Those who know me and/or have read Hike Your Own Hike might expect that my latest book, The Hidden Europe, is packed with Eastern European outdoor adventure stories.Francis Tapon hiking in snow-covered Rhodopes Mountains in Bulgaria

It's not.

Although I love the outdoors and I did have many outdoor adventures in Eastern Europe, it's not the main focus of the book. In fact, such tales make up 5% of the book.

What's the other 95%? 

It's filled with stories about the history, people, language, food, and drinking habits of Eastern Europeans. It examines how they see themselves and how they see their neighbors and the world. It captures the culture of 25 Eastern European countries in 25 chapters. It's a travelogue that ends each chapter with some of the best practices of each country. The Hidden Europe is more about people than nature.

But what if you just want to find where all the adventurous, outdoorsy parts of the book are? What if you just want to read about me nearly dying on a mountain or overturning a canoe? Here are your Cliff Notes . . . .

Index of the top 20 outdoor adventures in The Hidden Europe

Below is the page number and the heading (or keyword) to search for, which is useful if you've got the epub or kindle version which probably doesn't have page numbers that match the print version.

  • 1: Intro
  • 17-18: Start of Finland
  • 42-43: Backpacking without mountains
  • 56-57: Finding Dr. Doom's castle
  • 60-61: Mushrooming
  • 97: Defining Belarus
  • 187-190: Start of Slovakia
  • 262-263: Surviving Slovenia's tallest mountain: Triglav
  • 283-285: The most dangerous backpacking in Europe
  • 412-413: Start of Montenegro
  • 420-421: A dream turns into a nightmare
  • 427-428: Going to heaven
  • 447-449: Riding along the Ionian Sea
  • 544: From Rila to Veliko Tarnovo
  • 551-552: Backpacking in the Rhodope Mountains
  • 578-579: Traversing the Transylvanian Alps
  • 597-598: Floating to the Danube's End
  • 644: Climbing on Ukraine's tallest mountain
  • 663-664: Ice fishing off the Curonian Spit

In all, it's 37-pages, or 5% of the book.

Have thoughts to share? Post them on the WanderLearn Forum.

Are you intrigued?

Watch the book's trailer and then read a sample

Or just be bold and get the book now at my WanderLearn Shop! You're guaranteed to like it!