Release Date: May 24th, 2022

Genre(s): Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel

Publisher: Tucky Buddy Books

Pages: 360

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to the authors and Bookstagrammers.com for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis

Part travel, part romance, part failing at life, The Backpack Years intertwines two memoirs, charting Stef and James’s six-year journey from happily wandering to miserably settled and back again.

Straight-laced Stef left America to study abroad in Spain, letting loose and falling head over heels for two things: a handsome local and travel. Travel won out. James had a future in England he felt he’d already destroyed. Fueled by debt and a deteriorating relationship with his father, James fled to Australia and found something better.

After language mishaps in France and a topless night in Tenerife, an awful offal job in Warrnambool and a kidnapped manicure in Bali, Stef and James meet at an Irish pub in Sydney. Though their adventures are pulling them in different directions, they ditch the single life to forge a path together.

Can the two navigate their way through red-tape, relocation, miscommunication, and a last ditch, make-or-break trip to try to save their relationship, or will this be their last adventure as a couple?

Spanning thirteen countries and four continents, The Backpack Years is a story about how far we’re willing to go to be with the one we love.

Review

As someone that has not traveled abroad (and fears spontaneity), The Backpack Years was such an insightful look into the world of travel in all of its ups and downs. And on top of that, this book was a story of love, about two people who met in their travels and were determined to stay together as their lives changed (as well as their location), no matter what.

I enjoyed the concept of this book being told from both stef’s and james’ perspectives. Sometimes I don’t like this because of repeated storylines but I really liked the execution here. Through both their perspectives, it made the story whole.

Travel stories I feel often glamorize travel itself. They rarely reflect on the impacts of tourism on communities, or simply what traveling looks like outside of a standard hotel room. But The Backpack Years gave a very realistic view of travel, not only in the process itself but also in the places that they visited and the people that they met, as well as financial constraints and other major issues like access to healthcare. And as a constant planner, I really appreciated seeing how they executed their trips in different parts of the world, from deciding where to do to handling unfortunate scenarios.

Regardless of your experiences with travel, The Backpack Years was an insightful story not only about travel, but also about the people who met and grew together on their journey around the world, and I definitely recommend their story!

Goodreads