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The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us is based on Francis Tapon's trips to Eastern Europe. Francis has spent over two years traveling and backpacking the region and he will share the lessons he learned there.The Hidden Europe is Book Two of the WanderLearn Series.
His 2004 blog serves as the skeleton of the book. In other words, he will flesh out the blogs with stuff that he learns in 2009. They will provide the basic story behind this adventure, travelogue book.
The book's structure is simple. Each chapter will:
- Examine an Eastern European country's history, food, language, sites, stereotypes, and funny habits.
- Cover Francis Tapon's personal adventures in that country.
- End with a one page summary of what practical things you can learn from that country.
Download the first three chapters of The Hidden Europe for free! They are drafts, but they should give you an idea of where the book is going. Please tell others about preview chapters!
Give feedback!
As this is a book in progress, Francis welcomes your feedback. The best way to give feedback is to post your thoughts The Hidden Europe Forum.
Francis is also looking for Beta Readers of The Hidden Europe. Beta Readers will get to preview the book 6-12 months before it's published. Beta Readers will be able to buy the book at a heavy discount. Here's a simple project if you think you want to be a Beta Reader. Tell Francis what you think of this tentative text on the dust jacket of the book...
What can we learn from Eastern Europe?
For many Westerners Eastern Europe is about as appealing as a deodorant-free French armpit. That didn’t scare Francis Tapon because not only did he learn how to rough it on the Appalachian Trail, but he is also half French, so he kind of smells too.
He yearned for adventure and Western Europe seems so tame and passé. It’s hard to feel like a pioneer when it’s about as easy to find a McDonalds as it is to find an anti-American demonstration.
Therefore, he traveled nonstop for five months and visited every country in Eastern Europe—all 20 of them. The other Europe delivered some fantastic adventures and insights. You’ll learn:
- How Polish people deepen their cultural knowledge without being snobs.
- What is worth seeing in Romania.
- Why the Balkans is so screwed up.
- How Moldovans creatively stretch their money.
- How Slovenians learn many languages quickly.
- What are the 10 ways that Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians are different.
- How Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine are going to evolve.
- Why communism really sucked.
The book is packed with photos, sidebars, and a foldout map!
Dust Jacket flaps
 When someone says, “I’m going to Europe,” everyone assumes they’re talking about Western Europe. But what about the other Europe, Eastern Europe?
Imagine if a tourist who had traveled extensively on the West Coast of America told you, “I know the United States.” You’d laugh at the moron, knowing that he’s missed out on some of real gems on the East Coast like our chic amusement parks in Orlando, our noble politicians in DC, and our charming New York City cab drivers. Similarly, you don’t really know Europe until you visit the mysterious Eastern Europe.
Francis Tapon’s quest was simple: visit every country in Eastern Europe from the Gulf of Finland to the Black Sea. Starting in the Baltic countries, he moved through Belarus, Poland, Slovakia and got as far west as Slovenia before heading south into the volatile Balkans, including the war torn Kosovo. He headed northeast into the countries that are still ripping out their deep Soviet roots: Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine. He left Eastern Europe by crossing the Black Sea and exiting through the gateway to Europe, Turkey. 
He hit every country in 2004 and then returned in 2009 to revisit all of them to see what had changed. The Hidden Europe takes you deep into the Europe that few know.
As Book Two of the WanderLearn series, The Hidden Europe isn’t just another entertaining travelogue. This book shows some of the practical lessons that can impact your day-to-day life. You won’t just learn about present day Eastern Europe, but you’ll also understand the complex history of this fascinating region. You’ll see how the locals live and realize that they do some things better than most of the world. You’ll understand why smart money and ground-breaking tourists are flocking to this largely undiscovered territory. Best of all, you won’t have to deal with the grumpy train ticket vendors.
About the author
Francis Tapon is a public speaker, world traveler, and life coach. Author of Hike Your Own Hike: 7 Life Lessons from Backpacking Across America, he has traveled to over 75 countries. He is a first generation American, born of a French father and a Chilean mother. He has a degree in Religion from Amherst College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was born and raised in San Francisco. |
