Book Review: An Inkling, A Backpack And All The Time In The World – Travelling On A Whim by Tamara K. Bryant

17/04/202117/04/2021memoir, Non-Fiction, Tamara K. Bryant, Travel, TravelogueLeave a Comment

Author: Tamara K. Bryant
Release Date: 20th October 2020
Genre: Travelogue, Memoir, Non-Fiction
Series:
Format: E-book
Pages: 465 pages
Publisher:
Blurb:
After a great stay in Thailand, Tam and her friends, Casey, Valerie, faced with the sad reality that they only had two more days left before the fun ended and they had to board a plane for home.

It was too soon. She’d only tasted a teeny bit of Southeast Asia and didn’t want to leave go back to her “real” life. But she knew she had to go home. Her flight was booked. She had a job and family to go back to. She couldn’t just stay. Or, could she? What if Tam didn’t go home yet? What if she explored the vast and exotic land of Southeast Asia…by herself…solo?

But was she ready to be on her own? The thought of traveling alone without her friends, terrified her. “On the other hand,” she thought, “would I ever get another chance to really experience Southeast Asia?”

Terrified and excited at the same time, Tamara K. Bryant followed her heart and bravely stepped onto the road that led her to the most exciting and amazing year of her life!

Review

An Inkling, A Backpack And All The Time In The World – Travelling On A Whim by Tamara K. Bryant is an exciting tale about solo travel and adventures (as well as hazardous yet funny misadventures) experienced by the author.

This book was a very quick read because it was very engaging as well as interesting and fun! I enjoyed reading this book because it had so many different elects in the story that it was hard to put this book down. A simple yet thoroughly entertaining read that I’d recommend to anyone who likes travelling and dreams about travelling solo (which I am sure everyone does, at some point or the other in their life.)

You can also read this review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Book Spotlight: Overland: Welcome to Africa by Pete Mandra

09/06/2018Book SpotlightLeave a Comment

About The Book

Name: Overland: Welcome To Africa
– 16 Total Strangers Traveling Through 8 Countries in 1 Broken Down Truck

Author: Pete Mandra

Publisher: Ingram

Genre: Travel, Non-fiction

Page Count: 388

Release date: May 24, 2017

Synopsis

Join Paul DuPree, who, with his future wife at his side, quit his job to participate in an exciting, humor-filled ‘overland’ journey across Africa with some of the strangest fellow travelers you’ll ever meet.

The wild animals? Dangerous. A canvas tent is the only thing separating you from some of Africa’s most notorious beasts.
Life on the road? Rugged and rustic. You’d sell your soul for the taste of a cheeseburger.
And the break-neck speed of the South Africa to Kenya itinerary? Brutal. And be sure to bring more than one spare tire.

Paul’s hypochondriac girlfriend, joining him on the trip, worries she’s going to die from any number of mysterious tropical diseases. Black market deals, corruption and military convoy escorts aren’t found in any guidebook he’s ever read. And his tour companions, strangers from across the globe, drink, party and destroy their way from South Africa to Kenya.

The only thing keeping him going is the continent itself – rugged, mysterious, and beautiful, in a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, dangerous sort of way. Would that be enough, or would his sanity depart him long before he reaches the finish line in Nairobi?

Overland is your ticket to a pain and mosquito free hilarious journey through Africa.

Buy Links

buy Overland: Welcome To Africa on
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple Store | Kobo

About the Author

Pete Mandra

Pete Mandra began his writing career freelancing for various Chicagoland publications before settling in as a news reporter at the famed City News Bureau, where covering breaking crime news proved the perfect complement to his dark sense of humor. After leaving City News, Pete slowly gravitated away from journalism as a career but never lost his passion for writing.

Always more of a home-body who had only left the country once for a stay in the Bahamas, Pete’s world turned upside when he met his future wife, Jessica, who shared with him her infectious spirit of travel and adventure. In short order, the two left their corporate jobs, cashed in their savings and gave up their apartment to backpack around the world, including Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

Overland is his first novel. Other writing pursuits have included contributing to various popular travel-related blogs and scriptwriting. His screenplays Zombie Seinfeld and Breaking Belding have both been performed by Gorilla Tango’s Skokie Theatre. Pete and his family live in the suburbs of Chicagoland.

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Travelogue Review: Kerala Hugged by Ankur Mutreja

18/12/201618/12/2016Ankur Mutreja, Indian Literature, Travelogue2 Comments

Author: Ankur Mutreja
Release Date: 2016
Series: –
Genre: Travelogue, travel, Indian Literature
Edition: E-book
Pages: 59
Publisher: Random House India

Rating: ★★

Blurb:

In a borderless world, all would be travelers indeed. India is a small borderless world in itself, and Kerala lies at the southernmost tip. I live almost near the lovely Kashmir, but does that make Kerala any less lovely!
“Writing books is the closest men ever came to having children.” –Norman Mailer
This book is indeed my baby born out of the love of nature.
Kerala is beautiful not only because of “God” but also because of the people who have made Kerala their home. I went there as a parasite in the disguise of a tourist and sucked all I could in a short span of 23 days. But did anybody ever complain? No, never. I think they believe the joy multiplies by sharing, and hereby I emulate them.
It started reluctantly in the midst of court appearances in Delhi courts in a busy September. Don’t know how and when I boarded the Kerala Express, which left me in Kochi to enliven my life forever. Kochi is the place to discover yourself, your life, and the world beautiful around you. How? Discover inside the book.
I, having been discovered, headed to Alleppey. Not to relax in the luxury of backwaters but to learn how they keep it so beautiful. Of course, I had to merge into them to discover their world. Snake boat races epitomize the best of their lives, so very different from that of ours own. You can learn it only if you become part of it. I did try my luck. Did I succeed? Discover inside the book.
Can you fall in love at 40? Yes for sure if you are in Munnar. The one I fell in love with was very special. Who was she? Was she a sexy Keralan? a pretty French? a bold German? a speedy American? a frank Britisher? a thinking Russian? a cute Chinese? a shy Pakistani? or, all of them merged into one? What happened to our love story? Do we meet even now? Or were there heart breaks? Discover inside the book.
Who says it is necessary to work to live? Definitely not if you are in Varkala! You can relax, think, observe, do no work, yet live a life. And it’s so very simple! The nature itself helps you in it. How exactly? Well…discover inside the book.

Review

Kerala Hugged by Ankur Mutreja is a travelogue on Kerala, India.

I enjoyed reading this travelogue as it refreshed some beautiful memories from the time when I visited some of the places mentioned in this book. I liked how the author expresses his love for nature and the places and felt a connection and a bond with those places myself.

For a travelogue, this book is decent, though I do think that this book needs heavy editing (and this is the reason why I gave it a star less than I originally planned to.) There were a few lines that felt incomplete and a few were plain incomprehensible.

Also, I felt that you’ll enjoy this book only if you have already visited all the places mentioned in this travelogue, but if you haven’t been to those places then you might not find this book that insightful as the descriptions are not detailed and the exposition is quite literally missing.

Other than these issues, this book is a decent travelogue that you can enjoy reading and finish within half an hour.

Goodreads