We Want to Go To There !

If you haven't yet read yesterday's blog post where I reviewed "The Longest Way Home," by Andrew McCarthy, please take a minute and do so now.  As you can see, Andrew is quite the world traveler these days.  I know there are many places I'd like to visit if given the opportunity.  I also wanted to see where in the world my fellow BWOBNY colleagues would like to visit.  We once all joked about renting a RV and trekking across the country to check out San Diego Comic Con and maybe we'll still do that one day.  In the meantime, here are there other places we'd like to visit:

Alan wants to go to Scotland, England, the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Germany.

Meanwhile, Eileen wants to visit New Zealand, France, the British Isles, Greece, and the Marquesa Islands.





Like Alan, Jess B. wants to go to Germany as well.  She would love to see the house her grandmother grew up in.  Mallory also wants to visit Germany because the pictures she has seen on the region are gorgeous and she'd like to learn more about the culture. 

Jess P. would like to stay in the good old USA and would love to go to California. She'd like to visit Ray (who helped our store when it was closing)  and then go to Disneyland since he lives close by.






 

Nancy wants to check out  Italy & Norway. Italy for the food and vineyards and history and beauty. Norway for my heritage.  

The closest that I've ever been to Norway was the area at Epcot.  The Norway ride featured these evil trolls that spooked me so much as a kid that I never want to visit the country.  Be careful over there, Nancy!
  

Rachel dreams about traveling to Ireland.  She is I'm fascinated by the music, culture, folklore, food, and the landscape.

Rebecca is going to be quite busy.  She'd like to see Scotland since both sides of her family go back there and she could also meet up with one of her Twitter friends.  Plus,  she has always wanted to go to Ireland, because she has heard it's gorgeous. Finally, she would also love to visit Greece, Egypt, and Israel for various reasons including her spiritual heritage.  






Rebecca is the queen of multi-tasking so if she got the opportunity to visit all those places in a week, she could do it!  

As for me, I've wanted to go to London since I was in high school.  I'd love to see Buckingham Palace, see a Robbie Williams concert, and pretend to be Ms. Moneypenny for the day.  Then I'd like to go to Paris and see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and and get a delicious desert at an outdoor cafe. After that, I'd like to go to Vienna and look for the Jesse to my Celine as in one of my favorite movies, Before Sunrise.  But before I do all that, I need to go to Glasgow, Scotland and visit my bestie and former Borders employee Melanie.  

Now, let's hear from our readers, where would you like to travel to?  Don't forget to check out yesterday's post where you can enter to win a copy of Andrew McCarthy's, "The Longest Way Home."   

The Longest Way Home

Almost everyone is familiar with actor Andrew McCarthy who rose to fame in the 80's film hits, "Pretty In Pink," "Weekend at Bernie's," and "St. Elmo's Fire," to name a few.  However, few people may have heard of Andrew's second career, travel writer.  When Andrew isn't acting or directing, he travels the world and writes about his travels for publications such as "National Geographic Traveler."  "The Longest Way Home," is Andrew's heartfelt memoir which focuses not on his acting career but how his love of travel helped him overcome his apprehension of settling down and marrying his fiancee without sacrificing his fiercely independent spirit.



I loved this book.  I was fortunate to receive an advance copy from the publisher, Free Press (a division of Simon & Schuster).  I couldn't put it down and I read certain passages several times to truly savor the book.  Andrew is a phenomenal storyteller.  His descriptions of his travels to places like Patagonia, the Amazon, and Mt. Kilimanjaro are vivid and make it easy to visualize these foreign sites in clear detail.  I also related to Andrew's relationship struggles.  All relationships require compromise and commitment but how do you compromise and commit without losing yourself?  Andrew did an excellent job of describing his emotions and thoughts as he tried to sort this out for himself.  Andrew may be a successful actor and a world-traveler but I, a 31 year old paralegal/book blogger was able to relate very well and I think most readers will relate to him easily as well.  This was a terrific book and I can't wait to read through Andrew's previous travel writings as linked on his website.  I recommend everyone travel to their local bookstore today and pick up a copy!

I also participated in a webchat recently with Andrew and some other bloggers from around the world.  Andrew read from his book and we were able to ask him questions via the web chat.  I asked him what places he would like to visit that he hasn't the opportunity to visit yet.  He replied Burma and the Atacama Desert and added that he really loves deserts. I then inquired as to what advise he'd give someone like me who was on a tight budget but was anxious to see the world.  He said world traveler is cheaper than you think, that it can be done with little money if you're determined and you should just go.

So today, I set off, not to any foreign city but to Ridgewood, NJ to meet Andrew McCarthy at his signing at Bookends.  Bookends is great little bookstore with lots of events.  I was lucky enough to not only get a signed copy for myself but to get one autographed copy to raffle off right here on the blog!  Please comment below and tell us where in the World would you like to visit, then follow through the Rafflecopter prompts.  Now, off to the Rafflecopter we go.  Raffle is open to US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Andrew McCarthy and I

 

Note, I received no financial compensation for this review, webchat, author visit etc.  I simply love to promote great books and meet adorable, talented writer/actors.