Miss Adventures
A Tale of Ignoring Life Advice While Backpacking Around South America
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
A Tale of Ignoring Life Advice While Backpacking Around South America
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
"Watch out for men with too much wooden jewellery, Amy. I know what you're like . . . you'll let them sucker you in with their yoga chat but essentially, they're unwashed . . . and you don't want to put your face anywhere near an unwashed penis, let me tell you." --Carol, receptionist Having announced her plans to quit her job and backpack around South America, humorist and gonzo journalist Amy Baker found herself on the receiving end of a whole bunch of over-the-top and seemingly unnecessary advice. Amy shrugged it all off of course--that is, until she ran into trouble. After falling into a crevasse, swimming in crocodile-infested waters, dodging cocaine con artists, and encountering handsome soothsayers, Amy soon starts to wonder if her mother, her boss, and Carol from reception really were onto something. Weighing up their advice against that of known "Clever People" like Tina Fey, Salvador Dalí, and Mother Teresa, Amy finally establishes once and for all who it might actually pay to listen to.
Reviews with the most likes.
ok, so firstly what this book is: an easily read, humorous look at a thirty year old English girls travels in South America. Amy is one of those over-sharing people - you know, there is usually one at your work who shares the details of her life with everyone - and this book is a little the same - funny most of the time, but often the laughing is at that sharing girl, not always with her.
At thirty there is pressure to have ‘got that travelling and hooking up with strings of guys' out of your system, have some sort of career plan, probably to have had some sort of long term relationship. So when Amy makes plans to leave her job and head off to South America, there is plenty of concern and raised eyebrows, and of course lots of helpful advice.
The way the book rolls out, is each chapter has an advice quotation from one of Amy's helpful advisers, and a quotation from an expert (including Salvador Dali, Ranulph Fiennes, Taylor Swift, Howard Marks and Jennifer Aniston - so somewhat eclectic), an advances summary of what Amy learns in the chapter. It is kind of quirky and fun, but there are continuity quirks where some of the things she learns don't appear in the following pages, which is odd. Strangely the same thing with photos on the inside cover - of the five photos, only one is featured in the book?
Anyway, Amy makes her way from Argentina to Bolivia, to Peru, to Ecuador briefly, and onto Colombia. She spends more time in Colombia than the other locations. She travels with friends around half the time, meeting up with them in route, and tries to eke out lessons from each chapter. The lessons are often considered learned, then immediately the following chapter Amy is back into the problem with gusto. Seems she is particularly bad at relationship lessons, as she readily admits over an over in the course of the book...
So any real lessons to learn from the book? Not really, unless you have absolutely no idea to begin with.
Worth a read? Yep, as long as you are looking for light and funny.
3.5 stars, rounded down.
