As you can probably assume from the title this book is about a guy traveling to random places all over the world, and as the author points out in the preface the book is not written entirely in the same manor. The first half of the book is in a dairy style cataloging his daily events and thoughts, then it changes and you get a quick 30 say summation, and it then changes again the author goes into describing this time at different locations.
Now for what I though of the book, well 110 percent complete honesty, the first half of this book I hated, there is no other way to say than that, I almost did not finish it because of the beginning.
Why? Well first half was like a sponsorship advertisement for contik tours, like something you would read to find out all the things you get to do and see if you buy one of their tour packages, which to me is not a novel I want to spend money on. Then it got worse in the fact that the author was very immature, he made crude jokes about the people on the tour with him and the natives of the places he visited. For example, there was a girl who had a great body but not so great in the face so of course he made the "butterface" joke, then there was the man who smelled and he had to write about that a ton, and the worse was when described the natives as reminding him of people you would see in the home depot parking lot in the mornings looking for work. I just hated the fact that the author was visiting some of the most beautiful places fill of such great history and culture, and instead of giving the reader an inside look at these places, something that you wouldn't get from a advertisement, you get childish jokes and just harsh judgemental stories.
BUT.... I will say it gets better....
THANK GOD lol.....
Once the author switches formatt you do get that inside look and you learn about these places finally, I loved his description of Qatar and the boat ride to Daydream Island. To me the changes in writing style shows a progression in maturity for the author, that this trip in its entirety is him growing up and because of this I really learned to love the book. In the story the author mentions how being away from what most call "civilization" and going to these countries that do not have what we have really makes a person grateful and that to me is again him showing how traveling changed him, matured him, and gave him a deeper connection with life. While he is on Daydream Island he states "So I guess sometimes you have to go out in the middle of nowhere, even to a remote farm where there's nothing to do, the most boring place you can think of, to find excitement" and to me this sums up the book. So in conclusion, the book is of average length and the first half is pretty crappy, but if you just stick with it, it is completely worth it!
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