As one who has traveled all over the world, I had to shake my head in astonishment at parts of this story. While quite often people of other cultures are kind and welcoming, traveling the countryside alone as a woman is never the best choice. It’s reckless and dangerous, and author Rita Golden Gelman was fortunate not to meet with any mishaps. Throughout the book she relies often on the decency of strangers to ensure that she is not led astray, though she does gradually become more cautious regarding the risks of a woman traveling alone, and fortunately she never suffers any serious misadventure. When she began her journey it was the mid-80s, and perhaps this, as much as anything else, speaks to what a different time that was.

And frankly, her initial attempts at “field work” in “anthropology” are off putting. The absolute peak of colonial white privilege is to insert yourself into an impoverished culture such as those featured in this book with absolutely zero research or preparation. Zero consideration for the fact that these people are allowing you to stay because they are starving and need the money. A little over a third of the way through the book, after three years of roaming and as she prepares to travel to Indonesia, she finally asks about customs prior to her departure, and it becomes apparent that she has finally learned, or is learning, to respect the cultures she visits.

There was a lot about this book that I found uncomfortable. While I do believe that the author had the best of intentions, and in the long run she likely caused no lasting harm, her travels often took her to places she had not been invited. And she assumed that because the people were kind and open and hospitable, she was welcome, often staying for weeks or months. It never seems to have occurred to her that in many cultures hospitality is an obligation. While she clearly made an effort to blend in and become a part of each of the communities she visited, I do not see that there is much difference between her and the missionaries she thinks so poorly of.

I will admit that my perception is most likely colored by my own ancestral history. But I would point out the fact that this author selected developing countries for her travels specifically because the people were in need and her available funds would go further. Unintentional or not, this is entitlement and exploitation. The very least she could have done was to secure invitations prior to inserting herself into these communities, and not once in the course of this book does she seem to question the appropriateness of her actions.

I read this book as part of a challenge. When I was selecting it I had narrowed my options to two travel books written by women and I flipped a coin to finalize the selection. I won’t know for certain until I read the other book, but I’m not so certain that coin landed in my favor with this one. I finished the book, because I wanted to give the author a fair chance and see if she wised up. She never did, and I came away from the book irritated.