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.

More Lust than Wander

What did you like best about Wanderlust? What did you like least?

I realize that the author's sexual exploits are part of the story, but I felt that it became redundant. Girl goes to new country. Girl meets guy. Girl has sex with guy until she decides she's tired of him. Girl moves on to new country and new guy. There's the story, in a nutshell.

What was most disappointing about Elisabeth Eaves’s story?

Maybe it was the narrator, but I felt the story was cold. I also thought it would be more about her travels and the experiences she had in the various countries, not focused mainly on who she hooked up with along the way.

Do you think Wanderlust needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Please, no. Once was enough.

Any additional comments?

I finished the book because I paid for it and was hoping, in the end, it would somehow reconcile itself. It didn't.

Travel for Love and Love of Travel

Elizabeth Eaves takes you all over the world in this very personal account of her love affair with travel. We see the world through her eyes, but we also see the phenomenon of who we become when we explore a new place alone.

"I traveled for love, and loved to travel, making it hard to disentangle cause from effect." Eaves's motivation is often love, or lust, and really, there is no "right" way to take a personal journey. She fell in love with who she became when she travelled, and the fulfillment she gained from her affairs along the way.

Unguarded and truthful, this audiobook helps reveal the siren's song of travel that's been calling all along. I'm ready to ditch my attachments and set out to find the world.

It could have been good...

What would have made Wanderlust better?

I read many reviews saying that this story was focused too much on the sex, and that there was too much condescension from the author. And to a degree they were right, but my main issue is that it commits a much greater sin in that the majority of it is just plain boring. For having such a large quantity of life experiences in foreign lands, one would think she might have something a little more interesting to say about them other than the most shallow and obvious of observations, or else what guy she is trying to sleep with. One doesn't even get the sense that she genuinely even likes traveling, but rather that it is a great excuse to not have to face the realities of life, and a great way to sleep with people guilt free. Too many unimportant (at least in my own personal opinion) details are dwelt on endlessly, while many things that would start to pique my interest are glossed over almost as an after thought. Which is really too bad. As far as the sex stuff goes, I really didn't mind it too much, except when it seemed to take the focus to extremes, or else served to make me dislike the author as a person, and I give her credit for at least being honest about her affairs. Her diction was good, though there were several instances where I felt a metaphor was used that was completely non sensical, and one occasionally got the distinct impression that she went through the entire thing with a thesaurus without giving much thought to how the sentences actually flowed. If it weren't for the interesting, but brief, middle part of the story, it's very unlikely I would have finished. A lot of potential here, but sadly unrealized

Would you ever listen to anything by Elisabeth Eaves again?

Not likely. I find her outlook and ideas behind things to be quite uninteresting.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

well enough, yes.

More of a Journal of sex conquests than travel

Very disappointing. I was expecting a travelogue. Instead, it chronicles a young woman's pathetic love life and how she lures men into relationships, calling it love, and then bails out, escaping commitment, leaving a trail of broken hearts. That's just the first half of the book, I couldn't tolerate listening any further. If you're looking for ways to hurt people, this book's for you.

Terrible waste of time

This was a free Audible book from Travelzoo. You have to wonder, did anyone at Travelzoo read or listen to this book? Did they choose it for travelers because of the title?

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.

should have been titled "wander&lust"

What was most disappointing about Elisabeth Eaves’s story?

First quarter of the book definitely has her good and adventurous travel experiences. The part where she decides to go to Australia, i should have stopped listening.

From then on, same pattern continues, she would go to different countries, find a western boyfriend, do whatever activities he does, get close with him, move away, find another bf, confused, wander, breakups, and the list goes on. I really do not think she gained anything from her travel experiences. In her own words, "she is addicted to double life" , not necessarily cheat on the current bf but have feelings and longing for a different one.
Once in a while she reminds the reader how many countries she has visited, I was rolling my eyes. I am usually not this critical, and i usually do not write a review. But this is so bad that I had to write a review.
I would have appreciated her story if she made an attempt to see the world she was traveling, all she saw was men and relationships. She barely talks abt locals and their culture.

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!! 😀

wasted my time

I really wanted to like this but it fell flat. The main character is not very likeable to me. She seems immature and unable to commit. I was looking forward to an adventure but was uninspired. Some of her descriptions of the countries she visited were interesting but overall this was a flop for me.

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.

Not unusual enough to interesting

A bit too much of a typical western traveler. More interested in drinking and shagging than the local customs, culture or how they might feel about such behaviour. She is not unusual in her attitude to other cultures but personally having encountered a few people 'travellers' it was not very interesting or inspiring.

Honest

I really enjoyed the honesty around this audio book. I thought that Elizabeth was very open and honest around what drove her decisions and her story which is rare it is as much a personal auto biography of her romantic life as travel journal. Too typically travel experiences are sugar coated Elizabeth. The story covers her experiences from early twenties and I think that her romantic history reflects that. This held my attention I enjoyed her reflection on wanderlust and travelling rather than the normal bragging of travel experience or immersion into a culture which becomes normal life. I like the dimension of perceptions of wanderlust maturing as she has.

I loved it

As a mid 30's single female traveller, I was able to easily identify with her stories and struggles, very easy to read, an open honest, easy to relate to style of writing! If you have wanderlust and are thinking about what's driving you or how long you will continue to live this way, its a comforting and enjoyable read!😻 ps. the 1st half will make you wanna go travelling so much!

Loved It!

I loved how the book was written. the Author didn't just write about her experiences in the different countries she visited on the different continents. There was a back story and a beautiful self discovery as she found herself at the end.