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The Travel Gods Must Be Crazy: Wacky Encounters in Exotic Lands
Ever suffered the collective flatulence of eighty co-passengers while sailing on a serene Asian river? Or called out for rescue in true Bollywood style while locked up in a minaret in Persia? Or had to cross a pack of hyenas en route to the loo?
Dreaming of glorious sunrises and architectural marvels in exotic places, Sudha often landed up in situations that were uproariously bizarre or downright dangerous. Tongue firmly in cheek, she recounts her journeys through the raw wildernesses of Borneo and the African savannah, into the deserts of Iran and Uzbekistan, and up the Annapurna and the Pamirs, revealing the quirky side of solo travel to side-splitting effect. Punctuating her droll stories with breathtaking descriptions and stunning photographs, Sudha invites readers on an unexpected and altogether memorable tour around the world!
Dreaming of glorious sunrises and architectural marvels in exotic places, Sudha often landed up in situations that were uproariously bizarre or downright dangerous. Tongue firmly in cheek, she recounts her journeys through the raw wildernesses of Borneo and the African savannah, into the deserts of Iran and Uzbekistan, and up the Annapurna and the Pamirs, revealing the quirky side of solo travel to side-splitting effect. Punctuating her droll stories with breathtaking descriptions and stunning photographs, Sudha invites readers on an unexpected and altogether memorable tour around the world!
190 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 25, 2019
18 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
July 7, 2020
Just finished reading "The Travel Gods must be crazy, this is my fragile first attempt to write a review on the spot. The book, as you flip chapters feel like a stamp on your boarding pass. It does take you to the country she's in, her frivolous passive aggressive rants with beautiful explanations of local encounters with little about history of where she is, really transfuses you in a picturesque realism thinking about what you would've felt being in her shoes. Each chapter is an experience in a country she traveled, some with illegally fighting the immigration and few where she's almost detained. Over-all every country or city she visits brings out cold harsh difficulties she faces while traveling that resonates with souls traveling overseas considering risk priority and responsibility figment of imagination not to be thought of. Regardless of how beautifully articulate and descriptive she is, the short history lessons are certainly nostalgic which I find solemn and boring. The most crazy and to be noted point is, she sky dived at the age of 68! Massive salute to bring that experience on pages of this novel. Travelers, grab this rn!
December 3, 2019
A collection of short pieces (roughly five pages each) covering the highlights of the author's extensive world travel. She has a good sense of humor, and writes well. Don't recall any of them leaving me with a feeling of "guess you had to be there?"
Not sure one would read these for an extended period, but are perfect for dipping into during downtime, meals, etc.
Not sure one would read these for an extended period, but are perfect for dipping into during downtime, meals, etc.
June 3, 2020
Chronicles of a wonderful adventurer and traveller... Inspiring!!
July 1, 2019
'The travel gods must be crazy' entails the travel adventures of a middle aged journalist/ energy researcher around the world.
The introduction starts with the author explaining how her passion for travelling was ignited and further fueled by the nature her job, and how her family reacts to her subsequent travails. The second part covers the travel stories in bite sized chapters.
In our life, we come across three kinds of people, non-travellers ( those like my dad - who nuture a special hatred for travelling for purposes of leisure/enjoyment), tourists and travellers. There's a fourth kind, usually ignored largely due their super minority in numbers. The crazy kind. The ones who will squeeze down the trickle of exploring to its ulimate last drop and devour it. The author seems to snugly fit this last kind, with ease. In an era of instagram stories and hourly updates, her humour and honesty adds a fresh breath to the proceedings. We are taken on a world tour to obscure places hiking through rainforests one day to being almost detained for the lack of an appropriate visa the other day.
I loved this book, mainly because it is of the travel genre. The author has beautifully yet subtly captured the insatiatable itch and the urgency to travel a true traveller feels while not being out there. The selection of places were good. The motivation behind choosing a place to explore was good too, not unlike our design thinking processes.
