Backpack

 

By Emily Barr

After her mother died, Tansy,  was feeling the need for a change. Her mother left her a goodly amount of money and so Tansy decides to have an extended vacation to the Far East. The plan, originally, was that her boyfriend, Tom, would come too. But at nearly the last minute, he backed out. That doesn't stop Tansy from going on her trip, even though the thought of traveling alone scares her.

But she follows through and heads off to strange new lands. At first, she sneers at her fellow backpackers but soon enough finds that she is doing the same cliché things they are doing. She makes some friends and finds that the traveling is easier if you are with some people you know a bit. 

She actually meets a man that she at first is not too interested in but that changes over time. Although she still has her sights set on the absent Tom, who she feels is her true love, she embarks on a love affair with the new man, Max. 

The longer she stays in the East, the better she feels about herself. And being with Max is part of the reason for that. Nevertheless, when Tom lets her know he will be coming out there too, she dumps Max and runs to join Tom at the island resort where he will be staying. Before long though, Tansy realizes that Tom is not the love of her life and that she has made a very big mistake.

Added to all this is a serial killer in the area who seems to be targeting women who are very similar in appearance  to Tansy herself, making all the young, blonde, European woman like herself who are traveling in the East very nervous and wary.

I can't say I really liked this story. I've said this before, but it's hard to like a story where you don't like the main character. And I really didn't like Tansy. Not one bit. I found her to be a very unpleasant person. And it turns out she has a horrific secret that, I think, proves she really is bad news.

Also there are several sections in the book where the author lectures the reader on various topics including alcohol, opium, Vietnam war, cocaine and the decay of modern Western society. Her lecture on the decay of Western society is one of the shorter ones:

Decadence, after all, comes from the Latin word for decay. The more time I spend away, the more strongly I feel that Britain, Europe and America are corrupt societies on their way out. They are past their peak, collapsing, with too much money and luxury. They have lost the most basic humanitarian instinct to share. From here, it seems obvious that no society can survive once its members lose that impulse. 

I don't know if this is just intended to be Tansy speaking or if it is the author's opinion too. But I did not appreciate the "I'm better and smarter than you" attitude of these lectures. Even though that may be the case.

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.

 

Our Hearts Were Young and Gay

 

By Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough

After finishing school, best friends Cornelia and Emily are given permission by their parents to embark on a trip to Europe, semi-supervised by their parents who are also traveling there but on different transport. This being in the early years after the end of World War I, they're traveling by passenger ship. 

Based on a true story, Cornelia and Emily are two innocents setting out to conquer their innocence and the world, or England and France anyway. Cornelia's parents pop in and out of the picture, just in time to save Cornelia from disaster when she comes down with the measles and when she gets attacked by bedbugs. Cornelia's father, Otis, was a big deal in theater and Cornelia has ambitions in that direction also. His theater connections allow the girls chances to meet some of the more famous players of that time. Plus sightseeing, shopping, dining out, meeting boys, getting to know the locals, Cornelia and Emily are having a trip to remember and a fabulous time!

They conclude the story with this touching paragraph:

"The day before our departure, we blew ourselves to a superb lunch at Prunier's, after which we went on a pilgrimage to say good-bye to some of the places we had loved best . . . the rose window in the transept of Notre Dame, the little garden of St. Julien le Pauvre, the tomb of Ste. Genevieve to thank her for having saved Paris for us, Manet's 'Olympia,' and the lights at dusk coming on up the Champs Elysees. We didn't weep, but we were awfully quiet. The thought that we were leaving it all behind brought a lump into our throats, and the feeling in our stomachs that we were in an elevator descending rapidly . . . not a gay little Paris ascenseur, but a big, grown-up, skyscaper one. It was the end of something and we both knew it. We would come back again but it would never be the same. Our breath would come fast and our eyes would smart when the Eiffel Tower rose again in the evening mist, but that would be because we remembered it from these months. There would never again be a 'first time.' Our hearts were young and gay and we were leaving a part of them forever in Paris."

