I wanted to read this because I just left HK after having lived there for five years. It seemed like a light enough book for a quick read. The Hong Kong angle is shown more as a culture than the actual experience since the friends travel in Europe during the entire book. There are other things I should have taken into account, namely the focus on partying and football, neither of which I have the remotest inclination towards. Given that I now had nothing in common with the author and his pals, I should have found the book boring, but I did not.
Our author is on an extended European holiday with a few friends and drop-ins by family. They have tickets to a few matches and intend to enjoy themselves in between. Some stereotypical behaviour was explained while others debunked. I liked the writing style as well as the relationships described. They are done well enough that a reader can identify themselves in at least one of the people being talked about. It is an extensive and expensive holiday but is littered by small things that will resonate with any layperson. If a few parts were trimmed when talking of all the places where they end up going out to (especially in the second half), I think I would have liked this even more. It is not exactly a travel memoir since we cannot use it as a guide to the places mentioned, but it shows the reader possibilities. Finally, both the good and the bad of such long-lasting relationships were pretty fascinating.

⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

An interesting take on the travelogue that gives us views of different locales through the eyes of specific types of characters. Kind of fascinating!