Book Review: Wanderlust by Elisabeth Eaves and a Giveaway

Pages:  256

Genre: Adult/Travel Memoir

Date Published: May 25, 2011

Obtained through TLC Book Tours

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Spanning 15 years of travel, beginning when she is a sophomore in college,Wanderlust documents Elisabeth Eaves’s insatiable hunger for the rush of the unfamiliar and the experience of encountering new people and cultures. Young and independent, she crisscrosses five continents and chases the exotic, both in culture and in romance. In the jungles of Papua New Guinea, she loses herself—literally—to an Australian tour guide; in Cairo, she reconnects with her high school sweetheart, only to discover the beginning of a pattern that will characterize her life over the long-term: while long-distance relationships work well for her, traditional relationships do not.  Wanderlust, however, is more than a chronological conquest of men and countries: at its core, it’s a journey of self-discovery. In the course of her travels, Eaves finds herself and the sense of home she’s been lacking since childhood—and she sheds light on a growing culture of young women who have the freedom and inclination to define their own, increasingly global, lifestyles, unfettered by traditional roles and conventions of past generations of women."

Elisabeth loves to travel and that's putting it mildly.  She's spent fifteen years traveling the world; in fact, she's traveled to five continents.  Many of those trips, she faced alone as a young women and she's always immersed herself in the culture of each new place she visited.  Travel is Elisabeth's everything as she is truly unconventional and challenges society's expectations of women.  She's not satisfied by the usual life and wants something more.  Wanderlust by Elisabeth Eaves is a travel memoir that every globe-trotter will love to be lost in.

Although I didn't always agree with Elisabeth's decisions, I understood her need for travel as I, too, love to travel.  I loved how Elisabeth really dived into the various cultures she visited and was always up for an adventure.  She's someone I would LOVE to be friends with.  I admired the fact that she's extremely independent, spontaenous, and a bit of a man-eater. She's like the Carrie Bradshaw of the travel world.  Ah, the stories we would share over cocktails! *sigh*   

Elisabeth used travel to avoid responsibility, to discover herself, to forget, to move on, as a companion, etc,  Travel was like oxygen to her. An obsession.  I found that aspect of Elisabeth to be fascinating.  She visited and lived in such incredible places, such as Papua New Guinea, Cairo, and Australia.  Her stories of her time spent exploring had me salivating to plan my next escape.  On the other hand, I had a weird longing for home and routine as I was reading her story. Travel can be overwhelming and I don't think I could handle as much as Elisabeth did.  For example, she makes a trip sailing in which she encounters a massive storm.  Her descriptions of this event had me gripping the book, sweating and picturing the worst storm ever.  That experience in itself would have caused me to throw in the towel, but Elisabeth is a strong person with an even stronger desire: wanderlust.

This memoir would truly be appreciated by feminists as Elisabeth paints a picture of an unconventional life....one that doesn't include homemade apple pies while made barefoot and pregnant.  I'd like to think that women today don't have to pick either life.  Why can't they have both?  I'm sure many people that will read this might say that Elisabeth missed out on marriage, 2.5 kids and a house in the suburbs, but how many people will ever get to experience what she lived through? The sights she witnessed? The adventures she experienced?  You don't need to convince me that travel is life-changing. Amen! I am a believer. 

So, if you can't get away this summer and you want a vacation for the mind, pick up a copy of Wanderlust by Elisabeth Eaves.  You can live vicariously through her adventures while never leaving the comfort of your backyard.  After all, don't you want to know where Elisabeth ends up?

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for including me in the blog tour and for offering one lucky reader a copy of Wanderlust. Please limit the entries to US/Canada only and the deadline is July 5th.  In order to officially enter, comment below leaving your email address along with the answer to this question:  If you could travel anywhere this summer, where would you go?

*Buy a copy of Wanderlust

*Learn more about the book tour

*Check out Elisabeth's blog