Rudy's Rules for Travel

February 1, 2018
Traveling with Rudy was not easy. The school principal and WWII veteran was determined to stretch every dollar to its limit, meet the locals, and get off the beaten tourist path, as his long-suffering wife attests in this fun and tender memoir. His rule on hunting for the best bargains, for example, landed them on an elephant's back for a hair-raising ride down a cliff in Thailand. And his insistence on traveling to dangerous countries before they became inaccessible led to more than one tense encounter with Soviet soldiers. But as often as Rudy's rules caused trouble for his anxiety-riddled wife, they also led to astonishing moments of wonder, especially at the kindness and generosity of strangers. Along the way, Rudy's own remarkable story emerges: born in Germany, he became a U.S. citizen during the war and volunteered for air duty, flying missions as a gunner against his homeland. From exotic destinations like Bali to more personal excursions to uncover family history, Rudy's travels are imbued with his unceasing optimism and boundless enthusiasm, leaving the reader convinced that his rules are well worth following.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)