Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to travel with Ayun Halliday when she had the experiences depicted in the early parts of No Touch Monkey: And other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late. Much as I like the global backpacker ethos in theory, she seems to have been one of those people who take the thriftiness side of it to extremes. (At one point, she mentions turning down a $4 a night lodging despite its amenities, because most of the other options were closer to $3. Sheesh.) That's one thing that I love about the Globe Trekker series on PBS; they have the spirit of the backpacker thing, but aren't afraid to try a few interesting things that might cost a couple bucks. At any rate, I did enjoy reading about her experiences, and I became less annoyed with her in the second half of the book as she learns what she missed by being such a cheapskate in her youth. The final chapter, on traveling with kids, though, shows that despite all her travels, she isn't immune from unrealistic expectations...
Actually, I see that Halliday's latest book is called Dirty Sugar Cookies: Culinary Observations, Questionable Taste. I think I liked her writing style enough that I'll put out an Interlibrary Loan request for that.
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