Remember when a quick trip to London or Paris made you a world traveler? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the explosion in global travel. On tap - a guided tour of Tokyo, the capital of kitsch.... Riding a bicycle from Sweden to Mount Everest, achieving the summit, then peddling home! And, spending the winter icebound in the Arctic.

Fred Ingles teaches cultural studies at the University of Sheffield in England. He tells Steve Paulson about the dramatic increase in international travel and assesses its benefits and deficits. His book is The Delicious History of the Holiday. Also, Donald Richie is an expert on Japanese cinema. An American, he's lived in Japan since 1947. Richie tells Judith Strasser that everything in Tokyo is new and unabashedly copied from somewhere else. Richie is the author of a guide to the city called Tokyo.

Judith Strasser provides an essay on traveling in middle age and remembers her days as a wandering youth. Also, journalist Steven Kotler tells Steve Paulson about the extreme sports and adventure travel enthusiasts he=s profiled. He says they're after both exhilaration and spiritual enlightenment. Kotler's novel is The Angle Quickest for Flight. And, Goran Kropp tells Steve Paulson about his epic bike trip from Sweden to Mt. Everest and back, and what it's like at the summit. Kropp's book is Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey.

Alvah and Diana Simon sailed their home - the 36-foot Roger Henry - North of Baffin Island intending to spend a year there. Alvah ended up wintering alone on the icebound boat. They tell Jim Fleming about their adventures. Alvah's book is called North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic. Jim reads a brief excerpt.

Distribution dates:

• week of 06/24/2001 - hour 2
• week of 03/05/2000 - hour 1