 

This story is a real gem. First of all, it is hilarious. Two teen girls, taking their first steps into adult independence, trying to follow all the advice given to them by their parents, but failing almost immediately. Both girls were quick to abandon the safety purses given them by their moms, designed to be worn under their clothes and to hold money and passports, etc. But the purses tended to bang into the legs of their dancing partners and explaining to the guys what was happening was out of the question. And the girls had been advised by their moms to make the acquaintance of some older, respectable matronly woman passenger and become part of that woman's party. Instead they made friends among the young male passengers and never got around to getting to know a matronly lady.

Anyway, if you can find a copy of this book which was published in 1942, grab it and dive into another time and into the adventures of two American girls verging on adulthood, out on their own for the first time in their lives.  

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax

It was a simple assignment. Meet the woman at the hotel and give her the money and the passport. For her security, a man would discretely follow Mrs. Pollifax everywhere she went. And if worse came worse, she had the name of a super-secret contact to turn to for help.
Mrs. Pollifax checked into the hotel, went into the dining room with the signal book and waited. But as soon as the woman sat down, the police showed up. The woman slipped away and left Mrs. Pollifax to face the police alone.
In police custody, they wanted to know why Mrs. Pollifax was consorting with a wanted fugitive. Of course Mrs. Pollifax fobbed them off, claiming not to know the woman and that she thought her just a homeless person. The police allowed her to return to her hotel, but they kept her passport. Now she was stuck in Turkey, unable to leave and knowing that the woman would never return to the hotel again. The assignment was a failure. And it was apparent that someone tipped off the police as to the assignation: a mole within the CIA organization.
And now Mrs. Pollifax's backup man was dead, shot through the heart. Was she next? And what about the desperate woman she had been sent to Turkey to help?Good thing she has an ace in the hole: the super-secret contact. Or is it?

This was an exciting read, as Mrs. Pollifax and the friends she makes along the way struggle from misadventure to misadventure, facing seemingly insurmountable odds yet coming out on top at the end.

Wild : From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

By Cheryl Strayed

After her mother died and her marriage ended, Cheryl Strayed knew she needed to do something. What she decided to do was hike the Pacific Crest Trail from California to Washington, alone.
Never having done an overnight hike before, Strayed was not quite prepared for the experience. First of all, her backpack was way overloaded. Second, she found out later after many, many painful miles that her boots were too small. Third, she learned that wild animals are not the biggest threat, rather it was men. Attractive and young, she fortunately only encountered one man with questionable intentions. (She got lucky in that regard.) She saw lots of wild creatures, but they were as timid of her as she was of them. (Once again, she got lucky.) Fourth, she learned that she didn't budget quite enough money for the trip. When one of her resupply drops didn't contain the cash she was expecting, she didn't have a backup plan or even a credit card.
So basically she went off half-cocked but by the end of the hike she was a lot stronger, a lot slimmer, a lot more experienced and a lot more at peace with her life.

This was a pretty good read. I liked reading about the hiking. But not so much the story of her emotional troubles. It just seemed to me that she brought a lot of that on herself.
I'm sorry her mother died so young. But the way Strayed trashed her life because of that did not sit well with me. Especially the way she sabotaged her marriage to a man she describes as loving, caring and understanding.
Just weird.

The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America

By Bill Bryson

Bryson returns to the United States after living in the UK. Feeling a bit nostalgic, he takes off on a road trip to visit some of same places he visited with his parents as a kid and to visit places that he had always wanted to visit but never had.
Bryson is usually quite amusing and this book lives up that in being a humorous read. But he must have been in a bad mood when he wrote it because he really beats up on America, only rarely finding a good thing to say beyond praising the scenery occasionally.

I did enjoy the book, but I wish he could have been a little less snarky about his homeland.

See the New York Times book review from 1989.

