Backpack Like You Mean It: A crackpot tale of travel through Southeast Asia

by Jennifer Neves

Contemplating your great escape? Follow the author and her traveling partner into the jungles of Southeast Asia. These humorous, often unbelievable stories will save you the trouble of having to stoically endure spider bites, monkey attacks, machete throwing tribesmen, hungry lions, and even ringworm. This is a book for scratching the travel itch, or spreading it.

Genres: Travel

226 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2012

About the author

Jennifer Neves lives and writes in rural Maine. Author of the forthcoming essay collection, Chainsaws and Cherry Burls, and two previous books, Freedom Farm (North Country Press), and Backpack Like You Mean It (Mad Dash Publishing), her essays have appeared in a variety of journals, including Tulip Tree Review, Literary Mama, and Litro Online Magazine. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.

Reviews

[Caity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book by chance on Amazon as I was looking for some new travel stories to read and decided to check out the free sample on my Kindle. Within just a few minutes of starting, I was completely hooked! I had to buy it! So I did, and I feel that it was money quite well-spent. It was often very genuinely funny, with the author recounting tales of things that could only happen while on a highly unplanned trip around a handful of countries neither she nor her boyfriend could speak the languages of. Following their journey not only around SE Asia, but toward becoming very seasoned and experienced backpackers with the knowledge and know-how required to haggle down from the "tourist" prices was entertaining at worst, which says a lot for a first-time author.

It certainly was not a perfect book, but then, what is? There were a small handful of glaring grammar issues which pulled me out of the story she was telling, although I was always pulled back in within a couple of pages. I also periodically found myself wanting more detail, as sometimes it felt like she rushed right through parts of their trip right as I was really getting into it. Pacing issues aside, I would definitely recommend this for someone looking for an entertaining romp with two amusing travelers.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is excellent and thoroughly enjoyable. Having lived in Asia for many years, I have personally experienced some of the craziness described in the book. I was a kid for most of it, so we didn't really go off the beaten path like Neves and her boyfriend, but I definitely recognized elements of what happened. I can also personally attest to how well-founded a healthy fear of monkeys is -- in India, everyone had their own personal scary monkey story.

[elstaffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this tale of journeying through South East Asia. There were a few minor copyediting errors (commas where there shouldn't be, no commas where they should), but that did not detract overly from my reading experience. I loved the occasional illustrations, the absence of overwrought scenic description (just enough to get the flavor of each place), and the author's voice as she took me from the States to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand (again), Malaysia, Singapore, Malaysia (again) and back to the States. As someone who has a tendency to plan out all travelling, it was amazing to see how things worked out even when things weren't planned out to the nth degree (and made me want to go frolicking in Cambodia). I had more words to say here, but I'm having trouble putting the fear of a monkey ripping my face off in ~1.5 seconds out of my head.


Disclaimer: received this book as part of Goodreads' first-reads giveaway project. thing.

[Jason Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous tale of the ups and downs of taking risks through prepared and spontaneous travelling abroad, the book gives the perspective of the amateur traveler attempting the most interesting places in the eastern hemisphere hardly ever explored by US citizens. Good easy sit-down read for someone wanting to see the different opinions expressed by outsiders toward the US.
I am hoping that Neves will one day attempt travels through other hardly visited portions of other continents, from Africa and Australia to South America, and show the same style perspective of what is now expected after this experience in Asia with Nathan.

[Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book! Many people tire of travel stories, because they may or may not convey the excitement of being in a new place. However, this book is really an exception and makes you feel like you are dodging monkey attacks with the author! It is fascinating to learn about backpacking into the jungles of South East Asia, and it is even more exciting to realize that the contents in this book could easily happen to you as well! This book is highly recommended.

[Ted Guglielmo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read and well written with humor and great anectdotes. It made me want to visit BUT not on bike or moped. and not with a 50 lb backpack.You will definatly enjoy the exploits and stay away from monkeys who want to rip your face off.

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go get this book! You will laugh and you will learn.