Road to Hollywood Tour coming to a theater near you

It's no coincidence I road-tripped Route 66 during Spring Break of my senior year in college; my American Lit class had just covered Jack Kerouac's On the Road. There's a reason I hopped on the Trans-Siberian Railway this summer, and its name is War and Peace. (If you have the patience to plow through that behemoth, you deserve a vacation-reward of some kind!) For me, nothing inspires wanderlust more than a well-crafted travel book. Sometimes, that may come in the form of a novel that really captures the essence of a place, like War and Peace. Other times, it may be a non-fiction travel narrative, like the wonderful works of Bill Bryson, a personal favorite. Last month, we recognized the most travel-inspiring movies of the year by doling out our first-ever round of Budget Travel Oscar awards, and I'll be the first to admit that films can do wonders to put destinations on the tourist map. (If the stunning vistas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy didn't at least make you consider a Kiwi tour, well, then, you might be dead.) But I'd argue that the experience of reading a book sells a place even more. (Not a surprising perspective, I suppose, coming from an editor…) To really get acquainted with a destination, it's not enough to just look at pretty landscapes (my apologies to the LOTR cinematographers); you need to absorb the details of its history, get a sense of its layout and landscape, learn about the food its residents eat, the music they dance to, the smells in the air. Books have the home-court advantage here—they have more time and space to describe such details. Here, then, we've decided to spearhead an effort to come up with a definitive list of the 25 greatest travel books of all time. (Consider it a bookworm-friendly compliment to our BT Oscars!) We plan to pick the brains of top travel writers and editors for nominations, but first, we wanted to go to our favorite experts—yes, that's you—our readers! Please tell us your favorite travel book and why it holds your top spot. (I need a few new titles to add to my summer reading list, so I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say!) And keep your eyes out for our article on the 25 greatest travel books of all time. It'll grace the pages of this very website soon! MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: BT Bookshelf: 3 specialized summer guides (Finally!) A coffee table-worthy photo book How a Kindle can help you travel

Paris's "love padlocks": Romantic idea, or public defacement? The railings on Paris's Pont des Arts bridge are covered with multi-colored padlocks. For a few years, couples have been attaching padlocks to the pedestrian bridge. They toss the keys into the Seine in a gesture of endless love. No one is sure how the tradition started. The HuffPo reports that the gesture may have been copied from lovers in China. Chinese couples have locking up their love and throwing away the key from the sides of Mount Huang for decades. if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('109ab273-bed7-495a-938f-608d21e44174');Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)In the case of Paris, officials think the padlocks are an eyesore. So one day last year, about 2,000 of them disappeared from the bridge. Some locals and visitors complained, and the locks are slowly being added again. Romantic idea, or public defacement? It's all in the eye of the beholder. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Real Deal: Paris & Rome, Air/6 Nights, From $999 What do you collect on your travels? (35+ comments) Would you fly more frequently if airplane seats were more comfortable? (40+ comments)

Matchbooks. Maps. Seashells. Sand. Hotel-room key cards. Heck, even hotel shampoo. Some of the most collectible travel souvenirs don't cost a cent, but perfectly capture a memory of a place. When I was planning a recent trip to France to sniff out secret hotels of Paris for our February issue, I unearthed a Paris Métro map from the '90s, which I'd saved in a file folder of miscellaneous keepsakes. It may sound corny, but unfolding that map brought back such fond memories of my earliest trips to the city and that thrill of (self-)discovery that comes with exploring a new place on your own. (Speaking of sniffing, I've also always had a Proustian reaction to the scent of the Paris subway. Bizarre, I know, but at least I'm not alone in my public-transportation obsession.) What are your favorite freebies to pick up on a trip? Or does the thought of keeping stuff like this around send you into a de-cluttering frenzy? MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Travelers reveal what's in their bags Airport lounge access for $17.50? American tests "tag-your-own-bag" system at Austin's airport

Recently, PepsiCo unveiled its new, eco-friendly soda bottle. The bottle, the first of its kind, is made entirely from recycled plant materials: switch grass, pine bark, corn husks, and other materials. It is identical in shape and style to its predecessor and the new plastic is equally priced. PepsiCo plans to launch the product—which ultimately will consist of orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers - with a few hundred thousand bottles in 2012. The new bottle marks an inevitable (and dare I say it, trendy) departure from our reliance on fossil fuels (most plastic is petroleum based). The message is not, of course, to curb your rampant consumerism, but instead to consume in ways that reduce your carbon footprint. Err, sort of. Ironically, despite the fact that these bottles are made from plant materials, they are not biodegradable or compostable. But they are recyclable… And that got me thinking. I tend to view discarded plastic bottles, and other man-made materials only in terms of their negative impact, but, what about the other ways these materials can be used? That is, if we're stuck with this trash anyways, how are the materials being used for the better? Here are some rather ingenious ways the humble plastic bottle and other trash has been up-cycled into something far greater than its initial intended use: Wat Pa Maha Chedio Kaew. Made from more than one million glass bottles, the temple lies roughly 400 miles northeast of Bangkok in the city of Khun Han. Collection of Chang and Heineken bottles began in 1984 when the monks began using discarded bottles to decorate their shelter. As word of the new building material spread, donations of bottles grew until they were able to build the current standing temple. Roughly 1.5 million bottles were used in its construction, and bottle caps play an integral part in design mosaic. Not surprisingly, over time the temple garnered the nickname "Wat Lan Kuad" or "Temple of Million Bottles". Spiral Island. Built by British artist Rishi Sowa, Spiral Island is an artificial floating island near Cancun. The first Spiral Island (66 ft by 54 ft), which Sowa began constructing in 1998, was destroyed by Hurricane Emily in 2005. The island was made by a placing bamboo and plywood platform on top of nets filled with approximately 250,000 discarded plastic bottles. The platform was then covered with sand and plants. It was strong enough to support a two-story home, solar oven, and self-composting toilet. The second Spiral Island (approx. 66 ft. in diameter) was built in 2008 using 100,000 bottles. It contains beaches, a house and solar panels. The island opened for tours in August 2008. The Corona Save the Beach Hotel. Mexican beer king Corona sponsors the Save the Beach Campaign, which aims to recover one European beach each year from human-caused pollution and damage. To gain attention for their campaign, last summer, German artist HA Schult built a two-story hotel in Rome entirely out of trash found on European beaches (12 tons of garbage was used!). The hotel opened for only 3-days, and could accommodate up to 10 people. What do you think about these initiatives? Does a stay in a trash hotel appeal to you? What other "green" projects have you seen on your travels? — Madeline Grimes MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: Have a Green Stay The Ecolodge Authority Baby Steps to Save the Earth