However, one core aspect of the book is gnawing away at my insides and I guess it won't go unless I share it. So, imagine you have an orange packet of Lays ( or whichever's your favourite). Eat just one chip and keep it back. You're not allowed to eat one more, ever. Like EVER. Can you imagine the agony? The stories are all bit sized. The entice you with exotic names, seduce you with descriptive writing, and then you're left high and dry. Like Ma'am, I don't have so much money or guts to go alone to an isolated town in no-where Russia. I want more pictures, more on their culture, the people and more. MORE! Maybe even a coffee table book with a photo essay cum FAQs sorta thing. Gah! Also, one more thing I'd say that was missing was the personal touch. I'd basically like to know a lot of things, like how does your family react to you travelling, how do you make these international friends ( and maintain them), how do you fund for your trips and so on, like a memoir. Maybe the author didn't want to overshare, or was probably under a restricted world limit.
In the end, I liked the content, but am left with a chipless feeling. Overall 3.5 stars.
The introduction starts with the author explaining how her passion for travelling was ignited and further fueled by the nature her job, and how her family reacts to her subsequent travails. The second part covers the travel stories in bite sized chapters.
In our life, we come across three kinds of people, non-travellers ( those like my dad - who nuture a special hatred for travelling for purposes of leisure/enjoyment), tourists and travellers. There's a fourth kind, usually ignored largely due their super minority in numbers. The crazy kind. The ones who will squeeze down the trickle of exploring to its ulimate last drop and devour it. The author seems to snugly fit this last kind, with ease. In an era of instagram stories and hourly updates, her humour and honesty adds a fresh breath to the proceedings. We are taken on a world tour to obscure places hiking through rainforests one day to being almost detained for the lack of an appropriate visa the other day.
I loved this book, mainly because it is of the travel genre. The author has beautifully yet subtly captured the insatiatable itch and the urgency to travel a true traveller feels while not being out there. The selection of places were good. The motivation behind choosing a place to explore was good too, not unlike our design thinking processes.
However, one core aspect of the book is gnawing away at my insides and I guess it won't go unless I share it. So, imagine you have an orange packet of Lays ( or whichever's your favourite). Eat just one chip and keep it back. You're not allowed to eat one more, ever. Like EVER. Can you imagine the agony? The stories are all bit sized. The entice you with exotic names, seduce you with descriptive writing, and then you're left high and dry. Like Ma'am, I don't have so much money or guts to go alone to an isolated town in no-where Russia. I want more pictures, more on their culture, the people and more. MORE! Maybe even a coffee table book with a photo essay cum FAQs sorta thing. Gah! Also, one more thing I'd say that was missing was the personal touch. I'd basically like to know a lot of things, like how does your family react to you travelling, how do you make these international friends ( and maintain them), how do you fund for your trips and so on, like a memoir. Maybe the author didn't want to overshare, or was probably under a restricted world limit.
In the end, I liked the content, but am left with a chipless feeling. Overall 3.5 stars.
May 21, 2019
Mrs. M is not a stay-at-home mom and her restlessness and yearning to travel the world find expression in this book. The enthusiasm would not be out of place for a 19th- century explorer, but sadly, travelling in the 21st century third-world without knowing the language and, indeed, sometimes without valid travel documents or the local currency, and nearly always pressed for time are not experiences for the faint hearted. She juggles with adrenaline sports and pilgrimages to other religious centres with ease. River cruises in Asia and road trips across central Asia or rainforest treks are not everybody’s cup of tea. These are worth seeing on the national geographic channel, but apparently worth going to see. The book is a must-read for armchair as well as inveterate travellers.
July 5, 2020
I picked up this book because this author traveled to some not-so-oft traveled locations, and much before the Internet made travel into a glam thing. This author rekindled my love for the Mekong and Irrawaddy rivers, and for the Stan countries.
This is a 4-star for this reason.
I was not a fan of the tone she used in most essays - I gather this was meant to be humorous while talking about her travel experiences, but it felt condescending in most cases for me. Not every place could just have been about weird experiences, I feel. I also felt that there was a lost opportunity wrt her experiences finding veg food in her travels.
This is a 4-star for this reason.
I was not a fan of the tone she used in most essays - I gather this was meant to be humorous while talking about her travel experiences, but it felt condescending in most cases for me. Not every place could just have been about weird experiences, I feel. I also felt that there was a lost opportunity wrt her experiences finding veg food in her travels.
July 5, 2024
Travel gives you anecdotes that you can keep sharing for the rest of your life. The author does the same through this book - https://www.anuradhagoyal.com/the-tra...
October 28, 2022
Got this book as a gift from a friend. The premise is very interesting. Of a female traveller who has to travel as part of her work to places we have only heard of in geography lessons in school.
