In these lively journal entries, author Holmes arrays her memories of travel by plane, train, boat, and foot undertaken between June 1996 and July 2017. She and her husband, Tom, took their excursions with their two sons, aged eight and four. The adventures began when Holmes and her boys departed from JFK with Poland as the ultimate destination. As often occurs, there was a delay that stretched to two hours in Vienna, but the three arrived safely in Warsaw to meet Tom, who had been working in Poland. There, they visited churches, towers, mountains, and parks and rode on a cart slide. Moving on to Italy, they gazed at the legendary Tower of Pisa and the Roman Coliseum, watched horse racing, and enjoyed exotic, usually delicious, new foods.

These early, exciting forays presaged extensive world travel that included meeting up with friends and family. In 2010, there was a lengthy visit to Australia, from major cities to the land of the Aborigines. Holmes, who is from New Jersey, also gladly hopped to California and relaxed in Florida, appreciating warm days while it was snowing back home.

Holmes presents these realistic recollections to attract others to step outside their ordinary boundaries. She expertly recalls for readers the films she watched while in the air, the relevant books she read, and the variety of people she met while depicting some of the greatest rewards (and small frustrations) of leaving the familiar for the unknown. She demonstrates, too, that it is possible to strengthen hereditary ties through sharing trips with family, widening one’s children’s viewpoints, and incorporating exploration of the homeplaces of extended relations. Her book will engage both those who, like her, have ventured far from home and those who may be hoping to embark on similar, perspective-enhancing excursions.

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