The perfect travel book for holiday giving : Don't Go There! by Peter Greenberg

December 5, 1:43 PMSeattle Travel ExaminerSue Frause

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How does Seattle stack up? Photo by Sue Frause.

Peter Greenberg is one of the world's big travel gurus. I've always liked him; in fact I heard him speak at a national conference several years ago, at a gathering of what else? Travelwriters. In addition to being travel editor for the NBC Today Show, Greenberg is an author. And his most recent travel book has a doozy of a title: Don't Go There! The Travel Detective's Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World.

I listened to an hourlong podcast of Greenberg on KUOW in Seattle, recorded on Dec. 1, 2008. If you want an idea of what's in the book, you can tune in here. And if you're wondering what the book is all about, here are just a few of the questions that Greenberg answers:

• Which cities and countries are the most polluted? Have the highest crime rates? The worst disease rates?
• Which locations are most likely to be hit by tornadoes? Tsunamis? Hurricanes? Earthquakes?
• Which airports should you avoid at all costs and when?
• Which hotels are consistently cited for bedbugs, Legionnaire’s disease, and overall filth?
• Where do you not want to ride a bike for fear of sinkholes?
• Which town has been dubbed the Armpit of America … and fought back with the Armpit Festival?

So how did my home state of Washington fare? Not bad, although he did pan Leavenworth on the air, saying "It's not really an authentic experience -- faux Bavarian." It's included in my previous blog post, Top Ten Christmas Towns. He also describes Seattle as "expensive" (I agree) and said "Tacoma is doing OK" (I also agree). One surprise was that Vermont has 126 polluted rivers and lakes. What's with the greenie state of Vermont? And he has no affinity for Galveston, Texas. "It sucks," said Greenberg. "I didn't even get out of the car; I went back to Houston."

The 650-page travel book also includes information on airports (Miami is the worst, and avoid La Guardia, which is responsible for 40% of the nation's airline delays). As far as what's going on in the world right now, Greenberg says: "Never be motivated by fear ... travel is such a builder of bridges of understanding."