What would have made this book more interesting is if the book had some colored personalized photos showing us some of the places that are talked about in each chapter. It is assumed you know about the place she is talking about in each chapter and the exact country/region info comes in late into the chapter, till which time you are grappling with straws to understand which exact place is she talking about.
Her experiences are wacky, weird and fun to be honest and I cannot imagine being in the kind of situations she was in without freaking out!!
All in all a fun read, but keep your maps close by while reading!!
What would have made this book more interesting is if the book had some colored personalized photos showing us some of the places that are talked about in each chapter. It is assumed you know about the place she is talking about in each chapter and the exact country/region info comes in late into the chapter, till which time you are grappling with straws to understand which exact place is she talking about.
Her experiences are wacky, weird and fun to be honest and I cannot imagine being in the kind of situations she was in without freaking out!!
All in all a fun read, but keep your maps close by while reading!!
June 9, 2019
Want some weekend fun with a light and breezy read? Pick up this book for a hearty chuckle. I can’t visualise myself travelling like the author did - getting stranded in a foreign country without a visa or being stuck with a stranger in a car in the middle of the night in terror infested Kashmir or go looking for a room to stay in Rome on a steamy summer night. But she seems to keep her cool and has enough sense of humour to reminisce upon it with a chuckle. I recommend this book for its sardonic humour and crisp writing style, even if you’re not too interested in her choice of obscure locations to read about.
June 24, 2019
"Travel gods must be crazy" will definitely leave us wondering at the unnatural selection of the places of travel by the author and how on earth can people get thoughts to travel to places of such extremes. Especially with authors abilities of fantastic narration, you can almost visualise the places which most of us must have never heard of till then. A synchronous infusion of inspiration and information to any travel enthusiast makes it a must read travelogue.
June 14, 2019
Reading it is like taking a whirlwind tour of the world, living the thrills of unplanned journeys into some of the least known places in the world. For the adventure seeking readers, this could be an inspiration, and for those who prefer to read about it from the comforts of their home (like yours truly) , the vicarious buzz is just as exciting.
It is a highly readable book – sprinkled with bits of history, geography, economics, and culture as well as the author’s personal takes on what she sees and does. The writing is energetic– stories spill out quickly one after the other, and words are used economically and there is a general spirit of cheer.
My favourite description was that of a minibus which looked like a giant millipede. (read it to find out)
It is a highly readable book – sprinkled with bits of history, geography, economics, and culture as well as the author’s personal takes on what she sees and does. The writing is energetic– stories spill out quickly one after the other, and words are used economically and there is a general spirit of cheer.
My favourite description was that of a minibus which looked like a giant millipede. (read it to find out)
February 19, 2020
There are well-travelled people, and then there is Sudha Mahalingam, who is in a league of her own by travelling to 66 countries! Her book ‘The Travel Gods Must be Crazy: Wacky encounters in exotic lands” clearly had to be written because here’s a woman with so many stories and anecdotes to share with the world that they must have come bursting out of her.
The title of the book seems to have been derived from one of my favourite movies from my childhood ‘The Gods must be crazy,” which was a hit in the eighties. And after reading the book, you will be quite convinced that the title is suitable. She is clearly a traveller, not a tourist.
Each chapter in the book describes a different trip that she has undertaken at some point in her life. Each chapter is independent and the book is a collection of these travel tales (not for the faint-hearted, I might add).
She lands up in the Czech Republic without a valid visa and was caught without yellow-fever vaccination in Nairobi airport.
She has trekked to Annapurna Base Camp as a senior citizen and done skydiving at age sixty-six.
She has been to the jungles of Borneo and seen the pandas at Chengdu. She has walked on an artisanal prototype bridge made entirely of single-origin bamboo and ropes over the river Siang in Yingkiong and lived to tell the tale.
There is also a chapter dedicated to how she managed as a vegetarian in places where they ate anything that crawled, moved or had legs!
Her sense of humour and spirit shine through on every page. She paints a word portrait of everything she sees. Her descriptions of family, friends and people she meets along the way are laced with good humour and make you chuckle.
Interspersed with nuggets of information about each place she has been to, the book is a wonderful travel memoir that I highly recommend.
The title of the book seems to have been derived from one of my favourite movies from my childhood ‘The Gods must be crazy,” which was a hit in the eighties. And after reading the book, you will be quite convinced that the title is suitable. She is clearly a traveller, not a tourist.
