We Came, We Saw, We Left: A Family Gap Year by Charles Wheelan

 

We Came, We Saw, We Left: A Family Gap Year by Charles Wheelan, 269 pages

 

This is a memoir of two parents and their three teenagers that take a gap year and travel together around South America, New Zealand and Australia, Asia and Africa. This was among the best lighthearted travel writing that I’ve encountered!   I have my own theories on why most travel writing is mediocre at best, and why there is so much of it, which I will spare you here.  WCWSWL is the exception! This book is a fun escape not only in that you get to go along on the travel adventure but also feel a part of a fun- but not too perfect- family. I laughed out loud many times (especially at the antics of the teens) and actively looked forward to my bedtime reading throughout the day.   While I got the impressions that the Wheelan’s are thoughtful people that sought to understand the social issues that the inhabitants of their destinations were facing, it wasn’t a particularly informative book that sought to be life-changing at its heart. There’s plenty of profound travel writing out there, but this one was delightful just telling a fun story that took me on the cheapest kind of vacation.