THE LOST GIRLS: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE LOST GIRLS
BY JENNIFER BAGGETT,
HOLLY C. CORBETT,
& AMANDA PRESSNER

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Three friends, each on the brink of a quarter-life crisis, make a pact to quit their high pressure New York City media jobs and leave behind their friends, boyfriends, and everything familiar to embark on a year-long backpacking adventure around the world in The Lost Girls.

Jen, Holly, and Amanda are at a crossroads. They're feeling the pressure to hit certain milestones—scoring a big promotion, finding a soul mate, having 2.2 kids—before they reach their early thirties. When personal challenges force them to reevaluate their lives, they decide it's now or never to do something daring. Unable to gain perspective in fast-paced Manhattan, the three twentysomethings quit their coveted media jobs and leave behind their friends, boyfriends, and everything familiar to travel the globe. Dubbing themselves the Lost Girls, they embark on an epic yearlong search for inspiration and direction.

As they journey 60,000 miles across four continents and more than a dozen countries, Jen, Holly, and Amanda step far outside of their comfort zones, embracing every adventure and experience the world has to offer—shooting blowguns with Yagua elders in the Amazon, learning capoeira on the beaches of Brazil, volunteering with preteen girls at a school in rural Kenya, hiking with Hmong villagers in Vietnam, and driving through Australia in a psychedelic camper van. Along the way, the Lost Girls find not only themselves but also a lifelong friendship. Ultimately, theirs is a story of true sisterhood—a bond forged by sharing beds and backpacks, enduring exotic illnesses, fending off aggressive street vendors, trekking across rivers and over mountains, and standing by one another through heartaches, whirlwind romances, and everything in the world in between.

This candid and compelling memoir will speak to anyone who has ever felt the desire to spread her wings and discover the world with her best friends by her side.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Jennifer Baggett never dreamed that she'd become a writer, but she's thrilled to have cut her teeth on The Lost Girls. Prior to the trip, she worked in marketing and promotions and held positions at the Sundance Channel, VH1, and NBC. She hails from Bowie, Maryland.

Amanda Pressner caught the travel bug at the age of eight when she and her family traveled cross-country in a camper van nicknamed "The Blue Moose." Between trips abroad, she writes for such publications as USA Today, Shape, Travel + Leisure, and Cosmopolitan. She is a native of Tampa, Florida.

Holly C. Corbett is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications such as Women's Health, Prevention, Seventeen, and Fitness. Her adventures have taken her to all seven continents—she has swum past icebergs in the Antarctic Ocean, slalom water-skied next to alligators in Florida, and hiked the Leaping Tiger Gorge in China. She was born in Syracuse, New York.

When they're not traveling the world, all three Lost Girls live in New York City.

MY REVIEW:

Three career women working in New York City, at the age of twenty-eight, have come to a place in their lives where there are no boundaries. They are smart enough to know that they could suddenly actually do something that one would never have thought possible at some other time in their lives. And so, these three decide to quit their jobs knowing they can return to their professions at a later date, and they willingly become homeless as they give up their New York apartments and lastly, they say goodbye to their boyfriends. With their backpacks, they are ready to travel around the world for a year or more. WHAT? Let’s back up, lest you think that Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett and Amanda Pressner are flighty, let’s-run-away-with-the-circus, or rock band groupie types. Rather they each are fairly well traveled and decided they wanted more than an extended vacation. Planning ahead, saving to the money to bankroll them for a year and a half of travel, they were ready for the trip to end all trips.

In this different kind of a memoir, the three find out a lot about the world as well as about themselves. They do not set out to find religion or a love of food, or, just plain love. But they do learn a great deal about each other, living in close quarters 24/7, cooperating, and about themselves most of all. They learned who they are and what they want to do with the rest of their lives. But lest you think this is a heavy duty tale, these girls know how to have fun and where there is fun, there can also be some romance, some danger, and well, some of just about everything. From diving off an island into the sea in southeast Asia to praying in the Cambodian killing fields, not too many stones were left unturned. I kept thinking, now these girls could win the Amazing Race hands down! They are good role models for young women and good reminders to older people of what they did or could have accomplished if only...

Since their return, they have kept up a website that goes along with the book. They tell readers that anyone can do what they did. I don’t think that can be quite true but they are very encouraging. However, the theme of doing what you want and are capable of doing and not letting anything stop you, can be appealing to all age groups. I must say their encouragement is enticing and the book was a faster read than I thought it would be as I quickly got to know these strong young women. I am eager to see their follow-up act!

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO KYLE AND GOOD PEOPLE
AT HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHING,
I HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS WONDERFUL
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY. HERE IS WHAT
YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN A COPY!

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