We are planning a new photobook, to be published next autumn, which will highlight unusual places, people, events and wildlife of the world. The book, to be published in conjunction with Bradt Travel Guides, will be a glossy tome with a range of images and the stories behind them.
We’ve invited readers to send us photos from their travels, showcasing anything offbeat – unusual foods, quirky art or architecture, strange or amusing transport, weird wildlife or funny signs.
I’m certain Globetrotters will have some great photos from their travels – the most interesting images will be published in the book (which will be distributed through bookshops and the Wanderlust website) and everyone who submits an image will be entered into a draw to win some fabulous prizes.
This is not a photography competition – we’re not looking for technical quality; rather, it’s the story behind the picture and the destination which is of interest.
Details of the book can be found at:
http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/weirdworld
Closing date for submission of images is 20 February 2009.
ith host Dan Bachmann at the lectern we had two quite contrasting speakers – the first being on our regulars and the second a debutant for the club ! Both were well received…
Our second speaker was Jennifer Barclay who ended up going to South Korea because her rock drummer boyfriend got a job playing in a band at a hotel in Seoul. While he rocked, Jennifer got to explore a country not on many peoples tourist itineraries. She found it a bit Seoul destroying (get it!) to begin with, as nobody wanted to talk to her, but as she got outside the city taking in the national parks and visiting the many temples, she got to meet “Mr Kim”. Kim being by far the most common name in Korea. At Pusan the locals introduced her to the delights of fish restaurants and the drinking customs that only end up one way! Jennifer has also become a fan of Korea’s national dish Kimchi, which is slightly more palatable than Dog, one of their others and easier to serve to her friends back home ! On her return Jennifer wrote her book, Meeting Mr Kim: Or How I Went to Korea and Learned to Love Kimchi, which you can buy on 
With host Jacqui Trotter at the lectern we had two excellent speakers return to the club – both were engaging through quite different viewpoints on their most recent travels…
Hunter in who dives in the sea hoping for the “big one” then works as a security guard. Juliet also explained some of the traditions associated with living in Galle Fort, such as the rituals involved in moving in, that include lighting a fire on the tiles in the middle of your kitchen and sacrificing a scrawny chicken. When her baby contracted chicken pox she was amazed when locals covered him in green leaves from the fort walls, but to her amazement the chicken pox abated. Also divorce is not allowed, with the local Imam telling Juliet to come and find him if her husband strayed and her husband would be stoned! Before Juliet published the book she took over a warehouse as part of a literary festival and exhibited pages and photos from the upcoming book, the people could then see her intentions and ended up coming up with even more interesting recollections leading to new sections being added to the contents. 
After Jacqui Trotter’s home made Christmas cake had been demolished by those present during the tea interval, our second speaker was John Gimlette whose talk “Panther soup, detailed a European journey in war and peace”. A chance meeting in London with WW2 American veteran Putnam Flint lead John on a journey with Putnam as a guide following the American army’s advance through France, Germany and into Austria. John was able to get the exact route from wartime records of Flint’s journey from US records where every shell fired had been documented. Their journey began in the French Port of Marseille, in The Victory Hotel’s basement which still has paintings that were done by allied airmen while being hidden by the resistance. John and Putnam continued into the Vosges mountains and Alsace where even today you can find plenty of scrap from the battles laying around in the woods. Over the border into Germany via Heilbronn to Ulm, and Ulm’s cathedral is the world’s tallest with its 161m Steeple. Their journey continued through Bavaria, via Neuschwanstein and Linderhof Castles and into Austria to Innsbruck and Oberhofen, which has not changed much in 60 years. The trip was cathartic for Putnam giving him a kind of closure and enlightening for his family who have read John’s book and now know about a period of Putnam’s life that he never talked about, despite having plenty of souvenirs in his house.