Notes From a Small Island

By Bill Bryson

Bryson, originally from Iowa, lived (and maybe still lives) in Great Britain for many years. One of the things he enjoyed/enjoys doing is traveling around Britain and seeing the sights and hiking the trails and footpaths and viewing Britain from an American perspective.
Only a few pages into the book, Bryson describes how he spent his first night in Britain on a bench outdoors because he couldn't afford the rates at the only hotel open at that time of night. He got so cold he put on all his warmest clothes and even put a pair of flannel boxers on his head. Early the next morning, he got up and asked a local man if he knew of a restaurant that might be open. He did and directed Bryson to it, saying it was where the truck drivers ate and so would have good food. He then recommend to Bryson that, "You might want to take them pants off your head before you go in."
Bryson was smitten by British place names. He listed as "endearingly insane" towns such as Chew Magna, Prittlewell, Little Rollright, Titsey, Woodstock Slop, and Nether Wallop.
This book is a lot of fun. Bryson always amuses and he still manages to make parts of Britain sound appealing, even in the pouring rain. One of the best things about Bryson's travel tales is his great sense of humor and his ability to laugh at himself.

Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/bill-bryson/notes-from-a-small-island/.

Holidays in Hell

By P.J. O'Rourke

O'Rourke sets off the discover life in some of the trouble spots and places of interest around the world:

• A Ramble Through Lebanon
• Seoul Brothers
• Panama Banal
• Third World Driving Hints and Tips
• What Do They Do for Fun in Warsaw?
• Weekend Getaway: Heritage USA
• The Post-Marcos Philippines
• Christmas in El Salvador
• At Sea with the America's Cup
• Intellectual Wilderness, Ho
• In Whitest Africa
• Through Darkest America: Epcot Center
• Among the Euro-Weenies
• Thirty-six Hours in Managua
• Through Darkest America, Part II
• Mexican Border Idyll
• The Holyland—God's Monkey House

Even though written in the 1980s, O'Rourke's tour still has a lot of interesting points to make about these modern times. I admit, at times I found it a bit boring. But even though dated, it is still an important look at the trouble spots and troublesome spots around the world.

Written during the era of President Reagan, O'Rourke's disdain for the Republican Idol comes through loud and clear:

"The last time an old, sick, addled American president (Roosevelt) sat down with a Soviet leader who'd had great press ("Uncle" Joe Stalin), half of Europe was given away."

Now the USA has another "old, sick, addled" president, Donald Trump, who is also no match for a dangerous, tyrannical Russian leader, Vlad Putin.
O'Rourke is a conservative Republican. I wonder what he thinks of the latest addition  to the senile president lineup?

For another review, see http://www.roadjunky.com/897/holidays-in-hell-by-pj-orourke-travel-books/

In a Sunburned Country

By Bill Bryson

Australia: perhaps the most exotic place in the world. Full of flora and fauna found nowhere else on our planet, some of which is dangerous and/or toxic. Much of it is inhospitable, uninhabited and pretty much unexplored. Parts of the interior have never been closely surveyed and may possibly contain unknown  reserves of mineral wealth.
Australia is nearly the same size as the continental United States but sparsely populated, with most of the people living in cities on the  southern and eastern coasts.  The coasts have the best climate, with lush forests and land suitable to grow crops. The interior is desert of the harshest, most deadly kind.
Bill Bryson has a love affair with Australia, despite its much touted dangers. He set off on a tour of the civilized places, visiting some of Australia's most outstanding and amazing attractions. Throughout his trip he finds the people welcoming and helpful and the natural wonders simply amazing. He rarely has a harsh word to say and is looking forward to returning in the future.

I enjoyed the book a lot. Bryson has a lovely sense of humor and doesn't mind poking fun of himself. I laughed out loud several times as Bryson describes some of the predicaments he gets himself into.
But besides the humor, Bryson's descriptions made me long to visit Australia some day. If I could, I would go there without hesitating, eager to see all the sights that Bryson does such an excellent job describing.

