Book Review: Wide-Open World

Wide-Open World: How Volunteering Around the Globe Changed One Family's Lives Forever by John Marshall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publication Date: February 2015
Source: Netgalley

John Marshall needed a change. His twenty-year marriage was falling apart, his seventeen-year-old son was about to leave home, and his fourteen-year-old daughter was lost in cyberspace. Desperate to get out of a rut and reconnect with his family, John dreamed of a trip around the world, a chance to leave behind, if only just for a while, routines and responsibilities. He didn’t have the money for resorts or luxury tours, but he did have an idea that would make traveling the globe more affordable and more meaningful than he’d ever imagined: The family would volunteer their time and energy to others in far-flung locales. 

This started off really good, and I was smiling and even laughing a little bit as I was reading. As a person who would love to travel around the world, I thought this was going to be a favorite book for me. And it really started out promising.

But then somewhere around India I started to get a bit bored. I just didn't care anymore, and was ready for the book to be over. I don't know if it's that the author cared a bit less at this point, and didn't try to make the book as interesting, or if I was just over it. Their last volunteer stop just bored me completely, and there was almost nothing interesting about it.

I'm glad I read this, if only to let me know that I probably don't want to go volunteering around the world. I'd rather travel as a tourist, as selfish as that might make me sound.