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Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents [Kindle Edition]

Elisabeth Eaves
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Spanning fifteen 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.


Editorial Reviews

Review


"[A] heady, headlong chronicle of a decade and a half spent adrift…"
The New York Times

"Eaves is searingly honest…"
—Editors' Choice, The New York Times

"Eaves, a travel writer, has an eye for detail and the worldly insight of fellow globe-trotter Pico Iyer."
ELLE Magazine

"Wanderlust celebrates the life-changing possibilities of the world around us and the rigors and riches of embracing them body and soul."
National Geographic Traveler Magazine

About the Author

Elisabeth Eaves is the author of Bare: The Naked Truth About Stripping, and her travel essays have been anthologized in The Best American Travel Writing, The Best Women's Travel Writing, and A Moveable Feast: Life-Changing Food Adventures from Around the World. Her writing has also appeared in numerous publications, including Forbes, Harper's, the New York Times, Slate, and the Wall Street Journal, and she holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University. Born and raised in Vancouver, she lives in New York City.

Product Details

  • File Size: 660 KB
  • Print Length: 306 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1580053114
  • Publisher: Seal Press (May 24, 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004TM1QW6
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,162 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Definitely read this book if you're a solo-female traveller... we've all been there! Nicki McClung  |  11 reviewers made a similar statement
Her writing was crisp, descriptive, and beautifully honest. Lunajuly  |  11 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Full of promise, but ultimately soulless July 15, 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As an often-solo female traveler who's exploring her 20th foreign country this year, I had really high hopes for this book. Finally, a compilation of essays / short stories about what it really feels like to travel the world alone and what compels a woman to do so! I found some of the author's insights really wise and telling, and a few things frankly hit close to home. That said, I ended up being surprisingly disappointed for two glaring reasons:

1. There really isn't enough description about the places in later essays. I not only wanted to understand her motivation and read some juicy relationship gossip, I also wanted to learn more about the exotic, and not-so-exotic, locales. I found that severely lacking in the latter half of the book, as she instead focused almost solely on her relationships with men. Granted, a great deal of traveling tends to be about one's relationships with other people, but I didn't sign up for that to be all-encompassing, especially when recounted in such a gratuitously bland and uninteresting manner, sans depth of feeling.

2. That brings me to pretty much my main point, and what soured the whole experience for me: the narrator comes across as cold, devoid of emotion, impersonal and detached. She wrote of these grandiose (and not-so-grandiose) love affairs, but there was a distinct lack of passion throughout. I can forgive almost anything, but not that robotic retelling. I just couldn't empathize with her - despite really, really wanting to - and I actually ended up actively disliking her. Honestly, that really took me aback, as it wasn't that I found her to be morally bereft, necessarily, I just found her tone to be steely, humorless, unfeeling, and completely unsympathetic. This could strictly be a stylistic flaw in her narration, however, in that it's very detached and impersonal, because I can't believe that someone with such enthusiasm for travel is so disconnected from her feelings and those of others; she lays bare her flaws, honorably exposing them for all to see, but never really exposes herself emotionally. For me, that's critical in any author I read, so I can connect with him or her on an emotional - as well as intellectual - level; share in his or her personal (sometimes universal) truths; and hopefully discover something of myself in the process.

Overall, the actual prose is well-written and there are some fairly poignant bon mots, but beyond that, there's not enough description of the places she visits, nor actual human emotion present. For those reasons, I recommend giving this book a pass.

If anyone can recommend a female travel writer who actually taps into what it's really like to go it alone, please comment on this review and let me know. (I enjoyed Frances Mayes' first offering.) Thanks for reading and happy travels!
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30 of 34 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing but Ultimately Vapid June 30, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book seems to be what happens when a young person doesn't wait long enough to write a memoir: it's colorful, descriptive, and takes the reader to unusual destinations, but it ultimately ends up reading like the story of a human on a habitrail wheel, just running and getting nowhere. The reader develops very little insight into the causes or lessons of her wanderlust, and seems to keep doing the same thing over and over again - leaving before anyone or any place can domesticate her. I'd love to read her re-write of this tale in another 20 years or so, when she hopefully has a little more perspective on what all her traveling was for.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars All that was missing was the rock 'n' roll October 1, 2011
Format:Paperback
I was expecting to read an interesting journey of a woman's travels around the globe, but instead, the only things I read about were Elisabeth Eaves's sexual exploits with numerous men and about the drugs and partying they all did. As mentioned in another review, all the guys mentioned sound very similar---long-haired, outdoorsy, weed-smoking burnouts. I couldn't keep up with who was who and lost count of how many men were mentioned, since they all seemed to meld together into one guy. Let's just call them all "John" and call it a day!