For another review, see https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7679-0385-1.

The Road to Little Dribbling

By Bill Bryson

Some twenty years ago, Bill Bryson traveled throughout Britain and recorded his experiences in a book, Notes from a Small Island. He decided to repeat the experience, and the resulting book is The Road to Little Dribbling.
Bryson compares his memory of his trip from twenty years ago to the current situation and often finds things have changed for the worse. Places he wanted to revisit are gone or so changed as to bear little resemblance from what they were the first time. However some are much improved, among them being Stonehenge. He also finds little museums chock full of interesting trivia and engaging displays. But he also finds that Britain is awash in trash and litter and wonders how a country with such beautiful, gracious landscapes can be so indifferent to littering.  On the other hand, he enjoys how much British cuisine has improved since his first trip, as he eats and drinks his way across the land.
Bryson obviously loves his adopted land, warts and all, and finds Britain and it people endlessly fascinating, even when he feeling rather snarky and disagreeable, which is a lot of the time.
Twenty years later, Bryson seems a bit crankier than before but his sense of humor remains firmly intact as he laughs at himself and at the quirky British people.

I enjoyed the book, for the most part, although I did lose interest in it towards the end and let it sit unread for several weeks.  Since I never get to travel and probably never will, this is the closest I can come to going to Britain myself. It was a fun and entertaining read for this "armchair traveler".
For more see The New York Times review at  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/books/review/bill-bryson-the-road-to-little-dribbling-review.html?_r=0.

The Oregon Trail

By Rinker Buck
When Rinker was a youngster, his father took his kids traveling in a covered wagon. It was an unforgettable experience that stuck with Rinker throughout his life. Now in his later years, Rinker decided he wanted to travel the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon like the original pioneers did.
So he purchased wagons, mules, and other gear and, together with his brother Nick and Nick's dog, Olive Oyl, headed west to start their wagon trip at St. Joseph, Missouri. Both Rinker and Nick are experienced horsemen and Nick is experienced in driving a wagon and team. So they are not neophytes in this enterprise.
Unfortunately, much of the Oregon Trail has been lost to farming, ranching, development and highway construction, so the trip on actual trail only consisted of about 40% of their travel time. The rest was on highways and country roads. But they still had to contend with some of the same problems the original users faced. Storms, flooding, washed out passages, equipment failures, crashes, ornery mules, getting lost, runaway mules, dog bites, bringing too much stuff along, miscalculations and so on. About the only thing they didn't have to deal with was illness, as they tolerated the rough travel surprisingly (to me) rather well.
But this isn't just a book about the trip. It also delves into the history of the trail and of the westward emigration, presented in an easy style that made it all just part of the story.
Rinker also has some interesting opinions about the past and present:

Few organized religions, however, can prosper without stunning misbehavior by their leaders. Smith's [Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism] new faith soon stumbled over his secret endorsement of plural marriage, or polygamy, a practice he justified with a great deal of theological mumbo jumbo designed to conceal his chronic philandering. Smith was an attractive man and a spellbinding speaker, and women swooned during his sermons. He rarely met a follower's pretty wife or teenage daughter whom he didn't covet, and many of them succumbed to his charms without Smith having to make much of an effort. Under an impressive veil of deceit, Smith eventually "sealed" to forty-five wives, and his successor Brigham Young would go on to build two adjoining mansions in Salt Lake to house his own fifty-one wives and estimated fifty-seven children.

This model of government support for a major development project [the Lander Cutoff of the Oregon Trail] became popular and was accepted as the new norm for western growth. Each new phase of frontier growth -- the railroads, ranching, mining -- was also supported by either outright government subsidies, land giveaways, or federally supported irrigation and bridge-building projects. That was the tradition established by the Oregon Trail and it has always amused me that the myth of "rugged individualism" still plays such a large role in western folklore and American values. In fact, our vaunted rugged individualism was financed by huge government largesse.

