The author travels the world meeting a variety of interesting locals, his aim is to meet real people in their real lives then offer one a chance to visit him in America, a trip they would never be able to take in their real life.
A good read, well written. I especially liked the final chapter discussing the visit to America, although that chapter is a little predictable.

Bookring so far: Proposed order so far:
scrutiny (Hong Kong, post INTL) -done-
lmn60 (Australia, post anywhere)
martinburo (uk, anywhere
Vamperstein8782 (uk, europe pref)
nissokone (uk, post anywhere)
24-7-365Reader (uk, post anywhere)
nikel27 (post within Europe)
Bookgeo (in Finland, will post anywhere)
spoiledrotten (post US only)
princess-peapod (USA) ---Traveling Here ---
(Last person please try and pass the book to another bcer or leave in an OZBC)

Please try to get the book on to the next person within a month of recieving it tops. Let me know if there are any problems with this. Hope you all enjoy

This copy went missing on the journey, a new book is finishin g the ring, the je for the replacement book can be found here http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6583015

Sent to Hong Kong over the weekend

Arrived in Hong Kong, will start reading soon!

Never finished it! But I don't want to hold up the bookring, so sending it on to lmn60 today. Please enjoy!

Arrived safely in my letterbox today - I have a couple of other books ahead of this one, but hopefully will manage to do some 'big' reading over the Easter break and move this one on in a timely fashion.....

Although I could appreciate Newsham's reports of his travels in search of a stranger to invite back to the US, I found myself increasingly irritated by his tendency to 'waffle' and his, at times, superficial response to the third world people and places he visits.

I also became more and more annoyed at his plan to invite a person to the US - his motives didn't seem very clearly delineated to me, and smacked of self-aggrandizement. I often found myself thinking, 'If he really wants to help someone in the third world, perhaps he could have stayed on at Mother Theresa's for more than a day, or sponsored a child in Kenya rather than writing a book about his quest'.

Still, some of Newsham's observations have rekindled my own travel bug - and I've once again started saving in order to 'hit the road'!

Thanks for sharing this one with me katrinat - I have PMed martinburo for his address and will send it on as soon as I receive it.

I read this as part of a group and we had the same criticisms, also the belief that America was the promised land and that a visit there would improves someones life. I think the pricipal was a great idea but everyone will have some criticism of his choices.

Posting to martinburo in the morning. This one is travelling by slow boat to the UK!

Thanks

Well, I had hoped for something more profound. The description of the 100 days of travel were very average travelling experiences, some wonderfull, some not so great, and were not more meaningful because of BN's decision to invite one of the people he met home. At least I was relieved that BN noticed how all the contacts he was describing were with men a chapter after that had started to make me suspicious of why that was. I'm sure that he is right that his guest is this totally wonderful person who brings out the best in everybody they visited, and I know that he is right when he laments that even though when he's a relatively rich person in a poor country, he's not actually rich enough to make a structural difference in the lives of so many poor, but I still thought that this book did not make the world a better place. Maybe the problem is that my expectations were too high.

I have the address of Vamperstein8782, and I will post this in three weeks when I'm back from holidays and a work meeting.

Sorry about the delay. Sent this off 10 December.

Not sure when this actually arrived (the housemates have taken to 'hiding' mail) but I unearthed it this morning. Looking forward to some quality reading time over the holidays and will get this out as early as possible in the new year.

I really enjoyed this book in the beginning, but from about halfway I was getting bored with Newsham's "waffling" style and did find myself at times thinking 'what was the point of including that incident?' (the bit about the fly and the woman on the bus to South Africa was one). But then maybe I was expecting too much; the only other book of this sort that I've read was Bill Bryson's Down Under which I found not only informative but hugely funny. While Take Me With You did make me think 'I never knew that' on occasion I didn't really come away thinking I'd actually learned anything.

I was also disappointed that he came across as wanting to invite a stranger home purely to show off his home country and that he didn't always seem to appreciate that, while his actions were most likely led by good intentions, the "stranger" might find some other course of action more beneficial to their life back home. I'm sure in reality he wasn't like it (I like to think the best of people!) but within the pages he came across smacking of "I can fix this, I know what's best for you".

