Customer Reviews

Young Female, Traveling Alone

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
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I read this book with an interested candor. I have never done any traveling to exotic places, but this was a trip that I would have taken had I gone. In this book, Anna learns a valuable lesson, and it is written with the directness of someone who wants to share a lot of wisdom with the reader. I got this same impression after reading Hermann Hesse's "Sidhartha" for the first time. The prose is plain, deep and direct. It cuts through all the romantic crap you read from drug-crazed Westerners and gets to the heart of a lesson that I learned about human nature and the quest for peace. Om, shanti, shanti, Ms. Pop!

Young Female, Traveling Alone is a highly amusing and quite engaging tale well told by author Anne-Marie M. Pop. The reader will dive into the life and explorations of lead character Anna as she discovers herself throughout the varying appeals and locations. As Anne-Marie Pop has experienced the situations she authors Anna to have, readers will find Young Female, Traveling Alone not only grand entertainment, but insightful and intriguing as well. Very strongly recommended -- especially readers of nature-oriented fiction particularly in eastern Asia.

The book is easy to read, also for non English.
It gives an interesting view on how a woman can experience Asia and especially India.
It hold my attention right from the start and I couldnt stop reading till the end.
I think its a need to read for everybody who wants to travel to Asia and especially to India.
I think the writer LOVES and HATES India at the same time.
But no matter love or hate prevailes, India has changed her view on life forever.

I read this book in one weekend. I have never back-packed before but have always been interested in the people who have the courage to take off and do it for reasons good or bad. The book gave me a good insight into the mentality of these travelers...their adventures...the dangers and the highs. I believe Anne-Marie Pop has captured all of these elements in her book. It is a young girl's story and a story told very well. Enjoy !!!

This is the story of a young girl disheartened with the western world and goes on a soul searching tour of Asia armed with a backpack and an open mind. The story follows the main character as she runs in adventures and misadventures from the west all the way into the final destination of India where she finds her solace. This is a good read from start to finish and flows very quickly as if you were following the main character while she moves from place to place. I could not stop and read the entire book from start to finish in one sitting. A suggested book for those who find themselves in the same situation and would like to view the world through the eyes of someone who has experienced and done it. 

I loved Ms. Pop's tale of her journey through far away, scary, exotic and mysterious countries. I have always been fascinated with India and liked that most of the book was about India. While reading this book, I imagined myself traveling alone through foreign countries, experiencing new cultures, but decided that I would be too afraid! Ms. Pop had found herself in some scary situations! Overall, a very nice read. Simply written and straight to the point. I read the book in one not-too-long sitting.

Minutes after the postman rang the cycle-bell and dropped this book at the door, I was devouring it. As anticipated, it dealt with India. And, my next guess was right too: a significant section focused on Goa, the former Portuguese colony on the Indian west coast that this reviewer calls home.

Let's shift focus to where it should go: the book and its author. Writer Anne-Marie M Pop is a Montreal-based computer engineer. In 2001, she took on a two-year job in Sweden, and then quit for a seven-month "backpacking journey through Asia".

This is a reflection -- let's not say 'record' -- of her times in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and India.

It takes her through Cambodian border scams and brothels, Buddhist meditation centers in Thailand, scenic islands, the Mekong and the rain forests. She also lands up in the sex-drugs-and-full-moon-party trail still surviving a generation after the hippies first sought solace and escapism in Asia.

Anne-Marie's book is an easy and entertaining read. It's armchair-tourism from the safety of your own home, with the tantalizing promise of bringing in close, but not too close, the perils that Asia.

Anne-Marie M Pop faces many dangers. More so, as the "young female, traveling alone". She's critical of how Asian men treat women. And as an Asian male, this reviewer would acknowledge that she has a point. But is it Asian males alone? Oftentimes, oppression has a more subtle face on it. In Asia, it doesn't.

Her chapters are usually just two pages long. One comprises just four paras! While this may seem unusual, it makes for easy, relaxed reading.

Young Female Traveling Alone gives the reader both insights and an interesting travelogue into a number of diverse parts of Asia. But does it go deep enough? Does it
repeat stereotypes that we are already brainwashed about? We'd leave that to the reader to judge.

What this writer has to say about Goa and the rest of India struck a chord. She was writing about a place that's barely eight kilometers from home. The last book of the kind is Dr Cleo Odzer's "Goa Freaks". It's a sad story of how a young Jewish lady got caught up with drugs, and almost died of it.

[She cleant up, did her PhD on sex tourism in Patpong, and worked for a rehabilitation group in the US. But, earlier this decade, she returned to Goa, only to die her in an incident which still brings in many curious questions from people who knew her.]

Anne-Marie M.Pop's description was realistic and down to earth. No wonder, as a reviewer, one was both surprised and disappointed to read the 'fiction/general' tag on the back cover of the book. It's so life-like, I thought it was true!

Or, is it?

I was drawn to this book because it has always been a dream of mine to backpack across the world to "discover" myself. In this fictionalized semiautobiographical account, Pop does just that. In my realistic busy life of working wife and mom, I found this story a quick and easy, yet fulfilling read.

Although I would have enjoyed more background and details, it was fascinating to read how Anna travels from place to place, learning of other cultures, customs, people, and most importantly--herself, as her journey unwinds.

Throughout the story, I would often stop and ask myself, "What would I have done?" Usually the answer was, "I have no idea!" There were many frightening circumstances, but that's what makes life the adventure that it is!

This book is written almost like a journal and tells the story of Anna, a young woman in her twenties, who had a great job and was quite successful. Anna, however, was suffering from severe depression. She was going to a therapist and one of the things he said to her was "Did you ever take some time off to think about your life?" Anna could not get this thought out of her mind and kept thinking about a previous trip she took to Thailand.

The next thing Anna decided to do was to take a backpacking trip throughout Southeast Asia and India. During this trip she had many different experiences with drugs, spirituality and rave parties.

What does Anna discover while on this trip? Does she manage to find herself and get her life in order?

The author has written an intriguing read. Once I started reading this book it was difficult to stop. The reader will feel like they are right there with Anna as she makes her adventurous backpacking journey throughout Asia and India. In order to undertake a journey like this alone, it would take a great amount of courage. The author does an excellent job of making the reader feel this also. This is an inspiring story of someone who is trying to find answers and then takes the time to do it. As she goes through her journey, the reader will experience the many highs and lows that Anna faces. Those interested in backpacking will enjoy this book; however, all readers will enjoy this entertaining and inspiring read by this author. This book is highly recommended.

Feeling unaccountably miserable living the life of a successful Westerner, Anna decides to leave it all behind to backpack around Asia. This book is comprised of many very short chapters, more like a series if memories than a cohesive narrative, and told in the blunt style of a personal diary. As someone who has never seen any of the places Anna visits, I would prefered a lot more detail and description, but I still learned a lot about the life of the solo backpacker.