A friend recommended this book to me a few years ago, lauding it as "Eat, Pray, Love, only better," and was she ever right. I loved this book: more anthropological in nature, and without any feeling of pretension, it spoke to my heart.

Rita Golden Gelman ends her marriage of many years in her forties, and sets off to live a life of exploration. Bali and New Zealand are just two of the places where Golden Gelman makes her home over the course of many years of travel: one thing that lends itself to the strength of these memoirs is that Golden Gelman is writing many years after her adventures. She did not set out to find herself, or make changes to herself that she would bring back to her life in the U.S. She wanted to know people, their stories, what happens in their daily lives, what is important to them, to us. She wanted to lose herself in the lives of other people, in order to find a better connection with the world and all it has to offer, including its people.

There is no romantic lilt to this story: Golden Gelman had left behind that part of her life when her marriage ended, and there are no moments where the reader wonders whom she'll end up with, or what happy ending the story may have. Golden Gelman is completely and utterly herself, and she is brilliant. She admits her errors in new places, or how difficult it is to be alone in a country without knowing a language. She discusses her isolation openly and honestly, and these moments often lead to a demonstration of the kindness that exists within people everywhere.

I feel that I'm rambling, but I wish I could find the words to describe how inspirational this book was. A few weeks ago I attended a dinner event alone, something I might not have had the courage to do a few months ago, but I was ready to do it now, and Golden Gelman's book was the final puff of confidence I needed to leap off that particular ledge. We all have the courage to do the things we want to do, we just have to find a way to make them happen.