April 2, 2012
After his father suddenly dies, the then 39-year-old Budd, a freelance journalist, goes through a classic existential crisis: “What will people say when I’m gone?” he asks himself. “What if my own life ends in an instant? What have I accomplished?” Seeking answers to these questions as well as ways to tackle his grief leads Budd to immerse himself in a life devoted to volunteer work. In this sincere and subtly written memoir, Budd gracefully—and often humorously—records how he changes “emotionally, physically, spiritually” as he travels to work with “people with real problems and different perspectives.” Budd begins his journey in New Orleans, helping victims of Hurricane Katrina, then moves on to teach English to elementary school children in rural Costa Rica. But these two experiences become the genesis of a broader project—the heart of his memoir—to make four more trips in nine months, volunteering in Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. His underlying theme of learning to “be trained in patience and compassion” overlaps with not only his grief over his father but also his coming to terms with his and his wife’s decision not to have children. In Kenya, Budd finally experiences a spiritually uplifting resolution of his journey of self-discovery, realizing that “we live up to those who shaped us by honoring their strongest values, by caring for those we cherish, and caring for those that they cherished.”
March 1, 2012
A travel memoir, volunteer-style. After the death of his father, Budd confronted the age-old question about life's purpose. With no sufficient answers, he volunteered to help with hurricane relief in New Orleans. What started as a work-sponsored week of helping out morphed into a full-fledged journey to find himself by traveling the world as a volunteer. But volunteer tourism brought a whole new set of questions--e.g., how helpful can he really be in two weeks and whether these trips make him a better person or a worse one. "My renewed quest to be a better person began with my being a selfish jerk," he writes. Though he's often an unsympathetic narrator, his honesty helps readers accept the flaw and keeps him relatable. Each of six trips--New Orleans, Costa Rica, China, Ecuador, Palestine and Kenya--makes up a section of the book, with vivid details about his experience in each place delivered through vignette-like memories of certain days and moments. Travelers will recognize the mish-mash of memories that accompany trips like these, but the narrative occasionally feels like an unedited journal. Readers may wonder when they'll find their way back to the narrative thread, but they will still enjoy the journey. Ultimately, Budd comes to his conclusions about life quietly, with little of the fanfare common in memoirs. For much of the story this works well, but questions will linger over his relationship with his wife and his plans for future volunteer trips. Not for readers easily frustrated with wandering thoughts, but a solid introduction to the world of volunteer tourism and a pleasant diversion for those who don't mind a winding road.
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June 1, 2012
After a year of retirement, freelance writer Budd's father drops dead on a golf course. This causes Budd to reevaluate his own life and, especially, the prospect that he and his wife won't have any children. With no genetic legacy, he looks to make a difference in another way. He decides to get out of his comfort zone and do volunteer work, for weeks at a time, both stateside and abroad. Starting with rebuilding homes in New Orleans and ending with working at an orphanage in Kenya (with stints in Costa Rica, China, Ecuador, and Palestine in between), he encounters universal sorrows, hopes, hardships, disappointments, and injustices while he confronts his own fear and anger. But don't let this summary deceive you: this is an extremely funny book. VERDICT One of the best-written travel memoirs this reviewer has read in a long time, Budd's book spins a compelling yarn, linking six varied experiences into a cohesive narrative. Recommended for anyone who has been, or is interested in becoming, a "voluntourist."--Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 15, 2012
In his early forties, writer Budd both lost his father to a sudden heart attack and realized he and his wife would never be parents themselves. Turning inward, Budd consciously decided to cope with these midlife traumas by giving of himself, signing up to rebuild Katrina-ravaged homes in New Orleans. Now bitten by the bug of voluntourism (a sort of extreme travel, with a do-gooder bent, wherein vacationers volunteer in exchange for generally bare-bones accommodation), Budd's next trips have him teaching English in Costa Rica, assisting special-needs students in China, doing grunt labor as part of a global-warming-observation team in Ecuador, performing odd jobs in Palestine, and working at an orphanage in Kenya. His father's words are with him throughout Anything worth doing is worth doing right; You achieve success when others succeed giving him a boost at innumerable moments of uphill burden. Readers of this unique travel memoir will undoubtedly be inspired to take a voluntour of their own, and the author includes helpful tips on how to do just that.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)