The [mean] rancher reminded me of those Emperor Nero state troopers who cannot hand out a routine speeding ticket without pestering a driver with a string of useless and humiliating questions. The cops of America are poster-boys of low self-esteem. Their uniforms, silly hats, and sparkling patent leather girdles freighted down with shiny handcuffs, walkie-talkies, and spray canisters of Mace apparently do not make them feel secure enough, so they always add the hostile interrogation to make sure that the accosted citizens know who is in charge.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and I even read most of the lengthy acknowledgements in the back of the book. It's grand adventure, man vs nature and American history all in one.
For another review, see http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/books/review-in-the-oregon-trail-two-brothers-take-an-1800s-style-road-trip.html?_r=0.

When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time To Go Home

By Erma Bombeck

Erma and her husband love to travel and there are few places in the world they didn't visit. So she has a lot to say about the joys and tribulations of vacations. Of course, since this is Erma Bombeck, she keeps her reminiscences on the lighter side, poking fun of not only herself, but also her husband, who is a man who does not believe in traveling light.
Together they went to all the places, the Far East, Africa, Europe, Britain, South America, Alaska, Australia, Russia and floating down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon of their home state, Arizona, and on and on. About the only place they didn't visit was Antarctica. And they probably visited there after this book was written.
Although she has plenty of opportunities to get maudlin, she mostly avoids doing so and sticks to keeping it light and amusing. Probably a good read for anyone preparing to take a trip to another country!

For another review, see https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/erma-bombeck/when-you-look-like-your-passport-photo-its-time-to/.

Tales of a Female Nomad

By Rita Golden Gelman

When Rita Gelman's kids were off to college, she began to feel restless. However, her very successful husband was firmly rooted and showed no inclination to make changes to their lifestyle. So she took off on her own to Mexico for a brief hiatus from her marriage.
Gelman wanted to challenge herself and she wanted to connect with the locals of a remote location, which she did, living with a family in a Zapotec village.
But after her getaway to Mexico, when she proposed returning home, her husband wasn't ready. Instead he wanted to prolong their separation. It was pretty clear to Rita, then, that the marriage was over.
After the divorce, Gelman decided she wanted to continue with her travels, living as cheaply as possible from her book sales (she wrote children's books) and experiencing the local cultures of the various places where she went. She avoided the touristy destinations and instead moved into small villages, learning the local customs and languages, sometimes exchanging her room and board for English lessons.
She had a real knack for adapting to the local culture and making herself at home no matter where she landed. At times, she struggled, mainly physically, since she is a little on the overweight side. But wherever Gelman went, she made friends and developed deep connections in the community. She must be one of the most adaptable people ever.

The travels included in this book are Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Israel, the Galapagos Islands, Indonesia, Canada, New Zealand, and Thailand. If you are looking for descriptions of the local scenery and tourist attractions, this book will disappoint. But if you want to read about local cultures and peoples and customs, this book will delight. It is all about the people, with some local scenery thrown in. But mainly it's about the people.

Eighty Days

By Matthew Goodman

November 14, 1889 -- Two women set off from New York, one heading east and one heading west. Their goal: get back to New York in less than eighty days.
Inspired by the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days, Nelly Bly, intrepid woman reporter known for her investigative journalism,  and sponsored by her employer, the New York newspaper The World, set forth by ship, headed to Europe in a trek around the world. Getting wind of Bly's excursion, the magazine Cosmopolitan decided to send one of their female writers off on a similar trek, only their writer, Elizabeth Bisland, would start out by heading across the U.S. by train to California, there to board ship for the Orient. Their idea was that Bly, upon arriving on the West Coast would have to deal with the harsh Midwestern winter weather as she traveled east back to New York which might slow her down drastically, maybe even stall her for some time.
Bly and Bisland were alike in some respects. Both were young women in their twenties, unmarried and obliged to support themselves. Both were talented and evocative writers. Bly was a reporter, not afraid to go undercover to expose abuse and corruption. Bisland was not a reporter, she wrote genteel magazine articles about literature and poetry. Bly set forth with only one small piece of luggage and only one dress and a coat but Bisland took several pieces of luggage with her and several dresses suitable for various occasions. But both women had this in common, that they were going to experience and see things they never dreamed of and it would a very rewarding and enlightening experience.

