A Week at the Airport by Alain de Botton. Last summer, de Botton, the author of The Art of Travel, grabbed headlines around the world when he accepted an invitation from British Airways to set up camp at London’s Heathrow Airport for a week and see what ensued. De Botton wandered the terminal, from baggage claim to hangars, night and day, and this book provides plenty of glimpses of a complex and mysterious world. Its best parts come, not unexpectedly given the author, from the philosophical musings that his stint provoked. — JG

TO BUY: A Week at the Airport (Vintage International Original)

Around My French Table: More than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It’s not a travel book exactly, but this volume by the James Beard Award-winning author is sure to transport you to a delectable culinary place. Greenspan, who lives part-time in Paris and has collaborated with the likes of the late Julia Child and pastry maestro Pierre Herme, shares a range of recipes today’s French chefs are preparing —  or as she puts it: “a mix of old and new, traditional and exotic, store-bought and homemade, simple and complex.” – RD

TO BUY: Around My French Table: More than 300 Recipes from My Homes to Yours

Contact!: A Book of Encounters by Jan Morris. One of the world’s best travel writers — famous for her detailed narratives and close takes on specific destinations — serves up something different this time ’round. Here, in entries just a few paragraphs long, she turns her keen eye to the characters she’s encountered along the way. A favorite: her pleasure at so aptly summarizing a woman dining alone in Stockholm as the likely embodiment of all things Swedish. “She seemed to express all that I expected of Stockholm, and when I at last engaged her in conversation, and boldly asked her what she did for a living, I could almost have hugged her in gratitude. ‘I am a juvenile social welfare worker,’ she replied.”— JG

TO BUY: Contact!: A Book of Encounters

Destroy This Memory by Richard Misrach and Detroit Disassembled by Andrew Moore. This team of photography books make a provocative gift set for the thoughtful urban traveler. The former offers a searing, but often amusing, look at New Orleans. Taken in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the images steer far clear of pastel houses and prancing musicians and instead focus on the graffiti that was scrawled at the destroyed houses left behind in the wake of the hurricane. The latter zooms its lenses on a different kind of destruction: the decay that’s overcome Detroit due to years of neglect and disinvestment. From Art Deco skyscrapers sprouting weeds to bizarrely beautiful theater lobbies turned into Gothic horror chambers, the images here are bound to anger anyone who cares about cities. — JG

TO BUY: Destroy This Memory, Detroit Disassembled

In Motion: The Experience of Travel by Tony Hiss. New Yorker writer follows up his look at the places in which we choose to live (The Experience of Place) with an examination of what he calls “Deep Travel.” It’s an often-dense book, but a certain kind of reader will walk away feeling challenged and ready to face travel with a new mindset. That, or they’ll finally get around to digging into that tattered copy of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, a novel that Hiss turns to for his own inspiration. — JG

TO BUY: In Motion: The Experience of Travel

Jet Age: The Comet, the 707, and the Race to Shrink the World by Sam Howe Verhovek. Where would we global roamers be without jet travel? Probably sitting on a deck chair in the middle of the Atlantic waiting for our ship to come in. As quaint as that may seem, it’s been just over 50 years since the first commercial jets began to regularly cross the Atlantic. Sam Howe Verhovek, a former national correspondent for The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, chronicles the competition between Britain’s de Havilland and a then little-known U.S. company called Boeing to add speed and ease to commercial flights –– and transform the very idea of travel. – RD

TO BUY: Jet Age: The Comet, the 707, and the Race to Shrink the World

Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks by Pierre Leonforte and Erick Pujalet-Plaa. Forget this torturous age of plane travel and find yourself back in an age where although things moved slowly, they did so with the utmost grace and elegance. This illustration-laden treasure offers peaks at the carrying cases of everyone from Ernest Hemingway to Karl Lagerfeld. — JG

TO BUY: Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks

Pins on a Map: A Family’s Yearlong Journey Around the World by David Boesch. Several years ago, physician David Boesch and his wife, Jill, with their three children under the age of 13, set off on a life-changing adventure around the world. The Boesch family over the course of 345 days logged six continents and 17 countries, including stops in Turkey, India, Japan, Australia and Africa’s Serengeti. Here, Boesch offers a wealth of travel tales, as well as practical tips for other families considering such an experience. – RD

