Journeys and Adventures

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia calmly entered the travel book/memoir/spiritual/self-help world in 2006 and soon caught fire—as of March 2009, the book had been on the New York Times Bestseller List for 110 weeks.

   In it, Elizabeth Gilbert, an American writer, shares intimate details of her journey from married woman living a predictable life in New York to single woman searching for pleasure in Italy, spirituality in India, and a balance between the two in Indonesia.

   The book was an instant success as women around the world identified with Gilbert’s struggle to discover herself, her beliefs, and the world around her: one reviewer on Amazon.com said “This is an excellent meditation on reclaiming the joy of living.”  (It helps that Oprah was enamored with the book, too, and has had at least two whole shows devoted to it.)

   Not everyone liked it, though–many found it too self-centered and too focused on Eastern religions.  New York Post’s book reviewer, Maureen Callahan, called it “narcissistic New Age reading.”

   No matter how you feel about the author, her ability to describe the luscious food and attractive people in Italy, her struggles with the devout spirituality of the people at the ashram in India, and her enchantment by the exotic flowers and intriguing people of Indonesia, means that anyone contemplating a trip to any of these destinations (or anyone who just loves adventure) could find something worth reading.

   And, it’s going to be made into a movie starring Julia Roberts soon!

   Want more information on Eat, Pray, Love?  Check out The Mindful Tourist’s Book Review of Eat, Pray, Love for an honest opinion from someone who appreciates socially conscious travel.  My Nguyen, a writer, enjoyed the book and shares a review of Eat, Pray, Love on Suite101.

This post is part of Friday’s Featured Travel Book series, where a travel book is featured every Friday.  There are plenty of other choices when it comes to travel books, so check out the Travel Books collection for more ideas.  And come back next Friday for a new book to add to your reading list!

So far, this blog has helped travelers understand foreign culinary faux pas by testing you on your global dining etiquette and made sure that travelers don’t make the “worst cultural mistakes” (eating with your left hand in India, refusing a lei in Hawaii, and blowing your nose in public in Japan are just some of the offenses covered).

   Now, I’m going to make sure you don’t break the law and end up in jail or paying a hefty fine in some foreign countries, because, according to an article in Budget Travel, there are some weird foreign laws:

• You cannot use more than 25 pennies at one time in Canada.
• Masks are not allowed in public in Denmark.
• Water guns will be seized if used in Cambodia.
• Failing to flush a public toilet in Singapore could result in a fine.
• You could get a ticket in the Philippines for driving a scooter in sandals.

foreign laws that sometimes get visitors in trouble:

• You’ll pay a heavy fine if you try to bathe in a fountain in Italy.
• During Ramadan, between sunrise and sunset, it is a criminal offense to eat, drink, or smoke in public in the United Arab Emirates.
• In Yemen, the maximum punishment for attempting to import pork products is death.

   And, according to Snopes.com and its list of true and false stories about laws, in case you once saw it in e-mail, it is false that a hunting license is required to set a mousetrap in California.  J

   Check out the links above for more “interesting” foreign laws to protect yourself in the future.

Related Posts

Don’t Gross Out the World: A Lesson in Global Dining Etiquette
World’s Worst Cultural Mistakes

You may remember that I participated in the Link/Postcard Exchange of 2009 courtesy of Lynne from A Malaysian Abroad.  My second postcard showed “a roadside hut selling Rambutans and Durians—The King of local fruits” which intrigued me enough to do some more research on the Durian and found some interesting facts:

• The fruit is known for its large size, thorny outside, and, apparently, unique odor.  Lynne mentioned the smell on her postcard—“you can smell them a mile away!”

• According to Wikipedia: “The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Regarded by some as fragrant, others as overpowering and offensive, the smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust. The odour has led to the fruit’s banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia.”

• The fruit comes from Brunei, Indoneisa, and Malaysia.

• Depending on the ripeness, the outside flesh can be eaten.

• The fruit is used in Malay candy, ice kachang (a special dessert from Malaysia), cookies, and ice cream (among other things).

• There are more than 30 “species” that produce the Durian and depending on the region, some people have a preference for certain species.

• Some folk beliefs in Asia include the idea that the Durian causes the eater to sweat profusely, it’s harmful when eaten with coffee or alcohol, and that it’s an aphrodisiac.

• A saying in Indonesian, ketibaan durian runtuh, translates to “getting a fallen durian” and means receiving an unexpected luck or fortune.

 Related Posts

A Postcard from Malaysia
Morocco: Cooking, Cuisine…and, of course, Couscous (With some Moroccan Recipes)