Asia Overland, perhaps the best travel guide ever

While preparing for a class on information design, I remembered a travel book titled Asia Overland.

Though it has been out of print since 2002, Asia Overland remains my favorite travel book. Unlike the detailed information provided by the likes of Lonely Planet, this book approached destinations from the perspective of an explorer.

All the maps were hand-drawn, and it offered tips on hitchhiking in Japan, entering North Korea and Iraq, and navigating the newly formed countries after the Soviet Union’s break up.

Although the internet and apps have made traveling easier and more predictable, I miss those days filled with random encounters and chance discoveries