Each chapter in the book describes a different trip that she has undertaken at some point in her life. Each chapter is independent and the book is a collection of these travel tales (not for the faint-hearted, I might add).
She lands up in the Czech Republic without a valid visa and was caught without yellow-fever vaccination in Nairobi airport.
She has trekked to Annapurna Base Camp as a senior citizen and done skydiving at age sixty-six.
She has been to the jungles of Borneo and seen the pandas at Chengdu. She has walked on an artisanal prototype bridge made entirely of single-origin bamboo and ropes over the river Siang in Yingkiong and lived to tell the tale.
There is also a chapter dedicated to how she managed as a vegetarian in places where they ate anything that crawled, moved or had legs!
Her sense of humour and spirit shine through on every page. She paints a word portrait of everything she sees. Her descriptions of family, friends and people she meets along the way are laced with good humour and make you chuckle.
Interspersed with nuggets of information about each place she has been to, the book is a wonderful travel memoir that I highly recommend.
May 30, 2019
Author has an extraordinary command over language - the book is filled with rich vocabulary and provides a good learning for the reader. The book is a wealth of anecdotes and satires.
September 25, 2019
The best thing about this book is that you can just pick up and start with any chapter (place) when you are in the mood to travel or get lost. It is a breezy read and most of the chapters pack humour. The experiences are definitely not of the 'typical traveller' type and hence chapters on places quite familiar are also engaging reads. And I am reading about many places covered here for the first time. Would be an ideal book to carry during journeys or as a bed side book to keep going back to...
October 10, 2023
The Travel Gods Must Be Crazy by Sudha Mahalingam is wacky indeed.
A hilarious and shocking read, it will take you on adventures you never could have imagined. Hilarious because the author manages to get herself into the funniest of scrapes and shocking because she also manages to get herself into really dangerous ones.
Replete with the socio-political history of the place she visits, her take on solo travel in this book makes for a must read for every Indian woman. The best part is, the history of the place does not get boring, except in a few chapters.
Her descriptions of snow clad mountains, lakes, sunsets, rivers, and the many sights are breathtaking and visual; it almost feels like you're there yourself. These are often complemented by amazing pictures, taken by Sudha herself. Each chapter is a short story in itself and makes for a fun, light read. Her vocabulary rivals Shashi Tharoor's and her sense of humour is incomparable.
This is THE travel book for every middle class Indian who dreams of seeing the world on a budget. What I mean by that is - this book is not a guide. It offers practical insight into the real nitty gritties of travel, and its associated low points. Sudha's funny internal commentary is just an added bonus.
She writes so well that you forget she trekked the Annapurna at 65. That is the underlying charm of this book - how she makes age look like a state of mind, rather than an announcement of your limitations to the world. And as it should be. This author stands out in the sea of travel books because she had a full-time career, a husband, and kids. She managed to travel while having a full life and not compromising on either. For Indian women, burdened with domestic responsibilities and other gender-based obligations, this book is a pathblazer.
Read this book if you're looking to explore never before heard of places.
Read this book if you're looking to be entertained and informed.
Please note: This is not a paid review. I had the privilege of interviewing Sudha for The Himalayan Writing Retreat's First Draft Club, for which I read this book. I'm glad I did so and will highly recommend it to every reader, travel enthusiast or not.
A hilarious and shocking read, it will take you on adventures you never could have imagined. Hilarious because the author manages to get herself into the funniest of scrapes and shocking because she also manages to get herself into really dangerous ones.
Replete with the socio-political history of the place she visits, her take on solo travel in this book makes for a must read for every Indian woman. The best part is, the history of the place does not get boring, except in a few chapters.
Her descriptions of snow clad mountains, lakes, sunsets, rivers, and the many sights are breathtaking and visual; it almost feels like you're there yourself. These are often complemented by amazing pictures, taken by Sudha herself. Each chapter is a short story in itself and makes for a fun, light read. Her vocabulary rivals Shashi Tharoor's and her sense of humour is incomparable.
This is THE travel book for every middle class Indian who dreams of seeing the world on a budget. What I mean by that is - this book is not a guide. It offers practical insight into the real nitty gritties of travel, and its associated low points. Sudha's funny internal commentary is just an added bonus.
