March 3rd Tuesday 7pm
The Impenetrable Forest with author Thor Hanson
Lying in the remote hills of southwest Uganda, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest harbors elephants, chimpanzees, monkeys, and half the world’s population of endangered mountain gorillas. For two years Thor Hanson called that forest home, working with local guides and trackers to develop a gorilla tourism program in the newly-formed Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. He helped habituate wild gorillas to the presence of human beings, coming into regular contact with two mountain gorilla families. Tonight, with stories from his book The Impenetrable Forest, along with images and music, Thor gives us a rare and unforgettable glimpse into the world of mountain gorillas, and the human cultures that surround them.
March 10th Tuesday 7pm
Beautiful Bali with Reid Coen of Imprint Tours
Long the traveler’s jewel of Indonesia, the island paradise of Bali is blessed with a stunning variety of natural beauty, a rich cultural heritage, welcoming locals, and wonderfully low prices. The small island of Bali includes volcanic peaks, photogenic rice terraces, dramatic waterfalls, some of the world’s best beaches, and a cultural life that is colorful, rich, accessible, and engaging. Traditional Balinese dance, music, and theater are available everywhere, the island is dotted with beautiful temples, and Balinese arts and crafts make it a shopping paradise. A traditional Hindu-Animist culture means visitors are safe and treated as honored guests. Finally, Bali is an incredible travel bargain. Join Reid Coen of Imprint Tours for a visual feast of Bali’s enchanting highlights.
March 17th Tuesday 7pm
Smiling at the World with author Joyce Major
With its spotlight on volunteer travel around the world, Major’s ecotourism adventure takes us into the hearts and minds of the world as she volunteers with lions, elephants, kangaroos, and baboons. In China she teaches English, works on a restoration project in Italy, and heads to New Zealand to work at a sustainability sanctuary. She even volunteers as a reporter in Ireland. You’ll want to pack your bags as Major fires up your own desire to travel, to learn, and to give back to the world. Major’s journey began with the gnawing question: Is the life I am leading right now, the best way for me to live, to use my talents, to help the planet? Now, she’s living her answer. What’s your answer? Don’t miss this engaging, inspiring event with the author of Smiling at the World.
March 21st Saturday 9am
Solo Traveler
Join us for an informal gathering of travelers as they meet and learn from each other’s travel experiences and share wisdom learned on the road. Whether you’re preparing for your first solo journey or your hundredth, you’ll enjoy sharing your adventures with your fellow sojourners. Bring your coffee and your questions!
March 24th Tuesday 7pm
The Adventurous Traveler’s Guide to Health with author Christopher Sanford, M.D.
Travel safely throughout the developing world with this easy to read, knowledgeable, and light enough to pack book. With many targeted suggestions and strategies for reducing illness and injury while abroad, The Adventurous Traveler’s Guide is useful for students, travelers to both urban and eco-tourism sites, and adventurers who travel off the beaten path. Dr. Sanford is co-director of the UW Travel Clinic.
March 31st Tuesday 7pm
Vietnam and Laos with David Rothschild, the Adventure Travel Company
Vietnam offers travelers a huge variety of fascinating sites, ethnic minorities, regional delicacies and renowned beauty. From the rice terraced hills to the bustling Old Quarter and ambient French District of Hanoi, from historic Hue to charming Hoi An, from the manic pace of Ho Chi Minh City to the lazy rhythms of the Mekong River – Vietnam has a wealth of fabulous travel opportunities that amaze and inspire all visitors. Devoutly Buddhist and largely undeveloped, the Lao are a gentle and welcoming people whose relaxed pace of life stands in sharp contrast to its neighbors. Luang Prabang is a perfectly-preserved blend of rustic colonial architecture and gilded monasteries. Vientiane, the laid-back waterside capital, is one of Asia’s most atmospheric cities. Explore the diversities of Vietnam and Lao with David Rothschild, Asia specialist for the Adventure Travel Company.
Only three of our bestsellers were novels, four if you count the graphic variety. You chose books about food, a couple of biographies, sociological studies, humorous essays, and some traditional travel literature titles. Two of the bestsellers weren’t even new, Gibson’s 
We were thrilled that long-time friend of the store, Bob Birkby’s latest book 
China was your favorite country this year-maybe it was the effect of this summer’s Olympics. Simon Winchester’s book 
a cautionary tale of man’s destructive potential set in Mongolia made the May edition. You all found 
studying at Sichuan’s premier cooking school, she was able to break away from the expectations of friends and family and find her true self. Her fluent Chinese enables her to delve much deeper into Chinese culture than most travel writers and her understanding of the connections between food and cultural identity adds new dimensions to the usual stories of the curious things Chinese people eat. And there are recipes.
You also favored books about really long journeys. It was no surprise to find Paul Theroux’s 
The book tells the story of his ten year effort through three expeditions to retrace the steps of the famous traveler. His ten meter sailboat nearly foundered off the coast of Turkey, he trekked through the high mountain regions of Pakistan, and he finally succeeded after years of struggle with Chinese bureaucracy in becoming the first foreigner to enter China through the closed Western border. It’s a truly epic journey that Rutstein documents in words, pictures and even film on the DVD included with the book.
We had a couple of around-the-world titles on the list with Eric Weiner’s study of happiness in many lands, 
charts, graphs and statistics, Florida analyses the effect of place on careers and lifestyles. He looks into the reasons people say influence their decisions to move from place to place and then tells us the truth about why we really do what we do. In the final chapter he offers a ten-step decision making manual to help us make informed decisions about where to live in order to achieve our life goals. And the appendices offer pages of rankings of cities and regions in various categories to assist in that decision making.
You showed England some love, making a novel and an affectionate look at British foibles bestsellers in 2008. 
Lyall’s essays about her new life in London after moving there from New York in the ’90s, 
We’ll round out the list with a couple of bestselling staff picks. Timm has been handselling his favorite novel, 
Searching the internet for best beaches to visit in January, I kept coming across recommendations for Puerto Rico. At Rincon Bay you can choose between world-class surfing and windsurfing on the Atlantic beaches to the north or the gentler white sand of the Caribbean to the south. The temperature hovers around 80 degrees and it’s a mecca for Humpback whale watching in February. With the added interest of the island’s Spanish colonial heritage and no need to worry about customs or passport control, you’ve got yourself a pretty awesome winter destination.
If you’re not partial to water but still would like to visit sun and sand, you should know that Yuma, Arizona is one of the sunniest places on earth. Not that we’re really advising a vacation in Yuma but there are plenty of great winter vacation spots in Arizona, Southern California and Nevada and many of them come with bargain flights and hotel rates this year. Las Vegas isn’t for everyone (me included) but it can be very entertaining and-provided you gamble prudently–inexpensive. A quick check on Expedia showed a variety of flight/hotel packages for a week in January at less than $500. Nadia can tell you about her rock climbing trip to 
The upside to Seattle’s horrible December weather is that all the local runs are open for business. If you’re trying decide which ski area to head to, bookmark the 
Between improving exchange rates and cheaper winter airfares-I found a flight from Seattle to Munich for $650-Europe is suddenly looking like a great deal. I came across 
Visit the most European city in North America to see the world’s largest winter carnival. 