TO BUY: Pins on a Map: A Family’s Yearlong Journey Around the World

Taschen’s Berlin: Hotel, Restaurants and Shops by Angelika Taschen. Following on the heels of New York, London, and Paris, this latest photo extravaganza delves into the sumptuous store windows and hotel lobbies of a city that’s become synonymous with urban revitalization and ultra-hip nightlife. — JG

TO BUY: TASCHEN’s Berlin

A cooking demonstration in the Sicilian capital of Palermo; photos by Donna Connor

With the mega best-seller Eat Pray Love hitting the big screen, The City Traveler asked its correspondents to share their memories of exploring the countries that forever changed the life of author Elizabeth Gilbert.

Here are snippets from their journeys to Italy (“Eat”), India (“Pray”) and Indonesia (“Love”).

Photographer Donna Connor also shares her evocative images from a recent trip to Sicily and Italy’s Aeolian Islands.

Jumping Off the Cliff (Again)

In Ravello, Italy, my husband surprised me with a fully orchestrated renewal of our vows at the Hotel Caruso, which teeters on a cliff. We drank oodles of champagne and listened as a shaman of sorts read us poetry, words that competed only with the slapping sound of the sea.

–– Becca Hensley

Marcello, Was That You?!

As a 19-year-old, in Italy for the first time, I barely stepped down from the train in Milano when I was pinched you-know-where. I whirled around expecting Marcello Mastroianni. Alas, it was a little, old man who probably had been greeting naive young American girls for almost a century.

–– Stacia Friedman

The (still-active) volcano on the island of Stromboli.

In Lucrezia Borgia’s Steps

In Ferrara, one of Italy’s most musical –– and car-free –– cities, the thrill was biking up through the center and turning on to a dirt path that circled the outside of the Renaissance walls; and coming back in through the gate the infamous Lucrezia Borgia used in the late 1500s.

–– Emilie Harting

Ritual Cleanse

I was worn out and pissed off when I got to Kerala, India. But  lying on a specially made wooden table while a massage therapist applied oil with downward strokes. soon gave me a taste of what well-being could feel like. Afterward, I was scrubbed with a green lentil powder that dried into a kind of whole body masque. Later, I sat beside the infinity pool, gazing at an elephant statue and the waters beyond.

–– Jacqueline Swartz

A back street on the Italian island of Lipari.

Rude Awakening

The 5 a.m. entrepreneurial alarm clock on the three-day train ride between Delhi and Kerala has no snooze button. “Mango Juice! Cold Drinks! Chai! Coffee! Chai! Coffee!” A baby starts to cry somewhere in the second-class sleep car. The Indian countryside says good morning.

–– Josh Miller

Organically Speaking

Ubud, Indonesia is home to a bustling artisan shopping and café district, along with a handful of old school spas that rely on natural products and hands-on body work. But I didn’t expect to find an organic restaurant in the middle of a rice field a 15-minutes walk away. There I savored a lunch of grilled chicken salad, vegetarian kebabs and fried bananas –– all for about $5.

–– Beth D’Addono

A good read: Eat Pray Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

For the Coffeetable
Time Out The World’s Greatest Cities (Time Out Guides)
Urban fans might quibble when they discover a favorite city (Zurich, Warsaw) hasn’t made the cut, and still others may buck at the very notion of rating cities. But for the most part this book lives up to its name, and the 75 cities here, and the methods by which they were chosen, merit inclusion. Each entry is authored by a different writer who gives an accurate, detailed and personality-filled summation of their assigned city. Photos, on the other hand, are often generic — too many closeups of food, cafes, and twosomes cuddling — but images like a little yellow tram tilting toward a row of balconied, pastel-hued buildings (Lisbon), or of  straphangers jostling on a fan-cooled, banner-strewn subway car, are more than enough to want you to get traveling yourself.

