All over the place Adventures in travel, true love, and petty theft

Geraldine DeRuiter

Book - 2017

A travel blogger who has no sense of direction and motion sickness chronicles the five-year period she traveled the world, discovering love, numerous places to call home, and herself.

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Subjects
Genres
Biographies
Autobiographies
Travel writing
Published
New York : PublicAffairs [2017]
Language
English
Main Author
Geraldine DeRuiter (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
274 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781610397636
  • A disclaimer
  • Gelato is an excellent substance in which to drown your sorrows
  • Sometimes you run screaming from the person you're madly in love with
  • The contents of my mother's carry-on look like evidence from a prison riot
  • In which I am surprised to learn that getting lost doesn't bring about the apocalypse
  • Life lessons from a three-hundred-year-old dead guy and his boring clock
  • You take the grenade my mom brought to dinner; I'll book our flight: finding balance in relationships
  • Marry someone who will help you deal with your shit
  • Listen to your heart, even if it tells you to steal things
  • Home is where your MRI is
  • It's always easier to leave for a trip than to be left behind
  • Bucket lists are just plain greedy
  • Is there a Gaelic word for "I'm freaked out about our marriage"?
  • Salvation looks a lot like Wisconsin
  • Turns out, things aren't always what they seem
  • Munich: land of sausages and epiphanies
  • Where there's a Fiat, there's a way
  • Just go.
Review by Booklist Review

Those seeking a book of travel advice should look elsewhere. DeRuiter (author of The Everywhereist blog) travels, yes, but she has a terrible sense of direction and is forever getting lost. She's anxious and jobless, too, but she has somehow turned these difficulties into a hilarious, slightly off-color, laugh-out-loud read. When she can't find a job, she begins traveling with her husband, who's constantly on the road. The destinations are the framework for DeRuiter's sometimes raucous accounts of life on the road; what is most significant, however, is how those experiences are funneled through the lens of her slightly off-kilter viewpoint. She comes by it naturally: a colorful Italian mother, a stoic but ultimately endearing father, and a pesky brother have allowed themselves to be fodder for DeRuiter's book. One aspect of DeRuiter's life shines: she is happily married to a patient and caring man. Though, just as the reader begins to tire of their perfect marriage, troubles appear, and the reader reengages in sympathy.--Curbow, Joan Copyright 2017 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Getting laid off from a job she adored opened the door to the blogosphere for DeRuiter, as she explains this irreverent, yet warm-hearted memoir. Readers of her blog the Everywhereist will be familiar with the author's style of using her personality quirks and health issues as the foundation for her conversation with the reader and revelations on life. "I hail from a long, nervous line of hypochondriacs," DeRuiter explains. Being afraid of travel and lacking a sense of direction haven't hindered her but rather helped her explore the world. "So, if there is any advice I could dispense, it would be this: it's absolutely incredible the things you can learn from not having a clue about where you're going." Her intimate memoir chronicles her adventures during the seven years she spent crisscrossing the globe, learning to understand and accept quirky family members. The author delves into her relationship with a workaholic-but-loving husband and a serious health crisis. DeRuiter's memoir is a light-hearted look at travel and learning to live life to the fullest each day, even if you not quite sure where you are going. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Early in her book of autobiographical essays, DeRuiter, who writes the Everywhereist blog, self-deprecatingly warns readers not to expect a comprehensive travel guide. Instead of providing advice about the best attractions in a given city, DeRuiter uses the theme of "travel" as a framing device to share humorous stories about her marriage and her complicated relationships with her immediate family. After being laid off, DeRuiter began joining her husband on his frequent work trips around the globe. It was supposed to be temporary until she found another job, but somehow the traveling life-and the blog she started about it-stuck. DeRuiter never takes herself too seriously, not even when talking about her brain tumor, which she nicknamed "Steve." The book is roughly chronological and is divided into episodic chapters, each around 20 to 40 minutes in length. Highlights include any appearance by the author's quixotic mother and -DeRuiter's odyssey to connect with her -father by hunting down an antiquarian clock. DeRuiter is a charming narrator, -especially because, as she admits, she's unable to mimic accents well. VERDICT An excellent memoir that will appeal to fans of Sarah Vowell. Highly recommended for all collections.-Julie Judkins, Univ. of North Texas, Denton © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A travel memoir from the author of a popular blog.Upon losing her comfortable job at a small board game company when the company went out of business, DeRuiter floundered for a while. It was 2008, the global economy was in recession, and she wasn't sure what to do next. At her husband's suggestion, the author started a travel blog, and the Everywhereist became immensely popular, eventually receiving mentions on several top-blog lists. DeRuiter's first book recounts the circumstances that led to the blog, as well as stories about her eccentric parents, her life with her husband, Rand, and various exploits from their travels together. True to its title, the book wanders all over the place, and the result can be off-putting. The author's observations rarely make it past surface level, and the witticisms for which she is known can be less-than-charming. In fact, without more substantive material to back them up, they grow tiresome. "That's what's incredible about love," she notes at one point. "It's nothing like the movies. It happens to mere mortals, manifesting while they're standing in line for groceries or getting a dental check-up or renewing their license at the DMV." Unfortunately, DeRuiter often delivers aphorisms that are less insightful than trite (i.e., love can happen to regular people), and the self-deprecating doubling-back doesn't help: "I'm lying about that last one," she continues in this particular passage. "Love has never, ever thrived at the DMV. That place is where love goes to die. But I'm pretty sure those other examples are sound." Readers who are charmed by this sort of thing might find a lot to like here, but many will be exasperated by DeRuiter, who describes in gory detail an episode involving a clogged toilet but barely describes the places she actually visited. Despite her strenuous attempts to be funny, more often than not, the author falls flat. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.