UW Press: All Abroad

“If like me, you adhere to the adage that it's the journey and not the destination that matters, then this utterly fascinating tale of a man's obsessive travel and obsession with every detail of traveling is the book for you! But this is so much more than just a glamorous travelogue. It's a tender memoir of an eccentric family scattered across the globe, a searing commentary on institutionalized antisemitism and a celebration of the life of a joyous nomad named Geoffrey Weill.”
—Alan Cumming

Yearning for an escape from a claustrophobic childhood, Geoffrey Weill became infatuated with travel. At twenty-three, the budding British connoisseur made his way across the Atlantic on an ocean liner. The year was 1973, and he was bound for New York to pursue a promising role as consultant-in-training at the headquarters of the world's oldest travel agency, Thomas Cook. The idyllic trip was reminiscent of those from the early twentieth century but made distinctly modern by a nightly reminder—at the onboard dance club, one was sure to run into a sequin-clad David Bowie.

All Abroad is the memoir of a man hungry for the logistics of travel: getting there, staying there, and feeling at home on any continent. Woven into his entertaining anecdotes is an informative account of a lost era in travel. As a witness to compelling and monumental changes in the industry, Weill offers a unique view into how our vacations have been shaped deeply by human trends, tragedies, and technologies. While some long for the grandeur of tourism from decades ago, Weill insists that travel—the conveyances and hotels that await journey's end—remains as glamorous as ever.

Author. Photo credit, Name Geoffrey Weill is a widely published travel writer and photographer and has visited more than 100 countries. He is the founder and president of WEILL, an award-winning tourism and travel-related public relations and marketing company, and was honored with the HSMAI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

Author's Website - http://www.geoffreyweillwrites.com/

“Like a telegram from a long-lost and infinitely more glamorous era, All Abroad evokes the thrill and mystery of travel without an ounce of nostalgia. Yes, there are the grandest of hotels, ocean liners and Swiss trains in this book, but also incidents of cruel discrimination and heartbreaking family secrets—all from one of the godfathers of the modern travel business, Geoffrey Weill. Absolutely brilliant.”
—Luke Barr, New York Times bestselling author of Provence, 1970