Humor

Travel isn’t always what we dream it will be, but...oh the stories that follow! For the 25 women in this book who packed their sense of humor as they traveled from Alaska to Zanzibar, the journey brought tales of misadventure that their children and grandchildren, and readers of this book, will never forget. Smile, chuckle, and laugh out loud to the candid and comical accounts of these memorable trips.
Brigid Kelso gets bitten and beaten by a healer possessed by a goddess in Kathmandu in "Llamo Dolkar"
"Fifteen Minutes Can Last Forever" when JoAnn Hornak is being chased by a herd of fifty African elephants
Ellen Degeneres’s fear of flying comes out in ripe language shocking the nun in the next seat in "The Plane Truth"
"Herbal Girl" Deborah Bear tests the strength of ginger when sea sickness overcomes her on a not-so-idyllic voyage
Sandra Tsing Loh vacations in "Tahiti!" where she finds the freedom to be fat
"A Prude in Patpong," Jennifer Leo discovers the outrageous world of Bangkok’s sex shows
Cooking up a "Rainbow Special" in Guatemala, Cara Tabachnick inadvertantly poisons her new friends with explosive and hilarious results

"If you look at a map, you will see that the island chain known as the Caribbean, or, to confuse you, the West Indies, lies between Florida and South America and resembles a string of gems or possibly drool." And so begins author Gary Buslik's tale of tropical adventure. Each chapter of this often hilarious and sometimes poignant travelogue recounts another island-hopping, culture-clashing crisis that pits the homesick author against falling coconuts, hospitals that remove wrong organs, insects as big and dangerous as stealth bombers, ticket agents that put him on hold for hours, mysteriously calculated currency exchanges, over-proofed rum, livestock, singing Rastafarians, garbage-bin sex, peanut-crazed children, Idi Amin, flesh-eating monkeys, dentists, cricket, steel drum bands, and the French. Fortunately, even when making fun of his West Indian hosts, the curmudgeonly author's essential good nature and devotion to his wife twinkle through, and in the end his stubborn geocentricity gives way to a heartfelt appreciation of his island hosts.

In Cruise Confidential, Brian David Bruns spills the dirt — or in this case, the dirty water — on those romantic, fun-filled vacations at sea. His hilarious chronicle of the year he spent working for Carnival Cruise Lines takes readers down into the areas where the crew works and lives, leaving readers gasping with laughter as they’re assaulted nonstop with events that range from the absurd to the utterly bizarre. Stewards fighting over food. Cutlery allowances and other nonsensical rules. What the crew calls those onboard (no, it’s not “passengers”). And of course, the sex. An abundance of ready, willing, and able bodies eager for action on a vessel replete with nooks and crannies leads to love in some mighty strange, and seemingly impossible, places. Breezy, entertaining, and informative, Cruise Confidential is essential reading for those planning a cruise or for anyone who just needs a good laugh.

"If you look at a map, you will see that the island chain known as the Caribbean, or, to confuse you, the West Indies, lies between Florida and South America and resembles a string of gems or possibly drool." And so begins author Gary Buslik's tale of tropical adventure. Each chapter of this often hilarious and sometimes poignant travelogue recounts another island-hopping, culture-clashing crisis that pits the homesick author against falling coconuts, hospitals that remove wrong organs, insects as big and dangerous as stealth bombers, ticket agents that put him on hold for hours, mysteriously calculated currency exchanges, over-proofed rum, livestock, singing Rastafarians, garbage-bin sex, peanut-crazed children, Idi Amin, flesh-eating monkeys, dentists, cricket, steel drum bands, and the French. Fortunately, even when making fun of his West Indian hosts, the curmudgeonly author's essential good nature and devotion to his wife twinkle through, and in the end his stubborn geocentricity gives way to a heartfelt appreciation of his island hosts.

In Cruise Confidential, Brian David Bruns spills the dirt — or in this case, the dirty water — on those romantic, fun-filled vacations at sea. His hilarious chronicle of the year he spent working for Carnival Cruise Lines takes readers down into the areas where the crew works and lives, leaving readers gasping with laughter as they’re assaulted nonstop with events that range from the absurd to the utterly bizarre. Stewards fighting over food. Cutlery allowances and other nonsensical rules. What the crew calls those onboard (no, it’s not “passengers”). And of course, the sex. An abundance of ready, willing, and able bodies eager for action on a vessel replete with nooks and crannies leads to love in some mighty strange, and seemingly impossible, places. Breezy, entertaining, and informative, Cruise Confidential is essential reading for those planning a cruise or for anyone who just needs a good laugh.

Following on the heels of the successful Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road comes another collection of hilarious travel stories by women. From America to Australia to everywhere in between, the true stories in Whose Panties are These? will have you shaking your head in disbelief and rolling in the aisles.

• Escape to New York for the wax job of your life and "Blame It on Rio" with Cynthia Barnes
• Fly with "Sex in the City" writer Cindy Chupack and "The Mile High and Dry Club" and be glad you weren’t there with her
• Get on the "Case of the Date Post Mortem" with Colette O’Connor and find out what really happened
• Go "Knocking on Heaven’s Door" with Anne Lamott and discover why sometimes it helps to "get religion"
• Try to put on weight with Wendy Soref in Senegal where "Small Butts" are an embarrassment to women and a turnoff to men
• Take a sidekick to Vienna with Jessica Maxwell and see how the Austrians handle the "Cowboy Waltz"...and much more

Following on the heels of the best-selling Sand in My Bra, this sequel is a collection of hilarious women's travel stories. From Australia to Zambia and everywhere in between, these true stories are full of bust-a-gut laughter. Nothing helps a travel story more than something going wrong — the frustration, embarrassment, and inconvenience provide great material for stories once the anguish has faded. The adventurers here encounter just about every unexpected mishap imaginable.

If you think you know what's the worst than can happen while traveling, the essayists in Not So Funny When it Happened will set you straight. In over 30 scathingly funny pieces, a diverse array of authors shows just how quickly a pleasant vacation can turn into an embarrassing anecdote. In Vietnam, John Wood invents increasingly elaborate fictions to explain his ex-wife's "accidental death" in order to avoid humiliating himself by admitting he's divorced. Australian traveler Jayce White awakens in Zimbabwe to a baboon at his breakfast table helping himself to leftovers with primal flair. Collected in Not So Funny When it Happened, these stories and more show that when traveling, even the best of plans fall by the wayside.