Travel Guide for the Free-Spirited Traveler

March 2004—Are you a Footprint traveler at heart? If you avoid structured, stifling, live-by-the-clock tour groups . . . if you'd like to trudge through a jungle one day and dine at a five-star restaurant the next . . . if you don't shrink from scaling a volcano or plunging into a masked, frenzied crowd at a street festival or dining on ceviche (raw fish marinated in lemon juice and chili) . . . then the answer is a definite yes. And as Footprint Travel Guides prepares to release its 80th (yes, 80th!) edition of Footprint South American Handbook (2004, ISBN: 1-903471-70-2, $34.95), Managing Director Patrick Dawson says you're in good company.

"Footprint travelers are lovers of life in all its glory and splendor," he explains. "When they visit a place, they don't tentatively skim the surface. They dive in, fearlessly, and really experience what it has to offer. And generally, they prefer the little-known by-ways to the well-traveled highways. Our readers really do leave a literal and figurative footprint in the earth. That's the mindset for which we write these guides. And obviously, we're filling a real need, as our titles have been around for eight decades."

Headquartered in Bath, England, Footprint Travel Guides has published the Traveller's Bible since 1924. (Footprint South American Handbook is the longest-running travel guide in the English language.) Footprint prides itself on providing information that's not only accurate and informative, but that also inspires and entertains. Over the years it has gained a devoted following, garnering praise from such famous names as Graham Greene, Michael Palin and Paul Theroux. So what are the characteristics of a Footprint traveler? Dawson offers the following checklist:

* You want to be educated before you travel.
Visiting a place without knowing at least an overview of its history is a little like sitting down to a delicious meal whose ingredients are unknown. You enjoy the flavor, but there is no context in which to truly savor it. Each Footprint Travel Guide offers a substantial background section that paints a succinct yet vivid picture of the destination's history, culture, people, arts, and land/environment. Imagine traveling to Argentina without an understanding of the rise of Col. Juan Domingo Perón in the 1940s, the bitterly divided society that followed in his wake, and the economic and political reverberations that are still being felt today. Such a visit would be lacking, indeed.

* You generally eschew pre-packaged, touristy trips.
"Don't get us wrong; there are some great tour companies that offer thoughtful, unique, custom-designed itineraries," says Dawson. "In fact, our Footprint Travel Guides contain small ads for these services. But our typical traveler is too much of a free spirit for 'processed' tours that hit the expected attractions and force participants into rigid schedules. She wants to explore at her own pace and allow plenty of leeway for discoveries and impulsive adventures. By offering her lots of info on landmarks, breathtaking natural features and festivals, we prepare her for a dizzying array of possibilities."

* You like to leave the beaten path.
Each Footprint Travel Guide provides an "off the beaten track" section (although, to be fair, the entire book is packed with out-of-the-ordinary destination ideas). Here are just a few examples from the South American Handbook 2004:
~ Three towering volcanic peaks and extensive tracts of untamed wilderness in between, Sangay National Park in Ecuador is the Andes at its most elemental. Anyone wishing to scale the shuddering flanks of Sangay itself should come prepared with a bin-lid shield as protection against molten rocks ejected from the crater.
~ A far-flung Colombian Caribbean island, Providencia boasts gorgeous coral reefs and a distinctive English-speaking Caribbean culture.
~ The Jesuit Missions Circuit in Bolivia is a reminder of an idealistic past. The ornate decoration of the Mission churches stands in vivid contrast to the empty landscape that surrounds them.

* You want the genuine experience . . .
What really distinguishes the Footprint traveler from the Bermuda-shorts-and-knee-high-socks tourist is his thirst for authenticity. He wants to savor the local foods and immerse himself in native customs. That's why the Footprint Travel Guides prepare him for what to expect in these arenas. An example from the South American Handbook's section on food in Brazil: "The most famous dish [with Brazilian black beans] is the feijoada completa: several meat ingredients (jerked beef, smoked sausage, smoked tongue, salt port, along with spices, herbs and vegetables) . . . It is eaten with kale (couve) and slices of orange, and accompanied by glasses of aguardente (unmatured rum), usually known as cachaça (booze), though pinga (drop) is a politer term."

Another big attraction is festivals, around which some Footprint devotees are known to plan their vacations. From the South American Handbook's "Festival Guide": Argentina's El Cristo del Milagro, Salta, held September 15, is a "procession of the Lord and the Virgin of the Miracles to commemorate the cessation of earthquakes in 1692." For a different kind of experience, the book describes Chile's Semanas Musicales, Frutillar, held from the end of January to early February as "10 days of classical music on the shores of beautiful Lago Llanquihue."

* . . . but you do believe in prudent precautions!
Adventurous isn't synonymous with needlessly foolish. Footprint thoroughly arms travelers with the information they need to stay out of legal trouble, avoid theft and other crime, and steer clear of health risks. In many countries, special risks and challenges do exist for disabled travelers, gay and lesbian travelers, and women traveling unaccompanied by men. Therefore, the books offer precautionary advice specifically aimed at these groups. For instance, the South American Handbook has this bit of wisdom for women travelers: "By wearing a wedding ring, carrying a photograph of your 'husband' and 'children,' and saying that your 'husband' is close at hand, you may dissuade an aspiring suitor. When asked how long you are traveling, say only for a short time because a long journey may give the impression that you are wealthy."

It goes without saying that the Footprint books offer exhaustive advice on what to pack, how to pay, where to stay, how to get around, what to buy, and more. But the true spirit of this travel guide can be found in the lyrical beauty of its writing, the collective voice of a group of people who feel passionately attached to the Footprint approach to seeing the world . . . and who want to share that passion with others.

"If your system is jaded, South America will uplift your senses with the tropical sun rising over a rainforest river, the bracing wind blowing off the southern ice fields, the smell of ripe guava in the countryside, the fire of chili from that innocent-looking bottle on the table . . ." reads the introduction to Footprint South American Handbook 2004. "One day you can be in a village where time moves without the complications of schedules or the Internet, the next you're in an air conditioned mall surrounded by all the top designer labels, or out on the town, partying until the small hours . . . After 80 Handbook years, the essential message remains unchanged: despite having two of the world's great oceans to east and west, South America knows no boundaries."

Footprint South American Handbook 2004 (2004, ISBN: 1-903471-70-2, $34.95) is available at bookstores nationwide and all major online booksellers. For more information, please visit www.footprintbooks.com