She writes so well that you forget she trekked the Annapurna at 65. That is the underlying charm of this book - how she makes age look like a state of mind, rather than an announcement of your limitations to the world. And as it should be. This author stands out in the sea of travel books because she had a full-time career, a husband, and kids. She managed to travel while having a full life and not compromising on either. For Indian women, burdened with domestic responsibilities and other gender-based obligations, this book is a pathblazer.
Read this book if you're looking to explore never before heard of places.
Read this book if you're looking to be entertained and informed.
Please note: This is not a paid review. I had the privilege of interviewing Sudha for The Himalayan Writing Retreat's First Draft Club, for which I read this book. I'm glad I did so and will highly recommend it to every reader, travel enthusiast or not.
May 26, 2020
A set of travelogues that I would relish from time to time.
This is a remarkable collection of short travelogues, spread all over the map of the world and also conjuring a significant period of time as it does so. The stories are all unique in their exposition, formative statements as well as in being more personal. It's easy to flow in a breeze through some of the stories, whereas in others you do require some attention at least to grasp the amount of trivia she manages to add to each e.g.,
"Carved out of the rocky mountain on the west bank of the Nile, the temples dedicated to gods Ra Harakhty, Amun and Ptah— apart from Ramesses II, ancient Egypt’s mightiest and much admired monarch— were an accidental discovery."
...
"Tchaikovsky must have provided a backdrop to the impassioned shouts of ‘Nzdazarovia!’ in better times. Now the hall wears a deserted look, a grander version of Miss Havisham’s, minus the cobwebs."
...
"Piecing together information culled from various sources, historians found an answer to the second question. Kambujadesa— mangled into ‘Cambodia’ by European colonizers who found it a tongue- twister— was established by a valiant Hindu king who had his origins in India. The earliest mention of this theory is found in Chinese records, which refer to Kambujadesa as Funan, an Indianized settlement in South East Asia. Chinese accounts have been corroborated by Sanskrit versions, which state that a king, possibly from the Chola dynasty, married a Naga princess who ruled over Tonlé Sap and settled down in today’s Cambodia to found a kingdom in the early centuries of the Christian era."
I enjoyed Sudha's writing thoroughly. It almost felt like peeking into her diary while she ventures on odd adventures.
This is a remarkable collection of short travelogues, spread all over the map of the world and also conjuring a significant period of time as it does so. The stories are all unique in their exposition, formative statements as well as in being more personal. It's easy to flow in a breeze through some of the stories, whereas in others you do require some attention at least to grasp the amount of trivia she manages to add to each e.g.,
"Carved out of the rocky mountain on the west bank of the Nile, the temples dedicated to gods Ra Harakhty, Amun and Ptah— apart from Ramesses II, ancient Egypt’s mightiest and much admired monarch— were an accidental discovery."
...
"Tchaikovsky must have provided a backdrop to the impassioned shouts of ‘Nzdazarovia!’ in better times. Now the hall wears a deserted look, a grander version of Miss Havisham’s, minus the cobwebs."
...
"Piecing together information culled from various sources, historians found an answer to the second question. Kambujadesa— mangled into ‘Cambodia’ by European colonizers who found it a tongue- twister— was established by a valiant Hindu king who had his origins in India. The earliest mention of this theory is found in Chinese records, which refer to Kambujadesa as Funan, an Indianized settlement in South East Asia. Chinese accounts have been corroborated by Sanskrit versions, which state that a king, possibly from the Chola dynasty, married a Naga princess who ruled over Tonlé Sap and settled down in today’s Cambodia to found a kingdom in the early centuries of the Christian era."
I enjoyed Sudha's writing thoroughly. It almost felt like peeking into her diary while she ventures on odd adventures.
January 4, 2020
I came across this book while reading the hindu newspaper and I ordered it immediately. There was something unique about this account which pulled me towards it. And I must tell you the book does not disappoint at all. It is filled with great anecdotes and I indeed travelled with the author while reading it. When she mentioned about the drudgery of Borneo rainforest I was able to connect to my struggles with rainforests in India. Also I could understand the curiosity of a person who wants to visit Israel and Palestine just for exploring the religious sites. I mean after all thw officialdom there is indeed a great barrier to deal with. Well the good part is that the author has travelled a lot and hence the variety is seen in terms of the anecdotes too. Indeed it was a refreshing read amidst other serious books I read. And the best part is that it has a place for all kinds of emotions like the fear of getting detained, the excitement while skydiving at 66, sheer joy of reaching the top, witnessing wild in pristine forms and many more.
