Almost Anywhere

Road-Trip Ruminations on Love, Nature, Recovery, and Nonsense

By: Krista Schlyer

Narrated by: Marisa Vitali

Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

What do you do when your world ends? At 28 years old, Krista Schlyer sold almost everything she owned and packed the rest of it in a station wagon bound for the American wild. Her two best friends joined her - one a grumpy, grieving introvert, the other a feisty dog - and together they sought out every national park, historic site, forest, and wilderness they could get to before their money ran out or their minds gave in. The journey began as a desperate escape from urban isolation, heartbreak, and despair but became an adventure beyond imagining.

Chronicling their colorful escapade, Almost Anywhere explores the courage, cowardice, and heroics that live in all of us as well as the life of nature and the nature of life. This eloquent and accessible memoir is at once an immersion in the pain of losing someone particularly close and especially young and a healing journey of a broken life given over to the whimsy and humor of living on the road.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2015 Krista Schlyer (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

No a travelogue - its a diary

I expected this book to be more about the places that she visited instead it's just more of a diary about her and the passing of her boyfriend. It's well-written and she does a nice job but it's listed is a book about her traveling around the country which she does, but reality is that it's more about her personal feelings. It's more of a long diary then anything else. It's well-written and I enjoyed listening to it but don't expect it to cover too much of the places that she knows it's. It's more about her personal experiences.

Hard to listen to

I thought about quitting this book every time I started listening. Although parts were well written and I enjoyed listening to and learning about the various national parks,history, wildlife, scenic hiking trails and beautiful lakes and rivers , it felt like a lecture much of the book. Her personal story was a bit more compelling but something was just off-putting about the narration. Occasional humor and occasional raw emotion but mostly just hard to get through.

Enjoyed the book, but the reader could have been better.

Several place names were mispronounced by the reader, distracting and detracting from an otherwise good Audible listen.

Ponder life

Took a little to get into, but once you feel what the writer feels and sees, then you start get her love and sorrow throughout the book.
Very well written and emotional book, worthy of a listen and if you prefer in hand, probably a good read.
(for the reader of the book, Gila is pronounced /hee-luh/)

Interesting listen

It was lovely to hear what wonderful & diverse national parks we have. It was sad hearing about the author’s loss of her beloved Daniel. But by the end, the book became background noise to my car rides.

Sad to get to the end

What made the experience of listening to Almost Anywhere the most enjoyable?

Enjoyed a story of dealing with grief and healing through nature.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the adventures with her dog and friend. It made me feel like I spent time with friends.

Have you listened to any of Marisa Vitali’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't heard any of her other performances but enjoyed this one. She adds expression to the characters and made me think the author could be reading it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

At 10 hours it is a little llong for that. I preferred to savor it on my commute to and from work.

Inspiring!

A wonderful combination of personal memoir and travelogue. I felt like the author was speaking to me throughout. So very inspiring!

Profanity

I barely got started. Don’t want to hear the profanity. Reader was good. Wish I didn’t buy

So bad I trired to return it

Bad writing, annoyingly overdone adjectives and similes. Annoying narration. It made me angry to listen to it.

Weak

In spite of skilled writing, this Audible selection suffers from inept narration (mispronunciations abound) and an author who seems self-absorbed and entitled. Schlyer’s descriptions of the wildlife, flora, and natural elements found in our national parks is soaring and beautiful, but it takes a backseat to her whining self-pity and immature perspectives. This manifests in occasional crude phrasing, depiction of childish behavior, and use of the F word, Most people who have suffered grief will relate to her experience, but not to her privilege in being able to take a year off of life to travel the country in search of solace. I would like to read this author in 30 years, when she has come to a more serene understanding that life is filled with pain.