Hidden Travel

Now available!

Don't just take another ordinary trip.

MAKE AN EXTRAORDINARY ONE THAT MATTERS.

HIDDEN TRAVEL shows you how.

Through stories, insights, research findings and exercises gleaned from 40 years of travel to over 50 countries, you'll learn how to:

• Experience a different, more meaningful kind of travel many long for but few find.
• Discover hidden places of wonder and hidden wonder in ordinary places.
• Turn your trip into a learning laboratory to try out new interests and personas.
• Use unusual quests and questions to connect deeply with locals — even if you’re an introvert.
• Grow your confidence and courage by trying new adventures in safe, fun, and exciting ways.
• Know what the happiest part of any trip is and how to use it to cultivate more joy.
• Turn the inevitable bad times on a trip into great moments and memories.
• Develop new ways of seeing that involve all your senses.
• Do a volunteer vacation in a way that helps rather than hurts.
• Pack better by leaving behind unhelpful baggage, both physical and emotional.
• Experience and even create magic moments for you and others anywhere.
• End any trip well by practicing this one secret.
• Apply your trip to your life so that each day at home feels more like an adventure.

What others are saying about Hidden Travel

"Travel guides have always been about where and what and when. But what we've always needed was a book about how to travel: How do you get the most out of a vacation? How can you discover more? Cherish your time more? Make more connections? Hidden Travel explores how to travel. It's a gem of a book -- both practical and entertaining -- and it will certainly get you excited about your next adventure."

 Dan Heath, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Power of Moments and Made to Stick

Brock, a writer and photographer who has published in National Geographic, encourages experienced and potential globetrotters to focus on the journey rather than the destination. What makes this guide and travelogue a true gem, though, is its usefulness not just for transcontinental vacations but also to daily living.

Between the specific trip guidance and the dazzling photography, Hidden Travel will inspire wanderlust not just for grand excursions but also the everyday. Brock offers an exercise in appreciation, preserving the moment, and articulating what it is that you want, making this an inviting read for explorers, adventurers, or those just seeking a more purposeful way of living.

Takeaway: This travel book offers meaningful advice and stunning photographs for those planning a trip or just looking for more from life.

Great for fans of: Alain de Botton’s The Art of Travel, Rolf Potts’s Vagabonding.

BookLife (Editor's Pick)

"...A lively, inspiring guide to adventurous tourism."

Kirkus Reviews

“Here it is: a beautiful book that captures with exquisite writing the soulful process of finding yourself in a new place that is not home—but still somehow feeling at home. Hidden Travel is an invitation to a deeper kind of living and looking at the world, and that includes yourself.” 

Jeff Goins, bestselling author of The Art of Work

"Hidden Travel shows you how to rejuvenate your adventures in a way to make it feel like your 37th trip is just as special as the first time you ever stepped foot on a plane. The perspective Stephen W. Brock shares about how to discover magic in the seemingly mundane has you exponentially more excited about the travels — to literally anywhere — you have on the horizon. I picked up this book up to learn how to travel better, but part of the way through, I realized that I was actually learning how to live each day of my life — moment to moment — with a renewed sense of wonder and excitement."

Erica Virvo Hackman, Director of The Nomadic Network, Nomadic Matt

“Brock’s book functions on a great premise – there are many travel guides, but most of them are based on tourism, rather than meaningful and memorable travel experiences…This book focuses on creating personalized, intimate travel experiences that deeply move and transform travelers rather than simply lead to requisite photo ops…This book is gorgeously laid out, well-written and thoughtfully pieced together. It offers a novel approach to traditional travel advice, with the intention of opening the reader up to the possibilities presented by travel, be it international or local.”

BookLife Prize

"I loved so many things about this book, in part because it’s not just about a way of traveling, but a way of living your life with a combination of good planning and observant expectancy. So everything in it is applicable now and here. I came to the book for the travel tips, I stayed for the life tips!!"

Sara Marlin, President of BLOOM

“Hidden Travel made me think about travel in a way I’d never before considered. It’s a whole new approach to travel and really, to life. Using clear points and personal experiences, Stephen W. Brock guides the reader to a new, philosophical understanding of travel that can also be applied to just plain living—even while at home.”

Rick Rosenkranz, award-winning author of the Luminarium series

“I had to set my iPad down as I read the chapter on magic moments because it forced me to recall the most meaningful experiences on my past trips. It was hard to do at first, but then it all came to me and was incredibly powerful. I love this book.”

Elisa Morgan, speaker and author of The Beauty of Broken

“Hidden Travel shows the reader how to uncover secret hidden places and wonders, defines a lifestyle of travel, and takes the reader on a journey of discovery. From a lifetime of travel experience, Steve Brock, brand guru and marketing genius, encourages all in the pursuit of more.”  

Brett Heaston, world traveler and writer

“Stephen W. Brock tapped into a lot of outside research for this book. To me, that’s a twofold issue. It could feel like just more self-help points. But then Brock provided surprising twists and clarifying details that connected it all, along with stories from his adventures around the world that show he knows what he’s talking about. It worked well. I got both, big picture and helpful nuance. Great writing and images.”

Jack Fortin, author of The Centered Life and Senior Fellow, Augsburg University