Author Jessica Nabongo is living the dream of those who like to travel. She found a way to ditch her to 9 to 5 gig and make traveling her occupation. I imagine she became comfortable with travel as the American-born child of Ugandan parents and traveling to Uganda several times. She published this book after she became the first Black woman of record to visit all of the 195 United Nations-recognize countries. It includes her top 100 destinations.
Even getting visas to places like North Korea and Sudan and is quite an accomplishment, and it would be worth picking up this book to see her impressions of each.
I read a sampler which included material on Uganda, Laos, and Iran. As in all books published by National Geographic, the photography is spectacular, colorful and vivid. She includes a one or two page narrative with each country, and I liked her commentary, for instance when visiting Iran she said, “I do not allow what I read in the news to taint my idea of a country or its people.” She talks about the beauty of the mosques there and the warmth of the people, as well as the delicious food. It’s a good reminder that a place we sometimes think of as being full of deserts and violence if it has had a vibrant culture for thousands of years.
I will say that I found myself wishing she could be a little more specific with her stories. When she talks about having a “proper Persian meal” with an acquaintance in Iran, she says that they laughed, had a lot of food, and a “unique opportunity to learn more about Persian culture,” the words are general enough that I don’t get a real picture in my mind. I also found myself a little frustrated when she describes the sites she sees, but there’s no accompanying photograph. For instance, she said that when she entered one of the mosques, “my jaw hit the floor,” because it was so stunning. She says that it had multi- colored tile that covered every wall and a bright yellow tiled dome, but I so wanted to be able to see a photo of what she was describing.
All in all, it looks like a good book for perusing, picking up interesting details from time to time, and dreaming about countries that we’d like to visit.

I've been following the author on Instagram for a few years so I've heard and seen about some of her trips. It's so cool to see that she has been able to create a volume with a summary for each country. The photos in the book are stunning, and the author's story and context are what makes the book unique and stand out from the typical travel book.

I'll be grabbing a print copy of this as a coffee table book when it comes out.

I like to read travelogues and Nabongo’s adventures are enticing to read. This small sampling has whetted my appetite. The pictures are crisp and correlate with the narrative. I look forward to reading the full book/

Thanks to National Geographic and NetGalley for the eARC of THE CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (Sampler). Since this is only a sampler, I could only read a small piece from this travel book.

The photos are gorgeous. The text was well written. IMHO, this works better as a print book than an ebook.

Although this was just a sampler I found the photos and text to be very appealing and I felt I would like to read more.

I somehow missed that this was only a sampler and was so disappointed because it looks amazing! The pictures and the stories make you want to hop on a plane and travel right alongside the author. Looking forward to reading the full book!

I didn't realize this was a sample until I started reading it. Even though it was all out of sorts with the text and pictures, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to read the whole book. Jessica has a wonderful way of writing. It's like you are sitting with her and she's telling you her travelling takes while showing you her gorgeous photos.

Although this is a sampler, it makes me really excited to read the whole book! The pictures are beautiful, and I really enjoy Jessica Nabongo's voice. She definitely dropped out of the "rat race" and decided to live life on her own terms, and it's something I hope to do as well.

A well laid out book – with pictures interspersed among travel excerpts. It has the feel of a travel log or diary– only longer, this may be because I received a sampler of the actual book. I particularly liked Jessica’s writing style which is accessible – I agree with other reviewers that describe the sampler as a snapshot of different countries. I also found her personal account of travelling as woman of colour to various countries very enlightening – this book would be useful to educators who teach cultural geography or feminist geography. My only comment would be that some brief set up of the different people she met in the various countries she visited is needed – in Nabongo’s excerpt on Iran she talks of Ali, my assumption is that he is a local contact, however, I was not entirely sure – a brief introduction about Ali would be good to avoid leaving the reader unsure. Otherwise I would love to read the full book. Well done Jessica Nabongo!

I enjoyed this sample so much, & I'll be looking for the release of the book. What an amazing story & beautiful pictures. It's incredible to think of someone visiting all the countries on our planet. Jessica is brilliant & brave to make this happen. I'll be living through her adventures as a pore over her book. Can't wait!

Gorgeous preview of a woman’s travels filled with lovely writing and stores that made me yearn to do this very thing. Can’t wait to read the complete book and am so grateful to have received this portion.

Extensive, beautifully colorful travelogue of the first Black women to travel to all the countries in the world. This is not a travel guide. Rather, the author includes descriptive snapshots of each country. Nabongo approaches each adventure with an open and unbiased mind.

Very interesting story. This book is an easy, quick read that leaves you thinking about the author and all her travels and insights long after you put it down. Highly recommend!!

What an exciting and interesting way to learn more about the world and how we experience it. Jessica is truly inspirational and I loved reading her perspective.

I look forward to reading the rest of the book! Gorgeous pictures! I wish the writing flowed better but it was fine as stand alone essays. Nice little histories included.

WOW! Thank you NetGalley and the Publishers for allowing me to read a sample and give an honest review! What a beautiful book!! The pictures are stunning, it's all very powerful. I want to read more!! This sample was great but now I want the rest!! Gimme gimme!!

This book is not a travel guide but a memoire of Jessica Nabongo's travels through 100 of her top destinations that she visited over 5 years, and which were among the 195 countries recognized by the UN.
I found the sampler (20 pages), interesting, intriguing, and touching on a personal level. The photography is a colorful explosion of the areas visited in her story. This is not a book to carry with you to check off sights when you visit them - oh no - it is so much more.
Jessica delves into the beauty, diversity, uniqueness and culture of the countries she visits. She took the time to meet the people, not necessarily the governmental officials, but the people who make up the culture of the country. This aspect if certainly different from what I expected - and it was an interesting ide to travel.
I will definitely look for book when it is published in June because it looks like a book with interesting pictures and stories of her travels.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for offering me a sampler of this very special book for free. I am leaving this review gladly and voluntarily

It was difficult to read the book in the format it was in; however the book provided useful information regarding travel and freeing yourself to pursue adventures. Great travel tips.

What a beautifully photographed and fascinating book! I so enjoyed this excerpt and would definitely read the entire thing.

What a delightful book!

I received a sampler of a small number of pages of this book, and was very impressed. The photographs are just stunning, and the writing by Jessica Nabongo just drew me right in. I can't wait to read the completed book in full.

Jessica became the first black woman to visit all 195 recognized countries in the world, and this is her travelogue describing her favorite 100 places.