Introspection on a road trip - A book review

 

From A Wonky Path To An Open Road: A short book about a long journey by Janey de Nordwall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a beautiful book about the journey of life of the author interwoven cleverly with a road trip to Scotland in a vintage VW van. A sort of autobiography on the go. It is a unique travelogue which keeps the reader engaged right through.
She talks about the travails of being an introvert in a world which demands you to be an extrovert. She also shows how people are generally friendly towards travellers and extend all possible help on the road though the same is not necessarily true in the journey of life.
She is on the road for 40 days and 40 nights in a 1970s Volkswagen van that was the rage in the 70s. It was the de facto transport for road trippers.
Here are a few excerpts from the book to give you an idea of her writing.
At the outset she lays down the ground rules.
As a single woman who lives on her own I know the difference between being alone and loneliness
Then she goes on to describe the reason she has set out on this road trip.
So, no, I wasn't brave to go on a solo trip, I was in fact indulging in the opportunity to make my own decisions, to breathe deeply and entertain silence, to build my own fires and to get lost without anyone telling me I was lost. Ultimate freedom.
Her experience of meeting new people on the road. The lovely thing about meeting new people on the road is that you connect in a different way. No history, no shared memories, just new stories, new points of view, new ideas, new laughter. You can enjoy an unconditional friendship knowing that you'll be moving on soon and may never see each other again.
Then she goes on to show how dependent we have become on internet to be happy on the road.
whenever I stopped at a cafe or a bar the first thing I'd ask was if they had wi-fi. From the air of desperation in my voice and my widened eyes it always felt like I was asking for a methadone hit and they looked at me like I was a junkie.

I could identify with a lot of what she said, being a traveller myself.
As the tag line says it is a short book about a long journey. A perfect companion for your travel times. I could not put it down. A rarity for a non fiction?
So guys go for it, it is a refreshing change from the run of the mill travel books.

Disclaimer

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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