LIFE PLANS ON DIVE BAR NAPKINS:
THE TRAVEL STORIES
A TRAVEL WRITER COULDN’T PUBLISH
A guide for traveling recklessly and living stupidly.
A shamelessly unhinged diary of one travel writer’s adventures.
Paul Manser has seen all four corners of the world through his work. The Melbourne-based travel writer has written for newspapers and magazines in Australia; detailing sprawling landscapes and buzzing metropolises, while reviewing the often-unseen sides to some of the world's most popular destinations. However, this book isn’t about that. It’s about everything that didn’t make it into those articles.
A homage to most of his major life decisions, which started as incoherent nonsense on the back of a dive bar napkin, Paul Manser’s debut book Life Plans on Dive Bar Napkins details his wildest, wackiest, and most dangerous adventures over the years. It’s a sexy, ridiculous, and eccentric page turner that you’ll struggle to put down.
Featuring stories of being kidnapped in the most expensive taxi in Mexico, crashing dog sleds in the Arctic Circle, sharing a room with man-eating spiders in Guatemala, avoiding exploding rubbish bins in new Tokyo, and living like Frank Sinatra (with a UTI) in Palm Springs; each chapter will leave you wondering how Paul made it this far in life with all of his limbs intact and any notion of self-dignity. No matter where he was in the world, Paul managed to test the limits of his travel insurance policy while landing himself in truly astonishing situations. If being socially awkward was an extreme sport, Paul is your back-to-back X-Games champion.
The pages will see you laugh, gasp and blush while reading. The wonderfully colourful book isn’t just packed full of debauchery – no, it has plenty of stories of friendship, comradery, local kindness, perseverance, and lessons learnt. All of which have contributed to who Paul is as a writer, businessperson, father, and perennial Darwin Award contender.
“Life Plans on Dive Bar Napkins is a book of experiences I always wanted to get into print, but worried that some tut-tutting travel editor would strip of all the best dick jokes. You could say that the book is an unnecessary act of self-indulgence by an egotist who shirks life’s responsibilities, drinks too much and thinks too little. And you’d probably be right,” says author Paul Manser.
He continues, ’I wrote this book for the people who want to experience something different, who drink because they enjoy it, and whose life plans begin as incoherent scrawls on the back of a dive bar napkin’.
Written for the nomad-ish wanderers of the world, and the people aspiring to be them, this book is the inspiration needed to live life to the fullest outside of societal pressures. It’s for those who like late nights that turn into early mornings, saying ‘yes’ to chaos and gaining a whole lot of life experience while you’re at it.
www.paulmanser.com.au
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul Manser is a Melbourne-based travel writer who has been published in newspapers including The Australian, The Courier Mail, MX and The Sunday Telegraph, as well as by international media titles and travel brands such as MTV, Hearth, International Traveller, and G Adventures.
Away from writing, Paul is the personal manservant to a grumpy 11-year-old sausage dog named Bruno. He has also started four businesses, the majority of which have not resulted in being chased down the street by a reporter from A Current Affair.
Today, you can often find Paul with bags under his eyes, scrolling through his phone looking for international flight sales as
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