Travel Book Review: The Lost Girls

Fantastic! – A free travel book to read. That was my first impression when I was contacted by Harper Collins and asked if I’d write a blog about their soon to be released book The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World. Then it arrived, all 545 pages of it. Don’t be daunted by it as it is a fast read.

Who are The Lost Girls? In this case, they’re three high achieving, hardworking, New York City girlfriends – Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett and Amanda Pressner. They’re all around 28 years old and about to enter a phase in their astrological lives called Saturn Return where they can say goodbye to their youth and hello to adulthood and new beginnings. Prolonging youth was just one of many reasons for justifying a yearlong round the world escapade. Reprieve from stressful jobs, adventure, personal discovery (especially as it relates to relationships and men) and dreams were part of the mix too. It was also a way to buy some time before committing to mortgages, marriage and ever more demanding jobs.

Their adventure spanned four continents - actually five if you include a two week stopover in New York City on their way through to Africa. Peru and Brazil were the first countries visited and it was here that the girls worked out the teething issues related to traveling as a threesome. They all had to learn to cope with 1 star toilets, gross, bug infested hostels and each other. But my hat goes off to all of them. Throughout the trip they demonstrated time and time again that the group was bigger than the individual. They all became adept at compromise. They learned to communicate honestly. They became a sisterhood.

Their experience in Kenya volunteering with young girls started with no clear-cut plan. The onus was on them to decide how best to use their time and engage the girls. They put their New York City savvy to use and in only a month wrote and directed a play they can forever be proud of – “A Tree Grows in Kenya”. It tells the story of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan woman and powerful role model for the young girls. Wangari started a grassroots program for improving the quality of life by planting trees - 40 million of them so far. The play has national distribution and the Lost Girls have an enduring legacy.

A number of poor decisions are chronicled as the trio continues their adventures and misadventures through Asia and into Australia and New Zealand. The girls were remarkably candid about their emotional highs and lows, romantic struggles, their joys and their hopes.

I found the book to be lengthy (33 chapters) and in my opinion some chapters could have been shortened or omitted altogether. The structure and flow of the book was good though, as each girl took turns telling the story from their viewpoint in a chronological manner.

Jen, Holly and Amanda show the world that it’s possible to drop everything, and follow your heart and your dream.  They will inspire another generation of adventurers.

Leigh McAdam

www.hikebiketravel.com

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