Customer Reviews

ONE YEAR OFF: Leaving It All Behind for A Round-the-World Journey with Our Children

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The idea behind David Cohen's One Year Off is either wildly appealling or profoundly horrifying; he and his family got rid of everything - house, cars, jobs, presumably even their dogs (something that irked me quite a bit) - packed up the husband, wife, three kids, and babysitter, and went around the world. My reaction to this endeavor was that, crazy or brilliant, it *had* to produce an interesting story. And reading One Year Off, you do get the feeling that that story is there. But Cohen doesn't tell it.

What Cohen gives readers instead is email. From various points in the trip, he sent email to his friends and family back home, and after he got back he collated them into One Year Off. And while I'm sure the updates were engaging and interesting to his email list - who wants to read a chapter-long email about someone else's adventures? - they just aren't sufficient for a book. Huge gaps are left in the tale (near the end of the book, nearly six months of the year off disappear, with no email updates or interpolation from Cohen) and lots of the details that stay-at-homes would find fascinating don't appear. The chatty, superficial style of the writing is fine for email, but it leaves readers with slightly less than half a story. The book even *looks* like an insufficient essay; the hardcover edition has wide leading and kerning and big margins and font - all the Freshman English Essay Extender tricks, but in book format.

Even more frustrating, Cohen doesn't appear to understand where his real story lies, in the family interactions and family experience of travel. The real hero of the book, it emerges from between the lines, is his wife, who copes heroically and competently with their adventures. (Devyani does most of the planning and takes most of the responsibility. Cohen makes most of the mistakes. When a kid gets damaged or lost, it always happens in Cohen's care. When someone has a breakdown or snaps, it's usually Cohen.) But we hear relatively little about Devyani, and not much about the kids, either. Instead, Cohen chooses to write about mostly his own reactions to fairly commonplace destinations - France, Italy, Australia - as though he were producing a Fodor's Guide instead of a travel memoir.

In short, the idea of the book is fascinating, so much so that it is well worth reading, even as it is. I love the idea of someone else packing up his family and going around the world - then telling me about it so I don't have to *do* it. I just wish that a different author had had that idea, had taken this trip. The book would've been marvelous in the hands of a writer who was a more careful observer, and who was willing to write a little more.

I liked best the segments dealing with the Cohens children and how they responded to the various sights on their trip. They paid little attention to natural scenery, had to be "bribed" to see the Louvre, but loved the safari and the museum with the implements of torture. Reading of their escapades reminded me of my own childhood when my sibs (ages 7-10) traveled Europe (only) with our parents during a year living in Scotland.

I am sadly disappointed in Amazon for choosing a reviewer who apparently did not read the book through and through. The Cohens were NOT endangering their chidren. Kids get wild and scamper about -- and bones can get broken at home falling off a bicycle. The older two Cohen children will remember this trip all of their lives. (25 years since our year in Scotland, our memories are still vivid!) And we did things, too, that would put fear in a parents heart. Yes, kids can be heedless of danger, but is that any reason for them to stay at home?

The Cohens did not recklessly choose to go a game preserve -- that was their daughter Kara's request. And they explain in the epilogue why they didn't go the luxe route!

I admire the Cohens for doing what they did. And I heartily admire my own parents, too -- reading this book made me realize just how much my own parents had taken on, and we didn't do half the stuff the Cohens did.

More power to all of you intrepid parents traveling with your kids!

As a San Francisco resident planning to take a similar trip in five years, I was especially interested in David Cohen's story.

The book is extremely enjoyable, funny, and frustrating at the same time. The simplistic e-mail style of writing works well for a light read, but I often hoped the author would add deeper meaning or insight to an experience. At least he didn't pepper the text with LOLs and smilies, I suppose.

Traveling primarily by plane and car, instead of by trains and buses, the family has little chance to become immersed in the local culture; in some places, they seem to barricade themselves from the locals instead of trying to sort out just how fearful they need to be. And where are all the stories of the kids becoming friends with the local children?

So, although I thought the book was fun, and I will read it to my three, it was frustrating in its documentation of missed chances to really learn.

A good read but hardly the typical family's reality. Not many off us take a vacation with nanny in-tow, nor do we return to purchase a home in Ross (one of the Bay Area's richest suburbs). I resented Cohen's self-depiction as "one-of-us" and felt his adventure inaccessible to anyone outside his socio-economic class.

Having said that, it is a good read just to glimpse some of the exotic scenes outside the U.S.

Would have liked more follow-up on how they met some of the challenges of traveling with their kids. I found Cohen had a tendancy to ask a question but never gave us the answer (eg he wonders how they will feed their kids on the road --who are picky eaters-- and then neglects to tell us what the kids ended up eating to remain healthy during the trip.

I just read this in 2 days and I'm so jealous. I would love to drop everything and take off on a big journey. I admire them for taking the kids,seems like a huge undertaking, although it turned out fine. Wish I could've done it when I was a kid; will have to wait to have my own! Delightful, easy, quick read; have already recommended it to others!

Absolutely delightful book about the year Cohen and his wife quit their jobs, sold their house, and took their three children (9, 7, and 2) on a year-long adventure around the world. Not only is Cohen a great writer when it comes to description of foreign places and sights (I totally want to go to Costa Rica now), but he's also very funny. The two elements combine to make this a very charming book. I heartily recommend it, though I suspect if I were a parent myself, I would've been more horrified than amused at some of the situations they got into. You might want to take that into consideration!

This story kept me fully entertained and laughing throughout! It wasn't just travel but about a family and their adventures. It was inspiring for me to do the same. Reading about so many different places and honest reviews was refreshing. Cohen's sense of humor was such a treat! This book must be read if you like to travel or not!

An excellent easy read. Many nights found me not wanting to turn off the light because I was right between significant adventures. As the parent of a toddler, I couldn't have gotten more of a kick out of their littlest one but it was really the last few pages that were most telling: was it worth it? Were the economic issues (before, during and after) and the forced family closeness and the moments of fear and the sheer scope of the trip all worth it? I was glad for the epilogue, and glad for a glimpse of a road not taken (yet.)

I don't know when I have enjoyed a book so much!! David Cohen and his lovely wife have my admiration for all the planning and effort that it took to put this project into effect and see it though. Taking three small children on a journey around the world would be a feat in inself, but for an entire year is something else. This book made a big hit with my entire family. My mother plans to review it for her book club next month and I was elated when my busy executive brother from Houston had a good time reading it during a recent visit. My congratulations to David Cohen for the humorous way in which he expresses himself and for sharing this fascinating journey with all of us.

One Year Off is a wonderful read -- a hilarious romp around the world with the author and his family. What parent wouldn't relate to the picky eater, the drama princess, the baby smearing ketchup on a stranger's linen suit in France? I enjoyed this book much MORE than if I had taken my own family, since, like one of the author's friends, this venture -- at least with my four children -- would be my idea of hell. The writing is conversational yet succinct. The places and events Cohen describes are at various times amusing, terrifying, poignant. I am planning to give this book to friends for Channukah, Christmas, Kwaanza, etc. READ IT! p.s. Those reviewers who have complained that the book is "self-serving" should know from the subtitle, cover and intro that it is ABOUT a trip with family, by a man approaching a mid-life awakening. GET REAL!