I haven’t really recovered since I finished Bucket List of a Traveloholic by Sarika Pandit on Sunday.
I started this book on Saturday morning and even though this was one of the most hectic weekends of recent times, I still took breaks every now and then to squeeze in my reading of this book. It’s that addictive!
So what’s the book about?
Sarika Pandit is a bored MBA student when one day depressed at her lack of better grades, she makes a promise to herself to have every page of her passport stamped by the time she is 30.
The rest of the book is about how she goes about achieving her ambition, the places she goes to, and the experiences she gets.
My Review
The book is structured very systematically. Each chapter devoted to one country or trip. Her writing style is entertaining and readable. I also love how her enthusiasm for travel and the places she visits just leaps from the page.
A lot of Indians are terrible travelers – concerns about food, safety, clothing, value for money etc. She throws all those concerns into the dustbin and just enjoys every minute of her trip. Of course, there are a few moments when she panics or worries, but they are all treated very light-heartedly and impartially. For example, a troubling visa moment when she enters Israel could have blighted her entire trip but it was great how she shrugged it off and proceeded along with the rest of the journey with optimism and joie de vivre.
Yes, that’s the word I am looking for in this review. This book is the very essence of joie de vivre and reading it brought a little adventure and joy into my daily humdrum life as well.
If I have a complaint about the book, it is that it could have been better produced – it definitely deserved better design to do justice to all the photographs in it. Speaking of photographs, it would have also been better if they were placed close to the concerned section of the book, rather than tucked away at the back of the chapter.
However, apart from these nit-picks, I really enjoyed this read and highly recommend it for travel junkies and even timid travelers. It will really inspire you to plan your next journey.
Huge thanks to Fingerprint Publishing for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
This is a great article. Following you now. Follow me at preeti-pooja@blogspot.com
I love the idea of being a world traveler. This sounds like a great book, although the images probably would really make it a home run if they were better. What a shame! Thanks for linking up with the #smallvictoriessundaylinky! You have been pinned to the group board!
@katyblevins:disqus Thanks for the pin, Katy 🙂
What a great challenge and story. I would love to travel the world and wish I had done morbefore having kids. I am Indian American and I am totally curious on how she faces her worries. Stopping by from Spread the Love linky party.
I hope you will link up with my #SmallVictoriesSundaylinky party too that’s open all week. http://momssmallvictories.com/small-victories-sunday-linkup-21/
@disqus_jZnKAatlbx:disqus I too wish I had traveled more before having kids. Now it’s much harder to find the time to go collectively as a family, and it’s way more cumbersome and expensive.
Thanks for the URL to the linkup, Tanya. I have added my posts there. You have a great blog, I”ll do a full read through some time.
Thanks for visiting 🙂
Thanks Nishita! So glad you linked up this book and another post with us!
What a fun concept for a book! I’m doing much more travel, now, than I did when I was younger, but I don’t know if I’ll fill my passport!
@joyweesemoll:disqus I am beginning to think I’ll never fill my passport too Joy 🙁
However, K assures me if I travel to Europe and visit each and every country there, I may be able to do so easily, so that’s an option 😀
I love travel books! This one sounds like it’s worth picking up, even if it’s a little touristy.
@aprilthesteadfastreader:disqus it is pretty touristy and I won’t recommend for a hard-core traveler looking for an authentic experience. But for me who’s never visited the places she has but longs to go, it was a lovely feel good read.
I too like this book but the photos could have been in color and as you said they could have been included along with the text. This could have been an excellent photo-journal. The author’s writing style is impressive but she could have taken some more risks and ventured outside ‘touristy’ places. I feel.
@Destination Infinity I agree but her choice of places are hers and I can’t comment on that much. What I like is how she made even the not-so-interesting places (thinking Slovenia) sound like great places to visit.
Funny – I just read another travelogue (not yet published; I’m helping edit it) and he talks about how great Slovenia is. I’ve been there myself and agree. It might just be the next big thing!
@disqus_EuKUliXNTm:disqus It must be. This is the third time this week that I’ve heard about Slovenia. It must be the next happening place.
I love travelogues so I will definitely enjoy this. I agree with you on the cover, the first thing that came to my mind was that I’ve seen this girl picture before at least 3 times, the fonts are horrible, and the girl looks white. its just meh. We need better designers (ahem)
@Booksatvioletcrush.com Ahem, ahem indeed :D. Also, the inside photos are all black and white and you can barely make out anything. This book really needed a few glossy pages with color photos. I suppose there wasn’t the budget for it though.
btw, I saw your design portfolio (link through your instagram), you’ve done some fantastic stuff. Awesome!
aw thanks, it’s a lot of hard work 🙂
Super intrigued by this! Thanks for sharing. Nishita, where do you get all the Indian ARCs from? They seem to send you a perfectly intriguing assortment!
@jenbookscribbles:disqus there are a bunch of publishing houses in India. This one is from Fingerprint publishing and i respect the books that come out of here a lot, they are always pretty interesting and well-edited. Some other publishers are Rupa Publications and Shrishti Publications.
Apart from that the big publishers like Harper-Collins, Random House, and sometimes Bloomsbury also publish Indian authors. So, there’s a lot of variety in the domestic publishing scene.
It’s harder for me to get my hands on books from other countries.
Sounds intriguing! I love reading personal travel books like these. They definitely cater to my wish-I-were-traveling more side. I will have to look up this one – I don’t think I’ve heard about this.
@athirac:disqus it’s a fairly new book I think, not many reviews up yet for it.