Member Reviews
This book was pretty good but not the travel memoir I was expecting. It was much more about relationships with our children and ourselves, and how important traveling or exposing ourselves to different experiences and cultures might be in our lives. Better than some memoirs I've read, but I'm not sure if it would come to mind as a recommendation for most people. The parts about Columbia were really interesting; I would have liked more of that. And while the narration was clear and fit the tone, it was really hard to tell who the narrator was when they switched. I would probably recommend this to senior readers who like reflective memoirs on parenting adults and traveling for unusual experiences.
I began this audiobook but did not end up finishing. The audio narrator and first chapter didn't catch my interest enough to complete the book.
Many thanks to Netgalley, Greenleaf Audiobooks and the author, for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I will be honest here, this is not the type of book I would pick up normally. I requested this book mainly because it mentioned mother-daughter journeys. The book follows few of the adventures that Meg and her 2 daughters have been. It was highly interesting and motivating to see these women travel the world and take risks. I have always been a reluctant traveler and I have to say this narrative inspired me to take the leap.
But I did have some issues with this book, first of all, the book begins with the hope that this narrative will make parents let their kids travel and spread their wings. However, throughout the book we see the author following her kids around fretting for them, which is understandable as a parent, but to me it makes me more cautious and not in the let them fly way!! This might the place where people will tell me you will know only when you have your own kids....may be...
The second thing is that this book could have used a sensitivity reader check. The number of places where I felt that the author was trying to be funny at the expense of another culture which she doesn't understand, for instance the phalluses #iykyk. What I saw in a lot of those instance was a person from the 'first world' visiting the 'third world' and mocking it for its culture, customs, and practices. This undertone left a bad taste in my mouth, for which alone, I had to dock down stars.
The narration was crisp and the book had a good conversational flow and motivational, self help feel to it.
This memoir, written by an avid traveller tells the story of when she chaperones her teen/young adult daughters to places like Nepal and Colombia. The memoir is filled with Meg's observations, funny anecdotes and important lessons she took from her journeys with her daughters. Meg learns from her daughters as they learn from the world around them. She explores the importance of love, relationships, learning and most importantly, travel. The perfect read for your next vacation or if you've got a travel bug but can't jet off any time soon! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to listen to and review this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, Greenleaf Audiobooks and Meg Stafford for an audio ARC of this book. Meg Stafford is a licensed social worker in private practice. This memoir, her second, recounts her separate adventure travels with each of her adult daughters. Both daughters also contribute to the book. One trip is to Nepal , where they immerse themselves in meditation and trek the Himalayas. The second trip is to Colombia where her daughter negotiates with the military. Both trips open Meg and her daughters to different cultures, warm and caring people, and give them time to think about life and relationships. The narrator has a pleasant voice and the chapters flow seamlessly into each other. The author takes the reader right along with her and her daughters on their journeys. Her writing is very descriptive. I highly recommend this to fans of travel writing as well as to readers who are on their own journeys, be they literal and/or figurative.
A great collection of memories and ideas about the affect those we travel through life with have on our journey and experiences. From travel buddies to life partners, and family to communities, this is a personal collection of stories of connections made and their lasting impacts. POVs from a mother and wife and her two daughters as they travel the world and this road we call life.
I was really excited for this book as I am an avid traveler with a young daughter and look forward to the days we can explore together. The stories were good, but I felt that it lacked a lot of depth and once I finished the book, it didn’t stay with me. I think I may have felt differently if I had read the book instead of listening to the audiobook.
I don’t know why I picked us up. I don’t normally read stuff like this and yet I’m thrilled I did just so good anti love it
I absolutely love this intrepid mom. I always say I would go to the ends of the earth for my children, but Meg Stafford took that cliché quite literally!
Each story focuses on one of Stafford's children and their adventures. Although it's probably more apt to say that the reader learns more about Stafford along the journey than about her children. Told in the form of journals, quotes, and impressions, Stafford brings together both the physical odyssey and the internal path.
I originally thought this would be more of a bright travelogue sort of book. Instead, it's a look inside places I would probably never dare to go, and a look inside of human relationships where Stafford herself had maybe not intended to go.
Probably a great book club pick. I listened to the audiobook. I'd also recommend it as a book for parents and adult children to read together and discuss. Because honestly, how far would you go for your children?
"Can't I define what happiness is for myself? With some exceptions, isn't a person's happiness true if she feels it?"
Meg Stafford is a mom who has accompanied her daughters on several trips, namely Bhutan / Nepal and Columbia. We also get to read excerpts from the daughters' diaries relating to these said trips.
This book made we want to travel again! I used to do it all the time before COVID started and since then I've barely gone anywhere, except for maybe once or twice a year. Listening to the stories of these women's travels, especially in Asia, I wished that I could visit these places.
This was a short, but pleasant listen that made a good companion to exercise / multi tasking.
Meg Stafford has accompanied her daughters on two very different trips and learned so much more about her daughters and herself than she thought she would. I loved seeing the trips from their points of view: in Nepal with her younger daughter, it felt like how I would have seen things in my younger days, when I was open to every experience and accepted everything at face value; then through her eyes, a mother and older woman who may not be as comfortable sleeping on floors or in sleeping bags but embraces it all. Then with her other daughter in Colombia, meeting with military leaders, and seeing that she’s raised a more-than-competent, confident young woman who can navigate her own way in the world. This was such a fascinating and wonderful adventure to share with them.