The beautiful word play in the title describes this book perfectly. If you want the detailed ins and outs of the countries of South America, get a guide book. But if you want a fun read about a solo female traveller’s exploits in foreign countries on a journey of self-discovery and improvement, you have come to the right place.
I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Amy at Yestival last year. I went to see her session where she talked about her book and read extracts from various chapters. I liked what I heard so later on when all the talks were finished I went and bought myself a copy and like the secret fan boy that I am hunted her down (in a non-creepy way) and got her to sign it. It may have just been because I just bought her book but she was a delight.
This autobiographical account of Amy’s travels reads almost like a casual diary about her leaving a grown-up job as an editor in London to explore South America contrary to all advice given to her from friends, family and work colleagues. I think most of us have had that moment of not being sure what to do with our lives (it’s my default setting) and are given advice regardless of whether we have asked for it or not. Each chapter starts with “friendly” advice given to Amy by someone she knows followed by “expert” advice. The expert advice comes from well-known people from a variety of professions and is usually loosely linked to the friendly advice and the metaphorical, and sometimes actual mountain, Amy has to climb during that chapter. At the end of each chapter we get a summery about the life lessons Amy had learnt and which advice given at the start was most accurate. With each turn of the page we read about Amy taking on the elements, other travellers, boys, her own insecurities and expectations while trying not to fall back into old habits and to be an adult when left alone with no responsibility or direction on a prolonged holiday. We encounter the human clichés of the traveling world, we experience the heat of the Amazon jungle to the cold of Huayna Potosi mountain and we do battle with drug cartels, insects and the effects of cheap wine and stomach parasites. At various stages through Amy’s trip she is accompanied by friends to share in this during her magical mystery tour.
The key to enjoying this book is not to take it too seriously. It’s a travel story, not a travel guide. While it lacks the bus timetables to get from Lima to Santiago or the Top 10 attractions for each destination it supplies you with an abundance of witty metaphors and similes, along with anecdotes that maybe share too much information for the more conservative reader. If you are a female (and even if you are not) and thinking about traveling South America on your own, but have a few trepidation’s, this is worth a read. I look for to her going travelling again so I can read about that one.
