RV owners get a bridge across the pond

The Milavskys have written a book about their experiences, ''Take Your RV to Europe: The Low-Cost Route to Long-Term Touring," published by The Intrepid Traveler of Branford, Conn. (www.intrepidtraveler.com, 203-488-5341). The book, which sells for $19.95, includes costs for shipping an RV overseas, as compared to renting one there, as well as advice on campgrounds, driving, and sightseeing.

Book offers tips

on a shorter hike

CAMDEN, Maine -- If you've dreamed of hiking a major trail from beginning to end, but you lack the time and funds for a trek like the Georgia-to-Maine Appalachian Trail, a new book called the ''Thru Hiker's Guide to America" describes hikes you can take pride in -- without taking six months off from work.

The $16.95 book, published by the Ragged Mountain Press, based in Camden, Maine, lists 25 ''incredible trails you can hike in one to eight weeks."

Author Erik Schlimmer, who uses ''e. Schlimmer" as his nom de plume, looked for trails that are manageable for most hikers, but that offer ''a feeling of wildness."

Schlimmer included terrain that varies from hard to easy, from flat to mountainous. His list ranges from the 95-mile Wonderland Trail in Washington, which forms a loop around Mount Rainier, to the 1,300-mile Florida Trail, which starts in Pensacola, runs through the Ocala National Forest, around Lake Okeechobee, and south to Big Cypress National Preserve.

The book includes information on average temperatures throughout the year; terrain, including how much to climb; potential hazards, from bears to mudslides; points of interest; and crowds vs. solitude.

For the Northeast, ambitious hikers might consider the 700-mile stretch of what's known as the International Appalachian Trail, connecting Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec; the Long Path, 345 miles in New Jersey and New York; or Vermont's 270-mile Long Trail. Shorter trails for the area are New Hampshire's 160-mile Cohos Trail, the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, about 120 miles in Massachusetts and New Hampshire; and the Northville-Placid Trail, 135 miles in New York.