nicenancy

Dear Fodor Friends,
My son is going to Europe for three weeks this summer. For Christmas I wanted to get him a new rolling duffel and fill it with books and other things he might wear or need. Whenever I travel, I look up the book threads on Fodors and I already have - but I wondered if people could give me some new suggestions - with an intelligent 18 yr old in mind (his favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut) and his travel plans - Paris, Munich, Rome, Venice, Florence, Nice. Many thanks and happy holidays!
Nancy

WillTravel

How about a carefully fitted backpack instead? That's what my son much prefers, and so do a lot of young people.

For books, Lonely Planet is not the be-all and end-all but those guidebooks are a very good start.

nicenancy

Thanks, Will for your suggestion, I will look at those backpacks. Just to clarify, I am looking mainly for books for him to read in the next six months to give him more depth to his travels - i.e. historical, biographical novels.
Thanks again Fodorites!

WillTravel

Nicenancy, I'll ask my son tonight what he recommends. I know he's been reading Sartre lately.

beachbum

How about:
1. Membership in the international youth hostel organization;
2. Maps of each of the cities he plans to visit;
3. A decent camera;
4. Some euro notes;
5. More euro notes.

If your son is anything like mine, I'd stay away from trying to find something he MIGHT wear.

nicenancy

Dear Beach bum, Great suggestions!!!
Especially the Euros. As always, my fellow Fodorites amaze me, many thanks.

laurie_ann

You might try a rolling suitcase that converts to a backpack. Mine is from Eagle Creek purchased through www.ebags.com.

For books, some outstanding ones are Irving Wallace "The Agony and the Ecstasy" a fictionalized biography of Michaelangelo which include much about Renaissance Rome and Florence, "Sixty Million French People Can't Be Wrong" a recent book about why French people are how they are, Rick Steves "Postcards from Europe", "Europe through the Back Door" or "Europe 101" which give great insight into how to travel in Europe (but not a guidebook really, more like how to get the most out of the experience of your trip).

As far as other things he needs, follow Rick Steves advice and get a money pouch. They are lightweight and secure as you wear them under your clothes (as Rick Steve says "whoever loses their underwear on a trip?&quot. My husband likes the kind that is a small rectangle with a loop that your belt fits through, you just tuck it inside your waistband.

bookchick

I'm with beachbum--get all the Streetwise maps for each of the cities you've listed. (And like streetwise, I'm not so sure about the "wear"---I have a god-daughter who looks like a fashion model, but anything her mom or I propose she wear gets vetoed in short order.)

I would recommend a digital camera if he doesn't have one already, with all the accoutrements you can get.

For reading, try Morton's Rome, and you'll probably have to get it used, as well as The Italians and A Thousand Bells At Noon. The Convivio, The Divine Comedy, and The Decameron might also be good reads that may interest him.

Will you please consider adopting me?

Happy Holidays,
BC

WillTravel

My son insisted on knee-length shorts, oversize T-shirts, and sneakers (not sure whether they were Adidas, Reebok, or Nike, but some such brand). He did have one pair of long pants. I said he would look like a standard American tourist, and suggested other attire, but he didn't care, and apparently everyone spoke to him in the local language, which he returned.

beachbum

One more: German, Italian, and French phrase books. Oh, and maybe more euro notes.

WillTravel

Why Euro notes? Why not use an ATM card? If the young man is going to be staying in hostels and taking public transport, he probably doesn't want to carry much cash all at one time.

PalQ

Get him Budget Europe Travel Service' superb free European & Planning Guide which details not only rail travel but many other aspects of European travel for novices, especially youth travelers. I've been to Europe dozens of times but there's still stuff in there that helps even me. It really contains a wealth of info and it's free. (BETS 1-800-441-9413).

AisleSeat

I know this will start some conversation here but I would get him into Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" and "DaVinci Code". I think they are great page turners and give enough background information on Paris and Rome to give some familiarity. I passed them on to my daughter after I read them and she loved them. Couldn't put them down.

WillTravel

I haven't read those, but I did meet a teenage boy who did really like the Da Vinci Code, so I think that's a good possibility.

Ryan

In terms of some reading suggestions,

A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. An elderly Italian man recounts his life, a life marked by war and tragedy. Yet, near the end of that life, he still manages to find the aesthetic beauty in life. Set primarily in Italy. BTW, one of my five favorite books.

The French Revolution - By William Doyle. There is a short version of a much larger work that he'd done. I read the short form version. Given how much of European history is influenced by the events surrounding the French revolution, and the subsequent rise of Napolean, it helps to understand the history when visiting Paris.

A book on the rise and fall of Rome. The work by Gibbon is most well known and either in brief or in all 3 parts (I believe) it'll be available at any decent public library. I'm sure numerous other, more readable, books exist.

Mary Renault (a writer not nearly as well known as she should be, IMHO) wrote some fantastic historical based novels. While the books are based in Ancient Greece, they are well worth adding, for your purposes. Her two most well known books are The King Must Die and The Last of the Wine.

trashtalk

When I was 18 I went to Europe for 6 months to study. I would get him:
1. Gift card for a backpack
2. Rick Steve's travel book on Europe
3. Maps for specific cities he is going to- highly recomend the plactic laminated ones that fold up easily- can't remember the brand.
4. Overall rail map of Europe- would recomend the one from Thomas Cook.
5. Money belt he can stash a few 100 dollar bills in just in case....
6. ATM card
Good Luck!

Ingo

I am assuming he already has a copy of "Slaughterhouse Five" if his favourite author is Kurt Vonnegut, right?

Mary_Fran

How about Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court?"

It contains my absolute favorite Twain Quote:

"She had exactly the German way: whatever was in her mind to be delivered, whether a mere remark, or a sermon, or a cyclopedia, or the history of a war, she would get it into a single sentence or die. Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of the Atlantic with his verb in his mouth."

Mary_Fran

One other idea for his gift list, something that's on mine: A compass.

Also, a good pedometer (not on MY list - My sister's lied on our Spain trip, resulting in much gnashing of teeth from my quarters."

Also, if he's taking a laptop, I got a great backpack from www.ebags.com, with a padded compartment for my laptop and lots of nifty little compartments.

jlm_mi

If he enjoys art, he might enjoy reading Tracy Chevalier's books. I've read and very much liked "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and "The Unicorn Tapestries".

"The Unicorn Tapestries" takes place in Paris and I believe you can also see these works of art in one of the museums there.

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" takes place in Delft, so not a place he's visiting, but maybe the painting is in one of the places he'll be? (I have no idea!)

"Falling Angels" (set in London) is next on my list, and I see an older book called "The Virgin Blue" (set in SW France) by her as well.