PIcked up at a book exchange at a book club meeting December 8, 2014.

A different kind of adventurer. Normally the people I read about who have gone forth into the world to try out different "lives" have been young, athletic, and gifted in some ways. Rita Golden Gelman, while certainly gifted in some ways, started her journey relatively late in life and did not have the perfect athletic body, ready for anything. I think this is what made her "relatable" to me.

As her marriage starts to fall apart, Gelman decides to break away from the life she has led for so many years. Almost on a whim she heads for Mexico, where she lives happily for one month, then more, learning the language and getting to know many people. She has many adventures and returns home sadder because her marriage is no more but happier and more confident because she's finding out so much about herself at last.

Thus begins her life as a nomad. Like traditional nomads, she doesn't just drift into a place, glance around, and then leave for the next place. She stays a while. She becomes part of the local community, giving as well as getting. How is she able to do this? Apart from learning the language, which she does to some extent in each locale, she is able to teach English. She also is able to write and can use this skill to get places as well as to make money on the road. Most importantly, though, Rita is clearly a people person. She thrives on friendships, on having people around, on learning and teaching. She clearly gains energy from being around others and they tend to benefit from her presence. I think this is her most important gift.

So overall I enjoyed the book. For me, there were aspects that bothered me. While I understand and applaud her sensitivity in trying to accept and become part of each community, thus doing as the natives do and not judging or trying to change things, I put myself in her place at times and realized I could not be part of an animal sacrifice ritual, nor could I cheerfully go eel hunting or mussel catching and eating. I also connected some behaviors with further devastation of the earth and water, even if the effects were not apparent in that particular location. We hear about the wonderful food in Thailand but not about the shrimp farming, for example.

In fact, after the beginnings, when Gelman shared her difficulties in accepting the dissolution of her marriage, she went on to be pretty much ecstatic about almost everything else. It was all exciting, all wonderful. Yes, there are moments of questions or times when she misses her family, but overall this book is so "happy" that it became much like surfing the travel channel. I simply craved more introspection and awareness of the larger world as well as the inner world.

On a table inside.