The Wide Angle August/September 1996 Volume 1 No 8

Widely Read

by Marty Lipton

Around the World: a Postcard Adventure ; Pamela Terry, 232 pages, softcover; c1996 , $12.95, Quest Press, P.O. Box 3653, Beverly Hills, CA 09212, 800-590-7778, fax 213-934-2881, e-mail: QuestPress@aol.com

What is the farthest from home you've ever been? What are the places you'd like to see? Why haven't you gone?

If fear of travel as a fat person has kept you from seeing the world, you can see it now through Pamela Terry's eyes. When she was invited to a dear friend's wedding in India, Pam took the opportunity to buy an "around-the-world" airline ticket and set out on a two-month adventure to 17 cities. And at every stop she sent postcards home to herself Ñ postcards that are the text of this intriguing book.

Because the cards are not edited from their original form, Terry's experiences are immediate and as real as when they occurred.

When the cab driver in Taiwan orders her and her travel companion to get out, you feel their confusion and near-panic (this actually turns out to be one of the most positive cab rides any traveler has ever had). The stark contrast between the streets of Hong Kong and the carefully-arranged tour to mainland China is memorable. And the saga of Pam's Perfect Purse in the Venetian leather store is a monument to the inventiveness of travelers everywhere.

In a little over 200 pages, Terry gives us all a guided tour of the world she circled, leaving us wanting to do the same.

Now, before you say "Yeah, right after I lose weight," you need to know that Pam Terry is a supersize woman who planned he trip to accommodate both the size of her budget and the size of her body. By making sure the facilities she needed would be available and affordable, she didn't miss anything she wanted to do.

When she packed, she included a sense of humor and a sense of adventure and she kept those with her even after choosing to send her excess luggage home early. That positiveness more than made up for the languages she didn't know, the unexpected changes in plans and the inevitable problems. It also kept her open to the wonder of new places, the unexpected opportunities and the basic joy of being helped by kind strangers along the way.

When she got home, the postcards were waiting, bearing the stamps and the thoughts of the places where they were bought and mailed. Together with 33 color photos and 12 maps, they make up a travel journal unlike any you've ever read or ever will read unless you're inspired to buy a ticket and take off on your own postcard adventure.

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