New York 400: A Visual History of America’s Greatest City with Images from The Museum of the City of New York Long before it evolved into the glittering metropolis we know, New York City was a quiet port town along the Hudson River, a stepping-off point for immigrants from all over the world, an embattled and corrupt commercial center. Four centuries after Henry Hudson explored its shores for the first time, the Museum of the City of New York released this book to celebrate the city’s multi-layered, tumultuous history. Created around 500 images from the museum’s collection, New York 400 explores how slavery, prostitution, riots and Aaron Burr all shaped the Apple we know. Even born-and-bred New Yorkers will see Manhattan with new eyes.

Four Florida Moderns: The Architecture of Albert E. Alfonso, René González, Chad Oppenheim, and Guy Peterson Author Saxon Henry has covered interior design for The New York Times, Robb Report, Traditional Home  and Coastal Living, among others, and here she looks around her own backyard to survey the work of four contemporary architects working in what she calls “tropical modern.” Many of the projects featured are residential, making this a must for fans of urban architecture; but travelers will have the chance to come across the work of these designers, too, in places like Tampa (Alberto Alfonson’s C Terminal at the airport) and Miami (Rene Gonzalez’ renovation of the Museum of Contemporary Art, and his award-winning Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation building).

Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe From luxuries like Japan’s sushi and Russia’s caviar to succulents like the beef of Argentina and the vintages of France, the world’s most fabulous food experiences are all here, in vivid and tantalizing color. But more than just pretty pictures, this lovely book makes for fascinating reading: telling the story of great cultures through their foods and the people who make and prepare them.

For the Nightstand
The Best American Travel Writing 2009 In this time of media consolidations and shutdowns of glossy magazines, it’s reassuring, if a bit old school, to even have a collection of superlative travel pieces in print form. For this grouping of about two dozen articles and essays, Simon Winchester, a British writer who lives in New York, has taken inspiration from his home country’s rich tradition of travel writing to select pieces that encouraged him “to go and see and feel and know for myself.” The work is mostly drawn from the usual suspects in terms of outlets (The New Yorker, The New York Times and National Geographic), and the writers are similarly well-known; they include best-selling author and humorist Calvin Trillin, Dwell founding editor in chief Karrie Jacobs and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek.

Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World In January, 2007, author and blogger Homa Sabet Tavangar and her three daughters, then aged three-and-a-half, 12 and 14, embarked on a life-changing journey: a three month-stint living in Gambia. This cross-cultural experience, as well as Tavangar’s time spent in the Middle East, South America and China, where she represented the city of Philadephia as an international development adviser, helped form the backdrop for this book. Tavangar, using a how-to format, makes a compelling case for the benefits of parents sharing the world with their children, whether through international travel, or more affordable “staycations” to local museums, ethnic restaurants  and globally-flavored festivals and events.

For the Bookshelf

Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Photography In the latest edition of this illustrated how-to, Richard I’Anson, a regular shooter for Lonely Planet, shares the basics of getting good shots just about anywhere. He mentions film but tips are based on digital photography, as they should be, including video. He even gets into shooting with a cell phone. One chapter is devoted to photographing people and landscapes, another to “urban environments,” including architecture, skylines, interiors and night scenes. I’Anson illustrates his points with his own images but the emphasis is on the how-to. This makes a handy guide for budding travel shooters, compact enough to bring along on your next jaunt.

Lonely Planet’s Best In Travel 2010 (General Reference) This fun, list-driven read is sure to provide plenty of travel inspirations for next year and beyond. Highlighted are Top 10 Countries, Regions and Cities, as well as quirkier picks, like “Hedonistic City Breaks,” “Vegetarian Heaven (& Hell),” and “Geek Treats Around the Globe.” Some of the Lonely Planet’s findings may seem a bit questionable –– for example, El Salvador still seems a bit risky to visit, compared to other Top 10 countries like Greece and New Zealand. But this is a minor quibble for what is otherwise an entertaining source for places already on the map and those that are less-discovered.

Christmas in Italy (e-book from Dream of Italy.com) This downloadable and free, 35-page guide is packed with practical information (holiday hotel packages, getting tickets to Midnight Mass at the Vatican), as well as fun-to-read explanations of Italian holiday traditions and, perhaps best of all, recipes for an abbondanza of classic Christmas desserts. Buon Natale!

