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The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem Kindle Edition
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWilliam Morrow Paperbacks
- Publication dateMay 8, 2012
- File size2140 KB
Editorial Reviews
Review
“One of the best-written travel memoirs...this book spins a compelling yarn, linking six varied experiences into a cohesive narrative. Recommended for anyone who has been, or is interested in becoming, a ‘voluntourist.’ ” — Library Journal
“Readers of this unique travel memoir will undoubtedly be inspired to take a voluntour of their own, and the author includes helpful tips on how to do just that.” — Booklist
“A solid introduction to the world of volunteer tourism and a pleasant diversion for those who don’t mind a wandering road.” — Kirkus Reviews
“In his sincere and subtly written memoir, Budd gracefully--and often humorously--records how he changes ‘emotionally, physically, spiritually’ as he travels to work with ‘people with real problems and different perspectives.’” — Publishers Weekly
“Heart-warming...tempered with exactly the right amount of acerbic wit...Unless you’re comfortable laughing loudly in publis, you don’t want to read this on your daily commute.” — Vertge Magazine
“For those of you who haven’t read Ken’s book yet, get your copy NOW! It’s really that good.” — Jae-Ha Kim, syndicated travel columnist, Chicago Tribune
“Funny, touching, insightful and compelling.” — The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy
“Lively...Entertaining...The author’s intelligence and autobiographical honesty engage the reader...Budd is a skilled writer with a good ear for dialogue.” — PerceptiveTravel.com
From the Back Cover
VOL·UN·TOUR·IST
n. 1. A guy who attempts to save the world in an attempt to save himself.
2. Someone who can only do it two weeks at a time.
When Ken Budd was thirty-nine, his father collapsed after eighteen holes of golf. Ken and his wife raced to the hospital—but it was too late. In the weeks that followed, as grieving friends revealed how his father had changed their lives, Ken started questioning his own life—and admitting, after years of denial, that he and his wife would never have children.
And then, still struggling with grief—his grief at losing his father, his grief at not being a father—Ken received an e-mail with the subject line: "Katrina Relief Volunteer Opportunities." He signed up. He went to New Orleans. And he kept volunteering: Costa Rica, to teach English; China, to work with special-needs children; Ecuador, to study climate change; the West Bank, to assist refugees; Kenya, to care for orphans. His goal: to find purpose by helping others, one trip at a time.
Wry, funny, and heartbreakingly honest, The Voluntourist will linger in your mind long after you've turned the last page.
About the Author
Ken Budd has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Smithsonian, and many more. His work appears in the 2020 edition of The Best American Travel Writing. Ken lives in Burke, Virginia, near Washington, D.C.
Product details
- ASIN : B006IY9G4S
- Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks (May 8, 2012)
- Publication date : May 8, 2012
- Language : English
- File size : 2140 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 464 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 006194646X
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,008,928 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #114 in Israel Travel Guides (Kindle Store)
- #474 in General Israel Travel Guides
- #960 in Memory Improvement (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
Ken Budd is an award-winning writer and editor whose writing credits include Smithsonian, Stuff, the Washington Post, AARP The Magazine, McSweeney’s, Modern Humorist, and, Worldview, the magazine of the Peace Corps. Ken lives in Burke, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., with his wife.
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When, just a few months later, he received an email from his employer outlining opportunities for volunteers to help New Orleans residents clean up and rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Budd decided this was just the thing to turn his life in a new, more positive direction. His two weeks in New Orleans, as described in The Voluntourist, would lead to five more "voluntourist" trips around the world, trips during which Budd and other travelers would pay for the opportunity to perform the most basic labor for people in desperate need of relief.
After New Orleans, Budd would spend two weeks: in a Costa Rican school; in a Chinese school for mentally handicapped children; deep in the Ecuadorian jungle working with a conservationist group; observing daily life in Palestine through the eyes of ordinary Palestinian families; and working in a Kenyan orphanage. Along the way, Budd reminded himself to live (and to test himself) by a philosophical truth he picked up in Costa Rica from another "voluntourist" - "you only learn about yourself when you're outside your comfort zone." This would certainly be the case for Ken Budd.
The Voluntourist tends to drift a little, often resulting in a feeling of repetitiveness as Budd returns time and again to the same personal issues he struggled with during this period in his life. Perhaps, this was done because Budd intends for his readers to watch his thinking evolve over time as he experiences the cultures of more countries and deals with numerous children - but it makes what is already destined to be long book (near 450 pages) longer than need be.
That said, The Voluntourist will be of great interest to arm chair travelers because of how much time the author spends with ordinary working citizens of the places he visits. Budd is definitely not a tourist; he literally gets his hands dirty by being very willing to take on whatever task he is asked to perform. It takes Budd a while to figure out that he is not expected to perform miracles, or to make permanent changes in the lives of those he comes into contact with - it is more about bringing some relief to people whose lives are harsher and more physically demanding than his own. In the process of doing this, he will achieve his heartfelt goal of living "a life that matters."
Top reviews from other countries
When Ken Budd's father died suddenly and unexpectedly, it caused the author to re-evaluate his life. Which in turn led to a year of adventures abroad volunteering with various organisations as he searched for meaning.
Not everyone could write about their soul-searching and internal struggles without sounding self-indulgent, but Budd is self-deprecating, witty, and would seem to have an abundance of self-awareness. All of which make for a story that is both fascinating and moving.
Having lost my own father recently, Budd's tender memories and his search for a meaningful life that honours his father both resonated hugely with me, and there is much food for thought to be found in his experiences as a "voluntourist".
This is a book that offers both an interesting narrative well told, and a philosophical musing on the deeper meaning of our lives, and fuses them into an accessible, enjoyable, and life-affirming read.
His constant resort to bemoaning his lack of having children has an almost pathological feel to it. He feels "doomed" to a life without children, "the Budd name ends with me" referring to this unresolved loss constantly throughout. Interestingly he is scathing of any type of therapy, (briefly mentioned) when this might have been the better course for him to follow. This is a huge handicap for an author as there is no real emotional depth to explore, no real self-awareness to write properly about it. It is too dissonant, with little connection. In fact he alludes to this directly, "....but they would never trade parenthood to see the world. I would trade these travels in an instant".
There are indeed two potentially very good pieces of work here, but combining them at the moment, with this book now, contaminates both. I want to know more about his family life in a "real" way, the approach that can be found in books like "And when did you last see your father" by Blake Morrison, And When Did You Last See Your Father? and "Toast" by Nigel Slater Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger .
This all sounds very negative, but only because combining these two themes does not really work. He does write in a fascinating way, and is delightful in observing humanity with his descriptions of daily life experiences in the various countries he visits. I particularly like the delicious repartee that is recounted between the author and his friends, which is down-to-earth, funny, and brought a smile to my face. There is just enough factual information to maintain genuine interest, but by the middle of the book, it does feel a bit like "more of the same". The snippets of daily life in the various countries are very interesting indeed. Clearly the author has a great flair for writing, so making two books of these rather than one, would I believe alter my whole assessment of the writing.