This All Encompassing Trip: Chasing Pearl Jam Around The World

by Jason Leung

"It really looks well done... It's really impressive and really cool... It's special energy and I'm glad you've shared it!"
-Eddie Vedder.

What is life on the road like for a rock star? Jason Leung is no rock star but he lives the life of one while following Pearl Jam on tour around the world. Starting in 2005 with a modest road trip in a beat up old van to see every Pearl Jam show across Canada, Jason discovers a whole community of like-minded fans who are as welcoming as they are kindhearted. This fascinating experience inspires Jason to leave his promising career as a civil engineer to further explore this phenomenon and pursue a life of travel. His ensuing journey continues across America, all over Europe, and around Australia, as he relentlessly journeys from show to show during Pearl Jam's entire 2006 world tour, establishing a unique family of friends along the way. These extraordinary bonds and the adventures that emerge from them are the basis for Jason's story and This All Encompassing Trip!

412 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Charity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 2 1/2 stars, but I'm letting my love of Pearl Jam round up.

The 3/4 of a page tacked on at the end insight of what Leung took away from his "all encompassing trip" was too little and way too late. The author left everything to travel around a large part of the world to see Pearl Jam concerts, and the why, purpose, and/or reasoning is really left out. Which I found annoying as the reader. I get loving the band, I get wanting to to have that experience, but I don't know how nothing more could be at work. And it frustrated me as I was reading, it felt like he was gaining nothing and learning nothing from his trip other than how to use alcohol to help you fall to sleep.

This would have been a fun blog to follow along as it was happening, but the way the book is written and structured, it does not make for an interesting read. Each chapter (hell each paragraph) followed the same structure as the one before it. I felt like I was listening to the same song for 398 pages and not taking away anything new with each listen.

As a huge lover of Pearl Jam hearing about the shows saved the book. The book fails to live up to both the potential of the trip he took and the title. This book is in no way close to being an "all encompassing trip."

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very thoughtful Christmas gift from one of my best friends and the timing of it couldn't have been better--I had just finished following Pearl Jam for 2 weeks on the West Coast leg of their 2013 tour. This was a dream I'd had since college; and speaking of college, I can't remember the last time I highlighted so much in a book! My obsession with this band has always been something I've experienced all on my own, so it was really exciting to have someone else put it into words: "I haven't grown tired of these shows yet. I love them as much as I always have. There's a reason why I chose to follow this band...They're that good and consistently one of the best live shows you'll ever see...(A)n average show for this band is far superior to most shows from other bands." The author quit his job to follow them on tour from 2005 to 2006 in the US, Europe, and Australia, detailing every show. Naturally, some of these shows overlapped with shows I attended during that time (six, to be exact) so it was fun to hear another perspective.

To prove I'm not the only crazy one (29 shows in 15 years; flying to Washington, Hawaii, and Wisconsin; driving 3,000 miles from Phoenix to Portland), the author mentions other fans, like Bowman & Dolan, who followed the band to Australia, Japan, and all over the States for the 2003 tour; Bobby, who was seeing his 50th show in Boston; Jason, who was seeing his 74th show on his birthday and in his hometown of Camden, NJ; Tim, who has followed the band since Lollapalooza '92; and my personal favourite, Joel and Megan from Perth, who spent their honeymoon following the band across Australia. The author sums up PJ fans the best when comparing them to fans of other artists: "Converging with fans of other bands has been interesting, as it's similar in some ways, but much different in other ways. With the Radiohead fans..., I could see a similar dedication to attending shows and getting bootlegs that Pearl Jam fans have, but that's about it. There seemed to be no real unity amongst them...The Tom Petty fans, on the other hand, are all about travelling to the shows and the community aspects, but they aren't as dedicated to collecting all the bootlegs and posters like most Pearl Jam fans are. Seeing these differences and similarities makes me feel honoured to be a part of this community that goes along with being a Pearl Jam fan--we are the complete package of hardcore dedication."

The author also perfectly summed up one of the ways this band has changed my life: "I'm hungry for adventure and Pearl Jam have just been providing me with opportunities to fill that hunger." And lastly, on the second-to-last page of the book, while discussing how the trip "was never about Pearl Jam--it was about so much more," I had to smile when he wrote, "It's about meeting your heroes, who are just as thrilled to meet you." Having met Eddie a few years ago, I felt this to be true as he looked me in the eye and shook my hand after autographing my CD, and stood around for about 10 minutes chatting with the 20 of us who had waited to meet him, even though it was 3:00 in the morning. <3

[Yumna Yousry]

When I started reading the book and was only a few chapters in, I found the lack of detail about the PJ shows frustrating because that's why I had wanted to read the book in the first place. There would be a mention of some legendary show and only a couple of sentences about it, leaving me wondering: "wait, that's it? Tell me more!"

But that's not really what the book is about, so after I adjusted my expectations I started to enjoy it more. I've never been to Canada, so the first part of the book was a nice introduction to the different cities. After that, I had gotten invested, and wanted to know more about the people as well.

Since I'm stuck at home and have not been to a live concert in months, it was nice to live vicariously through the author and experience travel and music.

[Jodie Milne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a massive Pearl Jam fan, I loved this book. I admired his courage to embark on his journey and was jealous as hell that he did all the things he did..

Sure, it is not literary writing.. but it isn't meant to be..

[Daniel Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fan follows Pearl Jam around the world on 2006 tour. More interested in writing about getting drunk and being an obnoxious tourist than the shows. I appreciate his passion for the band, but I am still waiting for the definitive book about Pearl Jam.

[Frank Scholes · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed it... i try to do the same thing but on a significantly smaller scale... but maybe some day...

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really cool what Jason did following Pearl Jam on tour, and neat that he wrote a book about it. I'm sure it was a lot of work writing this book. The first few chapters are an interesting read. After that though, it gets a bit repetitive.

I have to say I love his enthusiasm for Pearl Jam. He is a true fan.

[Jodi Groberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

So awesome! So jealous!

[Maren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awesome that it happened but a rather stale read--and I love PJ.