New York City Restaurants 2010 (Michelin Red Guide) When deciding to tackle the American dining scene in 2006, this bestower of precious and prestigious stars started with only one city, New York, of course. After expanding in subsequent years to include San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, 2010 offerings are back down to two: the Apple, and the City By the Bay. The New York guide awards the coveted three stars to just five restaurants (Daniel, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Masa, and Per Se). But in a response to past criticism of favoring the traditional and the high falutin’, it also includes a new category, Small Plates, that highlights “establishments with a distinct style of service setting and menu.” In another nod to modern cuisine and diners, new symbols have also been created to showcase those restaurants with notable specialty cocktail or sake lists. There’s also a fairly comprehensive guide to the city’s best hotels, as well as an invaluable foldout back cover that details the hottest restaurant and hostelry openings forecast for next year.

Like most people, I first encountered the words of David Byrne in the form of lyrics. I was standing in someone’s dorm room, listening to “More Songs About Buildings and Food.” Those songs were a revelation. I bought every Talking Heads album that came out after that.

Around the time that album made the Talking Heads famous, Byrne began riding a bike around Manhattan and, eventually, traveling with a folding version. For three decades, cycling has been his preferred mode of transportation. He’s been observing cities around the world from their bike lanes – or, more often, while dodging cars and pedestrians in the street – and has compiled those observations in a memoir titled Bicycle Diaries(Viking/Penguin).

If you’re familiar with the Talking Heads, you’ll recognize the curious and quirky mind behind these tales. Byrne is riffing on the same themes here, but in considerably more depth. He is still into art and buildings; he writes for pages on the modern buildings in Istanbul, “the triumph of both the cult of capitalism and the cult of Marxist materialism.” But he’s mostly interested in people. The book is full of chance encounters and the reflections they inspire.

Most of Bicycle Diaries has nothing to do with cycling, it just happens to be how the author gets around – and it’s important to him. (Last year, Byrne designed a series of bike racks around Brooklyn and Manhattan.) Nevertheless, Bicycle Diaries serves as a handy guide for anyone contemplating the possibility of cycling in the dozen or so cities he writes about.

David Byrne on biking…

…in New York City: “I ride my bike almost everyday here in New York…. The city has added a lot of bike lanes in recent years, and they claim they now have more than any other city in the United States. But sadly most of them are not safe enough that one can truly relax….” (If you have any doubt about this, join him on this harrowing ride through Times Square: David Byrne Bike Cam)

…in Berlin: “I ride my bike along the bike lanes here in Berlin and it all seems so civilized, pleasant, and enlightened… There are little stoplights just for the bikers, even turn signals! … If the New York City streets are wilder and funkier, than the German streets are on Prozac – civilized but slightly less exciting.”

…in Istanbul: “Ride a bike in Istanbul? Are you nuts? Yes… and no. The traffic here is pretty chaotic and there are a number of hills, but on a bike I can get around the central city…faster than one can in a car.”

…in London: “London sprawls for an old city…. As a result there can be some long and strenuous pedals. These don’t necessarily result in making a trip longer than it would be on the tube, but I sometimes arrive a little shiny.”

…in Sydney: “As a place for urban biking, Australian towns are better than most. Sydney is a bit tough—the geography and busy arteries that link the various neighborhoods are not very welcoming – but Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide I find to be more accommodating.”

…in San Francisco: “San Francisco is philosophically and politically bike-friendly, but not geographically….”

Don’t expect a run-of-the-mill travelogue from a guy who collaborates with Brian Eno and has been known to perform in a tutu. Byrne takes us to some pretty strange places, combining on-the-spot observation with conclusions reached over many years, often while cycling between performances.

He makes a convincing case for taking a folding bike along on your next trip. He also presents a compelling argument for more and better bike lanes in the U.S. In that sense, his book couldn’t be better timed.

Buy here: Bicycle Diaries

Cathleen McCarthy’s take on bicycling in her hometown of Philadelphia appears here.

• Taschen Books
• $39.95
• Buy for: Your tweedy uncle or your college-age niece embarking on her first journey overseas.
  

Buy here: Taschen’s London

• Images Publishing
• $60
  
• Buy for: Your favorite Paris aficionado, or as a lavish treat for your coffee table.

Buy here: Paris Secrets: Architecture, Interiors, Quartiers, Corners