Atlas Obscura, 2nd Edition: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders: 1

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Document Your Experiences: Capture your explorations through photography, journaling, or blogging. Use these mediums to reflect on your experiences, emotions, and observations. Sharing your adventures with others can inspire them to seek out their own curiosity-filled journeys. Beholding hundreds of off-the-beaten-path gems, this book is a treasure chest of wanderlust where readers are transported to places they’re certain to have never encountered.” — Marie Claire A travel guide for the most adventurous of tourists . . . a wonderful browse [for] armchair travelers who enjoyed Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York and Frank Warren’s PostSecret.” —Library Journal

What a strange and wonderful book! It is as curious and surprising as Saddam Hussein’s very own Blood Qur’an—written in his own blood—which I would never have known about had I not read the amazing Atlas Obscura.” One of the many examples of hidden wonders discussed in the book is the Great Blue Hole in Belize. This underwater sinkhole is a breathtaking marvel of nature, with its perfectly circular shape and mesmerizing shades of blue. Despite its striking beauty and uniqueness, the Great Blue Hole remained relatively unknown to the world until recent years. By featuring this lesser-known wonder, Atlas Obscura sheds light on the incredible natural formations that lie hidden in plain sight, waiting to be discovered and admired by those who venture off the beaten path.

Atlas Obscura is a joyful antidote to the creeping suspicion that travel these days is little more than a homogenized corporate shopping opportunity. Here are hundreds of surprising, perplexing, mind-blowing, inspiring reasons to travel a day longer and farther off the path. . . . Bestest travel guide ever.”

Atlas Obscura is like a more high brow version of the Weird U.S.: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets books. Its authors aren't trying to scare you or perpetuate urban myths, they're interested in real world weird. Something that is just as rich and full of history as the Roman colosseum or the great pyramids or the Eiffel Tower. Like Atlas Obscura’s first book, this one is big and beautiful—the main difference being that it’s written specifically for 8-12 year-olds. That said, anyone who loves beautiful illustrations and the world’s hidden wonders will like it. (Don’t be ashamed to buy it for yourself, I wrote it just so I could have it!) A selection from The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid shows an enormous cave and abandoned water park in Vietnam. Workman Publishing Company Expand Your Palate: Explore the world through your taste buds by trying new and unusual foods. Seek out restaurants or markets specializing in international cuisine. Be adventurous and sample dishes with exotic ingredients or from lesser-known cultures. Expand your culinary horizons and engage in cross-cultural connections. This is the fun way, a deep dive (sometimes literally) into places you’d never find otherwise, the weird and wild wonders of the world.” —WIRED Cultivate a Sense of Wonder: Foster an awareness of the magic and mystery present in everyday experiences. Pay attention to the little things, like the intricate patterns on a butterfly's wings or the way sunlight filters through leaves. Actively seek out unique experiences that ignite a sense of wonder within you.My favorite travel guide! Never start a trip without knowing where a haunted hotel or a mouth of hell is!” Or perhaps your exploration takes you underground, delving deep into the heart of a modern urban city. Beneath the bustling streets of Montreal lies an extensive network of tunnels known as the Underground City. Within this subterranean maze, a parallel universe resides, boasting a mesmerizing blend of shops, restaurants, and theaters. As you descend further into this hidden realm, the intricate web of passageways becomes almost maze-like, a testament to human ingenuity. Despite the labyrinthine complexity, the Underground City hums with life, filled with individuals seeking respite from the freezing Canadian winters or simply relishing in the thrill of navigating through an underground metropolis. This captivating world below ground mirrors the layered nature of Atlas Obscura itself, encapsulating a rich tapestry of experiences waiting to be explored. My favorite travel guide! Never start a trip without knowing where a haunted hotel or a mouth of hell is!”

First off, a confession. I didn't read the whole book. Normally I'd hold off on a review, but due to the unique structure of this book I feel comfortable giving my review without completing it.The funny thing is, though my parents were sure to take me to several tourist destinations while we were abroad, I usually didn't seek out such places myself. This was especially true in Italy, where my friends and I would go explore the extensive tunnel systems under the city of Brindisi, and visit beach-side World War II bunkers where we would look for (and find) old shell casing from a time when our grandfathers might have been storming the beach. This was also true when I lived in England, where our favorite thing to do was to break into an old, supposedly haunted 12th-century priory, complete with trap doors in the floors and passageways hidden within the walls. They are real. I found them and walked through them myself. But I never did get to the Roman Colosseum, nor did I ever visit the Tower of London. Maybe I had an aversion to doing the touristy things because I LIVED there. Yes, the stay was temporary, no more than three years, but these places were "home" for me. So I didn't feel like a tourist. I'd much rather go watch the bums roll each other on Carnaby Street (affectionately known as "Cannabis Street" to us teenagers and, which has become way more commercialized now than when I was a kid hanging out there in the mid-'80s) than step foot in Madame Tussauds (I even had to cheat to see how to spell that). I've had hookers proposition me on Leicester Square, watched hungry bands busk on the tubes, and, yes, watched bums roll each other in alleyways. This was my idea of "touristing".

Foer is married to Dinah Herlands, a medical student at Yale, whom he met while an undergraduate at Yale. Another fascinating example highlighted by the book is the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles. This peculiar museum is like no other, dedicated to showcasing a collection of strange and captivating artifacts that blur the line between fact and fiction. Visitors to the museum are greeted with exhibits such as the Micromosaics of Harold Napoleon, which features intricate mosaics made from the tiny wings of butterflies. The Olfactory Archive is another exhibit that captures the imagination, exploring the complexities and nuances of human scent. The Museum of Jurassic Technology stands as a testament to the hidden wonders that can be found even in our everyday surroundings, encouraging readers to see the beauty and fascination that surrounds them. Atlas Obscura is a joyful antidote to the creeping suspicion that travel these days is little more than a homogenized corporate shopping opportunity. Here are hundreds of surprising, perplexing, mind-blowing, inspiring reasons to travel a day longer and farther off the path. . . . Bestest travel guide ever.” Atlas Obscura is a joyful antidote to the creeping suspicion that travel these days is little more than a homogenized corporate shopping opportunity.Here are hundreds of surprising, perplexing, mind-blowing, inspiring reasons to travel a day longer and farther off the path. . . . Bestest travel guide ever.”

Foer's work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, and The Nation. In 2007, the quarterly art & culture journal Cabinet began publishing Foer's column "A Minor History Of." The column "examines an overlooked cultural phenomenon using a timeline."