Thank you #Netgalley for the copy

This was an engaging read as it was written by two individuals whose paths cross while backpacking across the world. I enjoyed learning about each of their experiences and even how certain situations were experienced so differently. The lives they live each come with their own difficulties and cultural differences. They each gave each others countries a try and continued to put effort towards their relationship. Great read!

As an avid backpacker myself, the title as well as the cover of this book spoke to me right away and even though it wasn‘t quite what I expected I was not disappointed at all! A great book about two people and the challenges they‘re facing and overcoming. Travelers will find a lot of themselves in their story!

Maybe 3.5? I mostly enjoyed this one. I definitely liked Stefs chapters more than James. He seemed pretty negative. I just relate more to Stef, too. And I know the whole middle section is kind of necessary to the overall story but I was getting a little bored in that part. I also wished there was more about their travel around Australia together than just them getting drunk all the time. I was expecting pretty much all travel stories based on the title.

That said, I liked it enough. I really liked that it was told from alternating perspectives, that's such a fun way to write something like this! (Which also makes me understand the necessity of the whole middle part, it definitely worked well this way). I've read a lot of travel memoirs. Like, a lot, and this one falls firmly in the middle. Far from the worst I've read but not the best. I enjoyed it and am glad I read it.

Thank you for the eARC, NetGalley.

This book never got going for me. The writing was too slow and I ended up not caring about the story at all.

I am very picky about the books I read. I need them to go at a quick pace and don't care much for a ton of details and this book just bogged down.

I do appreciate how hard it is to write,

Sadly I didn’t finish this book. And I don’t feel it’s fair that I give a review on something I haven’t finished .

I went into this book expecting to love it. The authors' story of how they met while backpacking and then their lives together is told in alternating chapters from each POV. I connected more with Stef's chapters, though I appreciated what felt like a very honest account of their relationship and travels overall.

I love to hear about other's travels so this seemed like a good fit. That said, this wasn't a home run for me and I struggled a bit to finish it. I realize they were both fairly young in the beginning, but they both came across as rather selfish and spoiled, expecting to always be happy and apparently have no real responsibilities. Throughout so much of their time together, I kept wondering why they stuck it out. So often if one was happy, the other was absolutely miserable. He starts traveling while ditching a mountain of debt back in England. She ditches a teaching career. They end up in the US (with her parents) for a time and aren't getting along so decide to hit the road again. In the end, we discover they did stay together once back in a more average lifestyle, but this just isn't one I'll be recommending to friends.

Thanks to Tucky Buddy Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF: I honestly couldn't get through the first few chapters. I was bored of these people complaining about their lives, and I just wished it had started off more positively. Maybe I'll revisit it later to push through a little bit more, but that's where we're at right now.

This book was solid - not the first I'd recommend for travel memoirs to someone, but a book I enjoyed. It's very realistic, with the highs and lows, and I enjoyed the contrast between Stef's American upbringing vs. James' British. I did prefer Stef's chapters more than James, but not sure if she was just easier relate to as a fellow American female.

The Backpack Years appealed to me because I have always enjoyed travel stories. The authors also sparked my interest with her being from U.S. and he from England. The book is written with every other chapter switching from Stef to James, and it begins with their lives before they met and how they came together. This gave the reader some perspective on their personalities before and after they met and how they affected each other which is always interesting to me. It also gave a bird's eye view of how they dealt with each other's different personalities. I think that as a first novel, they did a good job, but the story at times did not flow smoothly and I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. I am aware of the difficulty in writing any book, so I wrote this off to inexperience.. I think that if they decided to write another book, they would be more adept with the flow of the story. I did, however, enjoy the book. It's an easy read that does give the reader a little idea as to what travel is like in these places as a young person with limited funds. It' also has a coming of age theme, as the Wilsons are struggling with what they want to do with their lives. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in travel
stories. Thank you to Tucky Buddy Books and Netgalley for allowing me to preview this book in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciated how real this book was - with the highs and lows of traveling solo, with friends or as a couple. And with the highs and lows of a relationship and what lengths we will go to troubleshoot those inevitable problems. Any traveler or wannabe traveler will enjoy this read!

The dual perspective of this memoir made for exciting reading! I felt a little like I was living vicariously through Stef and James as they described their world travel adventures. I also appreciated the honest look at love between two people from different continents and how challenges can be overcome. Great book!

The Backpack Years by Stefanie Wilson and James Wilson appealed to me as a travel memoir, in this case two for the price of one. But beyond that, it is the story of two souls coming together in this vast world, and overcoming obstacles, both large and small, to find a way to continue on the journey of life together. An honest, unfiltered, wonderful read that is engaging from beginning to end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tucky Buddy Books for an ARC.