Shunpikers Can Find Road Less Traveled In Many Books
Attention, shunpikers.
And that probably means you. Shunpiker is a 19th-century term for a traveler who avoids main routes in favor of side roads, the sort of less-traveled routes that contemporary writer William Least Heat Moon calls “Blue Highways.”
All evidence suggests that there are millions of such people in America.
After all, far more American vacations are conducted by car than by any other transportation. And this nation’s shunpiker population would be even higher, I’m sure, if time limitations didn’t make so many travelers prisoners of the interstates.
Sensing that, several publishers and others in recent years have been taking aim at the road-tripper market.
The most distinguished among them may be the National Geographic Society, but the popular guidebook publisher Moon Travel Handbooks is in on this trend too.
And several far smaller publishers of quarterly magazines and newsletters have been on the scent for several years now.
Here is a sampling of road-trip resources. Keep in mind that especially on the subjects of Route 66 and Recreational Vehicle travel, there’s plenty more out there for anyone who cares to search.
Books: America’s bookshelves are crowded with travel guidebooks these days, and many of them aim to cover long-distance drives. One new volume, and notable success, is “Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways” (Moon Travel Publications, $22.50).
The book, written by veteran guidebook author Jamie Jensen, is filled with maps and photos (color and black-and-white), and organized around 11 cross-country routes.
Graphically handsome, the book adroitly weaves together sightseeing advice with history and restaurant and lodging recommendations.
National Geographic’s focus on road-trippers began with “National Geographic’s Guide to Crossing America: The Interstates” (March 1995, $21.95) - a colorful, map-filled paperback with the telltale Geo yellow border on its cover - and “National Geographic’s Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways” (March 1996, $21.95). The first book is organized by interstate (I-5 gets 20 pages). The second breaks the United States into 10 regions and employs more than 500 color photos and maps.
The society is now about halfway through publishing a series of 12 books, “National Geographic’s Driving Guides to America,” each one keyed to a different geographic region and written in greater depth than either of the coast-to-coast volumes.
The Western United States will be covered in volumes on the Southwest (already out), and California and the Far West. Other volumes either published or scheduled include the Rockies, New England, and Washington, D.C., and environs.
Periodicals: These publications offer far folksier views of America, views that depend heavily on the personalities and experiences of their publishers:
Out West: The Newspaper That Roams (9792 Edmonds Way, Suite 265, Edmonds, WA 98020; (800) 274-9378). A quarterly, tabloid-size, on newsprint. Covers the 11 Western states, runs 24 to 28 pages, includes ads. Circulation: about 8,000. Publisher Chuck Woodbury, 49, started the publication in 1987 and has built it into a full-time occupation. For about three months of every year, he wanders the country in a 24-foot motor home. Subscriptions: $11.95 yearly.
Route 66 Magazine (P.O. Box 66, Laughlin, NV 89028-0066; (702) 298-5703). Quarterly. Magazine format, glossy cover, usually about 64 pages with ads.
Publisher Paul Taylor, going into his fourth year with a circulation of about 35,000, says he sometimes strays from the Mother Road to national parks and other attractions within 100 miles of the route, but otherwise, 66 is the subject. Taylor makes a point to drive the entire highway at least once a year. Subscriptions: $14 a year.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Christopher Reynolds Los Angeles Times