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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You are how you backpack......, 13 April 2005
By A Customer
This book comes across as a luxuriously detailed account of the author's personal experiences of her travels, told exactly how she perceived them, complete with odd encounters and chances that, when taken, turned into some pretty gripping tales! A definite personality jumped out of the pages, as if I was literally reading a personal diary.Two aspects of this book especially appealed to me. Firstly, the author's determination to approach situations in different ways to run of the mill expectations, for example, the idea that it is harder to appreciate new things if you have a thumping hangover or a bad night's sleep caused by other people before they get their thumping hangovers, comes across as normal rather than an uptight point of view to be ashamed of. Secondly, particularly during the first half of the book, you are served a healthy helping of practical details about precise aspects of a trip, such as the downfalls of takinga a pair of jeans on your travels, all of which you feel you need to know but previously have not been able to find in one place. I would have liked to have found out more about how she felt while backpacking, as well as the everyday hows and wheres, for example, although she briefly talks about meeting people and loneliness, there is little about how she feels on entering a strange new place. I also found that there were certain areas that were touched upon and not explored further, such as in the chapter on saving money where some interesting ideas were mentioned and not elaborated upon. Still, these ideas have in many instances left me wondering how to find out more which may have been a purpose of the book - to provide a combination of down to earth advice along with bigger, more abstract ideas that call for more exploration. That, alongside it being an incredibly entertaining and expressive read in itself.
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