A semester abroad for bookworms

According to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, about 35-40 percent of the junior class studies abroad each year, drawn out of the country by academic and personal interests. As these students discover, part of the appeal of studying abroad is the opportunity to explore not only the city in which you are studying but also to travel by backpack and explore other new terrains.

"Europe From a Backpack: Real Stories from Young Travelers Abroad" is a collection of essays written by students about their experiences exploring Europe and its environs. The book's essays are pretty much what would you what get if you assembled a group of returned Jumbos and asked them to reminisce about their most memorable travel experiences.

The essays are organized into countries/regions, from Spain and England and other popular study abroad destinations, to those that are farther "off the beaten path" like Morocco and Transdniestr (Moldova). Essays from Spain include memories of Madrid, Pamplona, and Majorca, among others. The essays cover an extraordinary geographic breadth.

The essays also feature an impressive range of experiences; from a young man who spent time birthing lambs in Scotland, to another who wrecked a car while driving drunk in Spain, to another who soiled himself and had to buy a new pair of pants in Portugal. There are romantic tales (both successes and failures), tales of hardship, and stories of accidentally soliciting hookers in Greece.

The book itself is attractive, with a glossy, colorful cover that could easily be mistaken for a travel guide. There are maps of each country and region at the beginning of every section. There are also neat travel quotes placed in intervals throughout the book. Steve Martin's insight into the French "esprit" made me laugh more than any of the essays. "Boy, those French," he writes. "They have a different word for everything."

The essays are consistently well-written, but this doesn't change the fact that the book is essentially a collection of "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" compositions. Reading it from cover to cover makes you sympathize for your sixth grade teacher. The function of the book is a little hard to determine; it isn't a practical travel guide for any particular region, and it isn't compelling enough for pleasure reading at the beach.

So, who should read "Europe from a Backpack?" For those students who are considering studying abroad or those who are waiting desperately for August to roll around so that they can get moving, the collection of stories told by young people who lived the dream may be downright inspirational. Students who have returned from abroad, but wish they hadn't, can live vicariously through these essays.

Students who have had great experiences abroad have the opportunity to submit their stories to the publishers for the next edition of the book. And these essays won't be limited to continental Europe either; backpacking stories from all over the world are welcomed for other regional editions of the book. This possibility emphasizes the real nature of the stories collected in the book. After all, this really could happen to you.

The essays are a lot like the photographs your next door neighbor took on spring break. That is, the memories are the most interesting and valuable to the person who experienced them. That's not to say that some aren't remarkable, or disconcerting. But unless you shared a similar experience, or are about to embark on a trip during which you might, they aren't all that interesting.