Randy Wayne White is good at evoking the atmosphere and mood of a place. The mountains surrounding Seward, Alaska are the color of “the bruised blue of thunderheads.” Medan, Sumatra is blanketed by a “plateau of orange smog.”

In this collection of articles White also travels to Peru, Australia, Costa Rica, and several spots in Florida, among other places. He participates in Outward Bound courses, skeet shooting school, senior league baseball, and terrorist bombings (involuntarily). He even writes about his Chesapeake Bay retriever. White describes it all with skill and verve. ( )