Traveling While Married

March 31, 2003
This lighthearted send-up of the adventures of journeying in a state of matrimonial bliss (or misery, as the case may be) visits every aspect of traveling as a team. After all, "Because couples therapy is rarely available on vacation, it's important to be aware in advance of the special challenges associated with traveling while married." Weisman, a contributor to PRI's Savvy Traveler, begins with obvious sticking points—including what time to get to the airport and how to unite messy and neat factions in one hotel room—and then branches into more taboo territory. When is it okay to admit that a so-called dream vacation is quickly becoming a nightmare? What's the best way to discourage houseguests from tagging along on a summer beach house rental? And, of course, the "don't ask, don't tell" rule of travel: "Nobody wants to hear about your vacation unless you've had a terrible time.... Even people who like you can stand just so much of your gaseous descriptions of swimming in the warm Gulf of Mexico waters or strolling on the Ile Saint-Louis. After a few minutes their eyes glaze over and their smiles become fixed, indicating that you've used up their allotted quotient of niceness." Weisman's breezy humor may make for a quick read, but whether she's sand-boarding in Chile's Atacama Desert or snoozing through "American Diplomacy in the Twenty-First Century" at an Elderhostel, her get-up-and-go spirit is contagious. Drawings by New Yorker
artist Edward Koren enliven the text. (Apr. 25)Correction:
In the Jan. 20 issue, we incorrectly stated that Joe Haberstroh in Fatal Depth
did not use primary sources when, in fact, he did. Our apologies.

April 1, 2003
He's a whitewater-rafting kind of guy. She prefers the bubbling waters of a posh health club hot tub. For more than 40 years, Larry and Mary-Lou Weisman have been backpacking through Europe and barging down the Amazon as both dauntless travelers and devoted spouses. Now Mary-Lou shares the secret of staying happily married while contemplating lost luggage, jet lag, and Eurodollar equivalencies in a mirthful memoir of a lifetime of journeying a deux. With self-deprecating good humor, Weisman pokes fun at her own obsessive-compulsive behavior and Larry's laid-back mentality to reveal the offbeat and off-the-beaten-track adventures of travelers as mismatched as a cheap set of luggage. From their honeymoon on an Israeli kibbutz to a stuffy Elderhostel cultural retreat, Weisman reveals the kind of travel tips readers won't find in the latest Fodor's. Whimsical illustrations by the incomparable Edward Koren of " New Yorker" fame perfectly complement this droll travelogue of a marriage whose " Love Boat" voyages more closely resemble a cruise on the " S.S. Minnow" than the " Queen Mary."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)