Wanderlust

A Love Affair with Five Continents

By: Elisabeth Eaves

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Spanning 15 years of travel, beginning when she is a sophomore in college, Wanderlust documents Elisabeth Eaves’ insatiable hunger for the rush of the unfamiliar and the experience of encountering new people and cultures. Young and independent, she crisscrosses five continents and chases the exotic, both in culture and in romance. In the jungles of Papua New Guinea, she loses herself - literally - to an Australian tour guide; in Cairo, she reconnects with her high school sweetheart, only to discover the beginning of a pattern that will characterize her life over the long-term: while long-distance relationships work well for her, traditional relationships do not.

Wanderlust, however, is more than a chronological conquest of men and countries: at its core, it’s a journey of self-discovery. In the course of her travels, Eaves finds herself and the sense of home she’s been lacking since childhoodand she sheds light on a growing culture of young women who have the freedom and inclination to define their own, increasingly global, lifestyles, unfettered by traditional roles and conventions of past generations of women.

©2011 Elisabeth Eaves (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Enjoyable book

I enjoyed listening to this book and the author’s experiences. It solidified some of my travel limits—I never want to just live out of my backpack in the woods for 2 weeks. I consider myself pretty low maintenance, but I must have indoor plumbing. It helped me see how different people live their lives and the subculture I’d frequent travellers.

Wanderlust?

I agree with some of the others and would not be too proud of my daughter writing a book detailing love affairs with all the guys. Should have just stuck with the title "A love affair with five continents". And what's up with the "Englishman" was his real name forgotten? Wonder if she ever settled down.

Amazing... Emotional

This is my first review ever and I have listened to hundreds of audiobooks.
Thank you for such a wonderfully written book on traveling! Although I have not traveled abroad, it is my absolute dream and I plan to make it come true. Although I am 37 years old it still spoke to me. I actually cried when it was over!! The narrator was also a perfect match. Will definitely read again. Please write more books!! 😀

Describes people&places, but focuses on love life

Easy to listen to, hearing about different places and people around the world, but too graphic about love life. She is very adventurous, but very conflicted and impulsive. Almost done reading and not sure if she will change for the better...

Rename to "Lusting While Wondering"

I was really interested in reading this story about a young woman who travels the world. It started out promising enough but midway through the story I was exhausted by the author's romantic and sexual missteps. Perhaps I'm a bit of a prude so my critique may be a bit harsh. I lost interest in her relationships and was more engaged in her adventures traveling all over the world. She covers a lot of terrain in countries that wouldn't be top destinations and forges interesting friendships and learns about local cultures first-hand. That part of her story is eye-opening and I admired her courage for exploring areas that sometimes were harsh in terms of climate, terrain or politically unstable.

Not my style

I am glad this book was free. There was a little too much sex for my liking. Although an interesting story the main character was very hedonistic. The ending was a little murky.

Memorable...but mistitled

I had some troubles with this book, almost quit it three or four times but kept going and I think this was on the strength of the author's mind. I got the book because its title indicates a travel book, more or less. However it's really a memoir of a young woman in her 20s; even though she is compelled to travel, the traveling feels incidental. I think it should rather have been titled: "Love Affairs on Five Continents." The details of each love affair get tedious, but the exploration of the mind stays with you; I went through similar experiences in my 20s with the same lack of consciousness and self-centeredness (my perception, not hers) so there was a lot of resonance for me with some thought provoking passages about this period in life. I find myself from time to time thinking back on some of the very insightful things she writes about. One hard negative for me is that I wish she wouldn't use the F word so much, drags the narrative down (IMO). I would recommend it, though there are parts that could be edited down or out, and approach it as a memoir, not a travel account.

Loved it! I too have wanderlust!

Loved hearing about the exotic places she traveled. connected with her desire to put herself in different and difficult situations in strange lands.. the rush of confidence of doing so.. also connected with some the self reflection moments and how she slowly figured out her life patterns and motivations.. there was also the sex, who doesn't like a little sex in a story, this one had just enough and not too descriptive so to let your imagination fill in the rest and not ronch up the story.. I enjoyed the journey from young teen unknowing much except she wanted to travel to the older mature women with all her scares and regrets but now much more self aware.. I will listen to it again sometime for sure!

Resonates with my soul

Got through this book in 3 days...it will stick with me for the rest of my life.

Narrator

The narrator sounded computer generated. I wasn’t a fan. Overall it was a very detailed description of a traveler at heart. I appreciated her unabashed accounts of sexual exploration, even if others seem to be disgusted with it, because it provided a perspective that is not often shown in movies or other novels.