April 9, 2021
Mahalingam's book, in a few words, can be summarised as 'living up to the title'.
One of the most fascinating things about these hilarious anecdotes was their sheer bizarre and madcap character and yes, these scenes are in fact set in exotic lands, unheard of territories, and uncharted waters. The peculiarity of Mahalingam's story is visibly clear from the fact that despite some stories becoming too unusual to handle, it certainly does not deter a reader. Mahalingam is a storyteller, eloquent articulator, and a persuasive narrator so much so that her stories would give you a few places to add to your bucket list.
Some parts however reflect a poor choice of words, or thoughts, even a failed attempt at humour while others are politically tasteless. Mahalingam has indeed been brutally honest in her narration as she hasn’t shied away from her lack of empathy towards younger fellow travellers knowing it could evoke judgmental.
Nevertheless The Travel Gods must be given a read because it is crazy enough to juice up monotony.
One of the most fascinating things about these hilarious anecdotes was their sheer bizarre and madcap character and yes, these scenes are in fact set in exotic lands, unheard of territories, and uncharted waters. The peculiarity of Mahalingam's story is visibly clear from the fact that despite some stories becoming too unusual to handle, it certainly does not deter a reader. Mahalingam is a storyteller, eloquent articulator, and a persuasive narrator so much so that her stories would give you a few places to add to your bucket list.
Some parts however reflect a poor choice of words, or thoughts, even a failed attempt at humour while others are politically tasteless. Mahalingam has indeed been brutally honest in her narration as she hasn’t shied away from her lack of empathy towards younger fellow travellers knowing it could evoke judgmental.
Nevertheless The Travel Gods must be given a read because it is crazy enough to juice up monotony.
June 24, 2021
🍂Book : The Travel Gods must be Crazy.
🍂Author: Sudha Mahalingam
🍂 Rate: 5/5
🍂 A travelouge from a middle-aged, middle class mother of two. The book itself says wacky encounters in exotic lands. This was soemething not so sugar qouted, well some beautiful experiences our way and hell lot of dangerous events described. A pinch of humour and alot of adventure! Okay ever went on a trip and had to wait at the station?? Or ever stuck in a minaret in Persia?? If no, then such experience is described in this book very beautifully. While reading this I could remeber me and my friends stuck on a railway station due to megablocks. But fine we all had fun, mine wasn't adventurous. And the writer's experience has something else to say. And also skydiving at sixty-six or trekking at sixty plus.
Travel diaries from 2017 to 2005 to 2011 to 2007, and so on! From Mekong to Rome to Israel to Palestine and Tokyo and what not. If you are a person who loves travelling, then this lockdown is your opportunity to grab this amazing book!
🍂Author: Sudha Mahalingam
🍂 Rate: 5/5
🍂 A travelouge from a middle-aged, middle class mother of two. The book itself says wacky encounters in exotic lands. This was soemething not so sugar qouted, well some beautiful experiences our way and hell lot of dangerous events described. A pinch of humour and alot of adventure! Okay ever went on a trip and had to wait at the station?? Or ever stuck in a minaret in Persia?? If no, then such experience is described in this book very beautifully. While reading this I could remeber me and my friends stuck on a railway station due to megablocks. But fine we all had fun, mine wasn't adventurous. And the writer's experience has something else to say. And also skydiving at sixty-six or trekking at sixty plus.
Travel diaries from 2017 to 2005 to 2011 to 2007, and so on! From Mekong to Rome to Israel to Palestine and Tokyo and what not. If you are a person who loves travelling, then this lockdown is your opportunity to grab this amazing book!
November 24, 2019
'The travel gods must be crazy' by Sudha Mahalingam serves as a lend a hand to backpackers, travellers and commuters of all the ages. Her experiences in this narrative help to discover the unexpected, haunting, enthralling and vivid tour around the sphere.
She has altogether given a new definition of vacation, with her shoestring budget, limited time, strange trips and considerable hardships. None of her trips was touristy enough that she could brag in front of her family and relatives, but she has certainly witnessed fancy eccentric sights, met an assortment of people along the way and some unforgettable feels, smells and struggles.
The book is not everyone's subject of interest, but one can read this travel guide in the times of not so experienced google maps.
P.S. Her age will leave you awestruck!