The way she mentioned being "in love" was irritating. Sex (or the more vulgar term she uses which can't be used in this review) is not love. I doubt she knows what it is. "I love Graham...no wait, I love Stu...but no, I actually love Justin...no wait, I love Stu more..."

I hated how she wrote people off who didn't fit her idea of what constituted as "cool," such as a study abroad student she considered fat, her roommate in Egypt whose fashion sense she didn't like, and even a little Yemeni girl she mentioned as chubby with acne. Seriously, you're going to belittle the looks of a child who's still growing?!

She mentioned feeling uncomfortable with the sexual harassment she got in Egypt and Yemen, but does the most ridiculous thing by dressing up as a Yemeni woman with her friend and wandering alone at night, putting herself in danger. I have no clue what she was trying to gain from doing that. Common sense is not one of Eaves's strongest attributes.

I wanted descriptions not only of the different countries Eaves traveled to, but of the people she encountered in these countries. (No, I'm not talking about her many men who could've easily been found in the States.) The way she describes the people in these countries, especially Egypt and Yemen, you'd think she was talking about wallpaper. These people are treated as caricatures and background. In one scene, a Yemeni woman shows Eaves and her friend kindness by giving them nothing but food and gifts. One of the gifts was a dozen eggs, and Eaves and her friend laugh at this (passing it off as choking). How condescending and patronizing. Anyone else who were as privileged to travel like Eaves is would've treated a kind act for what it was, not looked their noses down at it.

Eaves claims to be an independent woman, but she seemed to define herself more so by what guy she was with at that moment. There was very little self-discovery in this book and a whole lot of sex. Normally I would say for a writer to take a few more years to grow and learn from an experience, but this woman is in her early 40s (reminiscing about her 20s), so how much more growing and maturing can one do? If she hasn't learned her lesson by now, I doubt she will.

I'm giving this review two stars because there are moments when she does give a nice description of the country she's in, but other than that there's nothing I can recommend about this book. Better books about women and traveling are "Go Girl!: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure" and "A Woman Alone: Travel Tales From Around The Globe."
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents. I found it hard to put down and I was caught up in the story.
Published 1 month ago by Amanda Cookingham
1.0 out of 5 stars Boring and superficial
As a person who has a keen interest in travel and reading about travel adventures, I was very excited when I came across this book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Smcdonald
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book
I really enjoyed this book! It was fascinating and well written, and you couldn't help but to feel that wanderlust as the author describes her travels and adventures. Read more
Published 3 months ago by MB
5.0 out of 5 stars great travel memoir
this is by far one of my favorite books. I, too, travel often and thrive on it to define who I am and what in life I truly appreciate. Read more
Published 5 months ago by traveleratheart
2.0 out of 5 stars Vapid and self-involved author
I thought this would be the type of book I would really enjoy - unfortunately, I found the author to be a little too shallow and self-involved, with the story centering mainly... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Lindsey
5.0 out of 5 stars Wanderlust: Helping to Satisfy My Wanderlust
I've lived on three continents and traveled to many countries along the way. Reading about the travels and feelings of wanderlust from someone else's perspective helped me adapt... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Andrea Szkolnyj
1.0 out of 5 stars Boring
Had high hopes for this book but was very much disappointed. Author's writing style is uninteresting. Do not waste your time buying this book.
Published 6 months ago by Lily
1.0 out of 5 stars A traveler with no heart for the world and people
For her traveling part: nothing is special. For her love affairs: self-absorbed and emotionless. Did she care about her men's feelings? No. Read more
Published 6 months ago by SS
3.0 out of 5 stars Not What I was Expecting
When looking online for books to read for my independent study in travel writing, Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents by Elisabeth Eaves appeared at the top of my search... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Andrew Baker
2.0 out of 5 stars Survivor meets Sex in the City
One Canadians quest for self-gratification which was made into a book so she could afford to continue seeking self-gratification. Read more
Published 9 months ago by S. Huffer
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More About the Author

I'm a writer and editor, born in Vancouver and living in New York City. My first book, "Bare," was about stripping, and my second book, "Wanderlust," came out of a lifelong love of travel and trying to figure out why I felt so compelled to keep moving on. My travel writing has also appeared in "Best American Travel Writing 2009," "Best Women's Travel Writing 2010," and Lonely Planet's "A Moveable Feast." One of the things I love about my work is that it's an excuse to talk to anyone about anything. Before finding my way to journalism, I worked as a waitress, a bartender, a deck hand, a landscaper, an office temp, and a peep show girl. To read some of my stories, please visit www.elisabetheaves.com.



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