360 Degrees Longitude: One Family's Journey Around the World

by John Higham

Overview

Much more than a travel narrative 360 Degrees Longitude: One Family’s Journey Around the World is a glimpse at what it means to be a “global citizen”—a progressively changing view of the world as seen through the eyes of an American family of four.

After more than a decade of planning, John Higham and his wife September bid their high-tech jobs and suburban lives good-bye, packed up their home and set out with two children, ages eight and eleven, to travel around the world. In the course of the next 52 weeks they crossed 24 time zones, visited 28 countries and experienced a lifetime of adventures.

Making their way across the world, the Highams discovered more than just different foods and cultures; they also learned such diverse things as a Chilean mall isn’t the best place to get your ears pierced, and that elephants appreciate flowers just as much as the next person. But most importantly, they learned about each other, and just how much a family can weather if they do it together.

360 Degrees Longitude employs Google’s wildly popular Google Earth as a compliment to the narrative. Using your computer you can spin the digital globe to join the adventure cycling through Europe, feeling the cold stare of a pride of lions in Africa, and breaking down in the Andes. Packed with photos, video and text, the online Google Earth companion adds a dimension not possible with mere paper and ink. Fly over the terrain of the Inca Trail or drill down to see the majesty of the Swiss Alps—without leaving the comfort of your chair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781935212997
Publisher:	Easton Studio Press, LLC
Publication date:	07/17/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

In June 2005, John Higham quit his job as a rocket scientist, and along with his wife (who also quit his job, packed up their home and for the next 52 weeks visited 29 countries on five continents, and crossed 24 time zones.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

0 Countdown 1

Part I Splat

1 Geothermal Sludge and a Good Advertising Agency (Iceland) 9

2 Home Is Where Your Stuff Is (England) 16

3 Egad! Cowboys and Croissants! (France) 32

4 Cyclus Interruptus (Switzerland) 46

Part II Shattered Bones, Shattered Plans

5 Gargling with Razor Blades (Czech Republic/Poland) 65

6 Have you Hugged Your Lawyer Today? (Poland/Sweden) 81

7 Chocolate Vomit Is a Medical Emergency! (Denmark/Germany) 91

8 Touch It, Wimp! (Switzerland...again) 100

9 The Incredible Disappearing Force Field (Italy) 108

Part III Out of Our Comfort Zone

10 Exploding Postal Scales (The Planet of Turkey, with a Dash of Greece) 121

11 A Dangerous Place to Be a Chicken (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) 141

12 Stranded by Our Stupidity (Tanzania) 150

13 Eat First, Ask Questions Later (Mauritius/Japan) 170

14 The Cruise Ship of Pain (The People's Republic of China) 187

15 Immigration Purgatory in the PRC (The Special Economic Zone of Shenzhen and Hong Kong) 204

16 Nipple-Nibbling Fish (Thailand) 215

17 The Ugly Side of Humanity (Cambodia) 220

18 The Cute One and the Danish Postal Pin-Up Girls (Thailand, Again) 235

19 Busted in the Ladies' Room (En Route over the Pacific) 243

Part IV Home Is Where Your Stuff Is

20 Danger! Banana Crossing! (Costa Rica) 251

21 A Pirate in the Caribbean (Panama) 264

22 Please Pass the Armageddon Pills (Bolivia) 278

23 Armageddon Pills---Don't Leave Home Without Them (Bolivia/Chile) 289

24 Roll, Puke, and Yaw (Chile/Argentina) 299

25 Aerobatic Maneuvers Not Permitted (Bolivia Again!) 310

26 One Tough Kid (Peru) 322

27 Kitchen Ballistics and the Cruisers of Paradise (Belize) 333

Reentry341

Appendix of Fast Facts 347

Appendix of How To 349

Appendix of Stupid Facts 361

Google Earth! 365

Acknowledgments 371