Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: National Geographic Books Entry Title: National Geographic Bucket List Family Travel Entry Credit: Jessica Gee Judge Comment: Jessica Gee and her husband, Garrett, sold their tangible assets in 2015 so they could travel with their children, then ages 1 and 3. (A third child was born later.) The family has visited 90 countries, maybe more by now. Jessica covers those experiences with clear, loving prose. She illuminates the travel arrangements, activities after arriving, accommodations for sleeping, food choices and seasonal weather. Before the nation-by-nation capsules, enhanced by excellent color photography, the author offers big-picture planning advice about staying healthy, being flexible, budgeting money, packing clothes plus other necessities, ensuring the children are learning for the long term as well as in the moment. The Gee family is an inspiration, a marvel. And so is the book.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Mountaineers Books Entry Title: Home Base Hiking Europe: An Explore-on-Foot Guide to Unforgettable Destinations Entry Credit: Cassandra Overby Judge Comment: Guides to exploring European nations are nothing new. But the approach of finding a home base with proximity to satisfying hikes in all directions of the compass is fresh and wise. After systematically researching the most logical, accessible potential home bases, Overby reveals two in France, two in Italy, plus one each in Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia and Slovenia. Each chapter tied to a home base delineates the most picturesque and otherwise impressive hikes to traverse. Overby’s prose conveys enthusiasm and practicality simultaneously.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Valerie Stimac Entry Title: Stargazing Around the World: A Tour of the Night Sky Entry Credit: Valerie Stimac Judge Comment: Waiting until after dark to enjoy travel adventures is far less common than basking in sun-filled destinations. Valerie Stimac succeeds at altering the conventional practice. She explains five types of nighttime sojourns: stargazing, complete with 35 locations throughout the globe; astronomy in action, relying on observatories and other venues featuring space science; meteor showers; aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere and Aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere; and total solar eclipses. The book provides abundant nighttime learning along with travel and tourism details.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: National Geographic Books Entry Title: Here Not There Entry Credit: Andrew Nelson Judge Comment: Author Andrew Nelson probably found delight finding, then recommending visits to places less traveled instead of lauding more predictable, often-crowded counterparts. For example, the Lake District of Chile rather than the Lake District of England. Live theater in Cleveland, Ohio, rather than New York City. Nelson’s eight categories are well thought-out: Unconventional parks; Weekend alternatives; New icons; Nontraditional natural wonders; Unexpected history; Tracks, trails, and roads less traveled; Romantic recalibrations; Intriguing islands, uncrowded beaches and ocean vistas.
