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Tourorist: How I Failed To Find Myself In Southeast Asia
Fleeing the emotional tragedies of his hometown in Kansas, Tanner Ballengee set out for Southeast Asia. The plan was to meet up with a comrade and ride motorcycles across Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, a harsh barge
through the infamous Killing Season. The only problem was that Ballengee knew nothing about the region, even less about motorcycles, and only had the money he'd been able to save by delivering pizzas. The result is a narrative that entirely shuns the tedious pretensions of travel writing. Full of illegal camping, horny monks, and plenty of booze, Tourorist strips lust for experience to the bone.
through the infamous Killing Season. The only problem was that Ballengee knew nothing about the region, even less about motorcycles, and only had the money he'd been able to save by delivering pizzas. The result is a narrative that entirely shuns the tedious pretensions of travel writing. Full of illegal camping, horny monks, and plenty of booze, Tourorist strips lust for experience to the bone.
256 pages, Paperback
Published August 21, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 21, 2025
Crusty, dirty and brutally authentic.
The accounts of the landscape of Southeast Asia and its citizens are rich and detailed as one would expect from a travel memoir, but it’s Ballengee’s blunt articulation of his anxieties and porn acknowledgement of his flaws that colour these moments which make this novel stand out. That, and the fact that it has some of the best chapter titles of any book I’ve read. There’s a tinge of Hunter S Thompson to the writing too, which pops its head out every now and then in delightful ways, and a punk soundtrack to drive you onwards.
Best paired with a vegetarian meal, a couple of beers with strangers and the deafening din of motorcycle horns.
The accounts of the landscape of Southeast Asia and its citizens are rich and detailed as one would expect from a travel memoir, but it’s Ballengee’s blunt articulation of his anxieties and porn acknowledgement of his flaws that colour these moments which make this novel stand out. That, and the fact that it has some of the best chapter titles of any book I’ve read. There’s a tinge of Hunter S Thompson to the writing too, which pops its head out every now and then in delightful ways, and a punk soundtrack to drive you onwards.
Best paired with a vegetarian meal, a couple of beers with strangers and the deafening din of motorcycle horns.
August 13, 2025
5 stars. I wrote it
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews