of 2008.

• And Everett Potter, a travel writer, created his own list of the Top 10 Travel Books of 2008.

Empires of the Indus by Alice Albinia appears to be the most popular choice–I’ll have to add that to my list of books to read in 2009!

Photo by pontuse, www.sxc.hu