She has altogether given a new definition of vacation, with her shoestring budget, limited time, strange trips and considerable hardships. None of her trips was touristy enough that she could brag in front of her family and relatives, but she has certainly witnessed fancy eccentric sights, met an assortment of people along the way and some unforgettable feels, smells and struggles.
The book is not everyone's subject of interest, but one can read this travel guide in the times of not so experienced google maps.
P.S. Her age will leave you awestruck!
June 20, 2021
It's a nice read if you are into travel memoirs!
She promotes the book as her various journeys in offbeat destinations, however these may be offbeat during her days, now more or less these places have reached within the grasps of the wanderlust population.
Some of the experiences are exhilarating, some of them are unnecessarily hyped. My favorite ones are her memoirs from Iran, skydiving at Uluru, immigration fiasco in Czech Republic.
The writing style is fun/humorous, but seldom the book intrigues you with the ability to paint pictures with words - something I believe is important in travel memoirs. Being a backpacker traveler myself, I was able to connect with some of her experience, and can definitely take a page or two from this book in order to plan my next venture.
All in all do give it a read if you are an Indian traveler and love to explore places!
She promotes the book as her various journeys in offbeat destinations, however these may be offbeat during her days, now more or less these places have reached within the grasps of the wanderlust population.
Some of the experiences are exhilarating, some of them are unnecessarily hyped. My favorite ones are her memoirs from Iran, skydiving at Uluru, immigration fiasco in Czech Republic.
The writing style is fun/humorous, but seldom the book intrigues you with the ability to paint pictures with words - something I believe is important in travel memoirs. Being a backpacker traveler myself, I was able to connect with some of her experience, and can definitely take a page or two from this book in order to plan my next venture.
All in all do give it a read if you are an Indian traveler and love to explore places!
December 29, 2019
The author is a traveler not a tourist! A middle aged vegetarian Indian woman traveling to places most people have not heard of with no hesitation or fear! She goes to places very few would dare to go quite often without a hotel, car or guide booked ahead of time. She is willing to experience the land and its people more than see tourist spots. Very interesting to read.
Would have been better if the episodes were more filled in. The stories start and end abruptly without continuation.
Would have been better if the episodes were more filled in. The stories start and end abruptly without continuation.
March 20, 2020
Sometimes you just stumble upon a good book..I was to travel and at random searched for travelogues and bought this book..after a long time I finished a book in one sitting! The author has a knack to land herself in difficult situations (her travel through 65 countries had sprung many) and her narrative skills, knowledge of history of the the visited places, above all her sense of humour grips you and also makes you grip your tummy laughing...a very refreshing read
November 29, 2020
This is a light read. Although well written by a well travelled person, not all of them are "whacky" or noteworthy encounters. The little backstories, references to history and geography used to educate the readers make it enjoyable as well as informative. I related to a few experiences immensely and loved everytime the author would rattle in Tamil when she is unable to communicate with the other party - something I often my find myself in a position to do.
July 17, 2023
This is a travel narrative with the author narrating the wacky adventures she had in exotic places. Though the stories are wierd, funny, scary and sometimes gross, it feels very disconnected because there isnt enough context for the storyline to build.
I think I would have liked it better if it was a single or fewer stories with more detail
I think I would have liked it better if it was a single or fewer stories with more detail
January 21, 2020
The stories are so fun. The audiobook is NOT good. Get this in paperbook/ebook form. The narrator's cadence is not helpful to this book. The stories are great though. I laughed out loud- alot- at work. Not sad about it.
February 9, 2021
Whilst it was refreshing to read a travel book written from a non-Westernised perspective, it did feel like a lot of moaning about situations she only got herself into by not planning her trips at all. There was definitely an element of "look at how much hardship I can survive" which was grating.
March 28, 2021
A motley collection of business travel, government all-expenses-paid travel, group travel, family travel and solo travel stories. The book begins in a very insipid manner. There are some interesting stories hidden in the middle.
December 1, 2021
Disappointing. The book is essentially a collection of very small chapters on various travels. The author has spent a lot of energy attempting to write beautiful prose instead of focusing on the story. This ends up hurting than helping the reading experience. There are vague attempts at humor too.
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February 5, 2022Really Really loved the way author wrote and the way she conveyed her feelings. Travel related books can be hard to connect but this book made me connect to the places. Totally would recommend this book. Not a beginner's book.
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