Book Review – Off the Map

By Haley M. Walker

An audacious spirit is a defining characteristic of any youth generation. Along with the continual desire for adventure, feelings of invincibility and resistance to conformity can be used to describe at least a part of all of our young lives. While these elements seem to be particularly telling of adolescence, dreaming and learning are continual actions of people at any age. The short, alternatively-published book, Off The Map, seems to explain these tendencies of various parts of society with utmost detail, truth and beauty.

Off the Map is a true collection of recounted days during the European wanders of two young women. Feeling as through the world is at a loss for female “Huckleberry and Finns,” the women embark on a physical and spiritual journey across an unfamiliar continent. The travel is full of realizations about human nature, the completion of dreams, and awakenings to the possibilities of themselves and others. The women, Hibickina and Kika, explain their encounters with people of all ages, cultures and experiences. They write about their time while squatting with profundity and explain each roof they sleep under and each person they meet with detail and gratitude. Each small story – whether it takes place on an organic farm, a castle, a boxcar in Belgium or a vine-covered courtyard – is explained with intention.

Each paragraph seems to be written as though it could be torn out, placed on a refrigerator and read each day as a life lesson or reminder. The chapters are also separated by handwritten titles, small sketches, and intimate photographs of people and landmarks, which provides an even further visceral experience.

A favorite detail of mine throughout this book was their continual addition and description of those that helped them through the various parts of their travels. The different people they encounter seem to be their indication of a new lesson to be learned. The women meet farmers, cooks, mothers, rebellious teens, and other travelers of every origin or political status. The people help enlighten and enrich them throughout the months. In one example, the women receive travel help from a businessman named Suresh whom they deem as an “angel in a business suit.” During their time traveling together in the car, they speak of their observations on character and their experiences with politics and the concept of change. After reading these few pages of conversation between the fanciful characters, I was left with feelings of hope and change within myself. It is occasions like this that make it such a beautiful, unconventional work.

As a reader of these intimate snapshots of personal travel, I learned to not only love the narrators but each unique character and place that entered into scene along the way. Because these journals come as truth, they allowed me to become confident in the lessons that were taught about dreams, traveling and human nature through the mediums of the characters. While many stories tell only of a male protagonist finding an adventure, this book breaks through the norm with both grace and truth. The adventures of these women ignited my own adventurous spirit.