For the most part the travel experiences were pretty much the same as I expect any visitor to these countries would find. While I haven't travelled to anywhere in the Third World I have certainly experienced many similar acts of hospitality and general kindness wherever I have roamed, and have repaid them whenever I can.

I would have liked to see more than 12 pages dedicated to the month-long trip to America at the end, and possibly even a little bit of that person's thoughts in their own words... maybe even a few pages about how the "folks back home" managed for a month without that person - that would have really made the book for me. Although, to be fair I haven't looked at the author's website so there might be more there.

Waiting for nissokone's address and then I'll get this in the mail.
*Update: 20th Feb. No response from nissokone and nothing on an ISO so have PM'd 24-7-365Reader who's next on the list*

Sorry for the delay, my car died on Friday so I haven't had a chance to get to the post office until today. Now on the way to 24-7-365Reader.

Arrived yesterday, 1 in front of it, will start soon, thanks for sharing :)

Just to keep you updated, I have sent a message to the next person on the list. I will be finished the book over the weekend so I will journal then

I enjoyed this more than I thought I was going to at the start, and I am glad that I stuck with it, a good story about places that I will probably never travel to (because I am not that brave!), he met some very different people, but I do think he was a little careless at times wondering off with people he had never met before but then again that's why he travels and I don't. I think he picked the right person in the end, although maybe he shouldn't have squeezed that visit all into one chapter, but all in all a good read. Thanks for sharing.

Reserved, waiting for the next address

arrived safe at my house (during vacation April, 27th - May, 25th 2009), 1 more BookRing to read before I can start here.

update:
Good read, thanks for sharing with me.
Asked for the next members address.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

EnJoy the book as I did.

Many thanks nikel27, the book arrived to Finland today. I will start reading it asap.

Finally I have finished reading about Mr. Newshams travels after returning home from my own summer holiday journeys.

I read this book to reflect on the writer's observations of the colourful places he visits, like a "normal" travelogue. Newsham writes quite vividly and is almost able to transport the reader to the sceneries he sees, the noises he hears and emotions he senses during his hundred days of travel. Thus it was an enjoyable read, although the latter half perhaps was a bit duller. The idea of bringing someone back to visit the States was easily bringing controversial feelings, so I did not concentrate on that side of the book so much.

All in all, I do think travelling is one of the finest things you can choose to day on your spare time. It has been my passion since teenager years and I seem to never get enough of it :).

I have PM'd spoiledrotten to confirm her address in RABCK.com is still valid, but received no response. To get this book forward, I will trust to use the RABCK.com address and mail the book to USA tomorrow. Thank you for the ring!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book will now travel across the ocean to spoiledrotten. Enjoy and greetings from Finland!

What a surprise to receive this in the mail went I returned from a weekend camping trip. Thanks so much for including me and Bookgeo for sending( glad you checked RABCK.com as I never received your pm). This book will be next up after I am done with my current read.

08/20/09 I do agree with most of the previous comments. I found the book to be interesting and entertaining and it did give me a little more insight to some places I will probably never visit. I too would have enjoyed a little more about the time spent in the USA at the end. Thanks for sending and including me.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

sent off this morning to princess-peapod so this book can continue on its journey!

arrived while I was out of town this week....will get to soon!

If you found this book while in the area of San Luis Obispo, CA. feel free to come by and check out Joe Mommas which houses our bookshelf! We also hold our local meetups on the first Tuesday of each month at 5pm there, please come join the fun! The books on the shelf are free to for you to read, enjoy and pass along to another!

Dropping off to the bookcart at the hospital in an attempt to get new readers for this book & to clear off my overflowing bookcases! I liked this book, but it wasn't quite what I had expected either.


"A book is a mysterious object, I said, and once it floats out into the world, anything can happen. All kinds of mischief can be caused, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. For better or worse, it's completely out of your control."
Paul Auster