This was a great and exciting read. The author really made the two trips come alive. Bly came back convinced that America had all the other places of the world beat. But Bisland came back enriched by and appreciative of what other cultures had to offer. I particularly enjoyed the picture painted by the author of those cultures before they became changed by contact with the rest of the world. A real trip back in time, I almost felt like I'd been there and seen it all for myself.

The Whispering Land

By Gerald Durrell

The true story of Gerald Durrell's trip to Argentina in the late 1950s to gather animals for his zoo in England. It took him eight months to get the animals he wanted and along the way he made many new friends among the locals, encountered rare and interesting animals and had a pretty good time of it, all in all. The only thing he wasn't able to get done was capturing some vampire bats. He even went so far as to sleep outside one night with his bare foot uncovered, hoping to entice the bats with his own vulnerable toes. The bats were certainly in the area but were not interested in his toes. Later on he reflected that it was probably for the best because if he had been bitten he would have most likely had to undergo a series of injections to prevent the development of rabies!

This was an enjoyable story, lots of critters, some adventure, and descriptions of exotic landscapes and of the many friendly and helpful people without whom his expedition would have been much more difficult and much less successful. While reading it, some fifty plus years after it was written, I couldn't help but wonder if the wild and untamed landscapes he describes have changed much over the decades and if the sleepy little villages are still sleepy and quiet and the abundant wildlife still abundant . . .

Honeymoon with My Brother

By Franz Wisner

Franz Wisner and Annie had been together for years. They did part at one point but got back together. But Annie kept having panic attacks brought on by her ambivalence about their relationship. Franz, perhaps sensing her unspoken ambivalence, decided he'd better marry her before she got away. So the date was set, wedding arranged, guests invited, reservations made and money spent. Annie finally listened to her gut and called off the wedding a few days before the event.
That sucked and Franz was heartbroken. Then, to make matters worse, he was demoted at work. So he decided to go ahead and make that honeymoon trip he'd planned to take with his new bride, but instead he asked his brother Kurt to come along. So they went off together to Costa Rica. It was a chance for the two brothers to reconnect. But while on the "honeymoon," they came up with a brilliant plan. They would quit their jobs, sell off most of their assets and continue their travels together, ultimately visiting fifty-three countries in two years time. And took about two years for Franz to finally get Annie out of his system.

This was an OK book. At times it got a little repetitive and somewhat dull. I put it down for a couple weeks when I was about two-thirds through it before I continued reading it again. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been a little less about Franz's emotional life and more about the travel.

No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late

By Ayun Halliday

Halliday's travel memoir of some of her various trips around the world, told in a self-deprecating and frank way and including lots of adventures and misadventures of herself and her traveling companion of the moment.

This was an OK book. The book is supposed to be funny but at the most I found it mildly amusing. It just didn't grab me. I especially didn't like reading about her drunken binges or stupid drug trips.

Walking the Bible

By Bruce Feiler

Bruce Feiler undertakes a fantastic and difficult journey, a trek to the places spoken of in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Starting in Turkey, near Mount Ararat, he travels through the Middle East and Egypt, including Israel, the Palestine territories and Jordan, and crossing four war zones. He and his traveling companion, Avner Goren, an Israeli archaeologist, talk to everyone about religion, faith and the Bible. He spends a lot of time in the company of Bedouins, camping out in the desert wilderness. He learns as much about being a people of the desert as he does about his own Jewish roots.
I really enjoyed this book. It is almost as good as traveling there yourself but without all the dangers and hassles.

Publishers Weekly review:  https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-380-97775-8.