Wide-Open World: How Volunteering Around the Globe Changed One Family's Lives Forever

Written by John Marshall

Narrated by John Marshall

His twenty-year marriage was floundering. His two teenage kids were lost in cyberspace most of the time. He felt disconnected from his work, his family, his life. Which is when he had an idea: Let's volunteer our way around the world. John Marshall had read about the growth of voluntourism, and frankly, it was the only kind of extended trip he could afford. He'd heard that some peoples' lives were changed by a week of overseas service-what might half a year accomplish for his family? His wife Traca was all in favor of it; his kids, especially his 14-year-old daughter, were strongly opposed. WIDE-OPEN WORLD is the totally engaging, bluntly honest story of the Marshall family's life-changing adventure: six months of world travel, volunteering their way from Costa Rica to New Zealand to East Asia, how it went and what it led to. As Marshall discovered, he and his family did not change the world; the world changed them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490635521

John Marshall

Having moved to Switzerland, and qualified as a historian (Masters, Northumbria University, 2016), the author came across the story of the Savoyards in England and engaged in this important history research project. He founded an association to develop Anglo Swiss relations regarding this story, in liaison with Cadw, Château de Grandson, Yverdon and others.

Reviews for Wide-Open World

[patsaintsfan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this family's journey in volunteering! This is a wonderful privilege and opportunity... I'd love to do something like this. John did a great job expressing each of the places and experiences that happened in those locations. I also loved reading of the growth within the family. Great read! I was lucky enough to have won this in a giveaway.

[voracious_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

John Marshall and his wife Traca were always interested in other cultures. When their children were young, they took the family to spend a year living in Portugal. Ten years later, with the kids in high school, John and Traca were experiencing problems in their marriage and concerns about their kids' obsession with materialism and technology. With only a couple of years left before the kids would leave for college, John and Traca decided to commit their family to "a year of service" volunteering in different countries around the world. Taking their kids out of school, refinancing their home, finding a reliable renter, arranging for transportation, and finding reputable locations where they could exchange volunteer work for room and board were just some of the logistics necessary to make this happen. This book chronicles the family's adventures working on a monkey sanctuary in Costa Rica, a farm in New Zealand, an orphanage in India, teaching English to school children in Thailand, and helping out at a tiny school in the Himilayas. Along the way, John describes the changes in his children who grew more confident and passionate about helping others, as well as the changes to Traca and himself (and to their marriage).This is a wonderful book, which is very well-written, humbling, and heartwarming. I really enjoyed reading about the people in each culture and the precious gifts of time and caring John's family was able to offer, particularly to the children in the orphanage in India. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy reading about their adventures. I particularly enjoyed the humor that John inserted that lightened the sadder parts of the story, particularly the boldness of his daughter, Jackson, whom I found to be particularly brazen but also a stereotypical teenage girl. I would highly recommend this one to just about anyone at all interested in other cultures.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Traveling around the world. It's one of those things that lots of people think about but very few of them actually ever do. Even fewer contemplate it with their entire family in tow. For one thing, it's expensive. It's time consuming. And the logistics of it all can be overwhelming. But what if there was a way to make it happen that not only made it possible for you and your family to have this once in a lifetime experience but also benefitted people and organizations that need a helping hand as you went? There's a newish movement called voluntourism that does just this. John Marshall's new memoir chronicles how he, his wife Traca, and their two teenagers, Logan and Jackson, spent six months volunteering around the world. Marshall and his wife, Traca, had always wanted to travel but it just didn't seem feasible until they went away on a yoga retreat that inspired John to consider a "year of service" for the whole family. As hard as they tried to make this year happen, they just couldn't pull it off and shelved the idea. But then the opportunity came up again, this time for six months instead of a year, and the Marshalls scrambled to make it happen this time, quitting jobs, figuring out school, renting out their house, nailing down the first volunteer opportunity, and buying their tickets to Costa Rica. During their six months abroad, they volunteered at the Osa Wildlife Sanctuary in Costa Rica, they worked on organic farms in New Zealand, they taught English in Thailand, they worked with orphans in India, they did odd jobs in another school in India, and finally they decompressed with a week as tourists in Portugal. Each experience was different from the last and gave them the opportunity to experience these places and the people who live there not as tourists, except for the Portugal stint, but in the course of average, everyday life. As amazing as these opportunities sound, the book chronicles more than that. Marshall examines the fraying connection between his wife and himself, looking at the state of their marriage. He watches his children learn about life in other countries and as they are tested far beyond their comfort levels. Despite his waxing lyrical about his family and saying that they were changed by their experiences doing all of this though, it is hard to see how exactly they were changed. The reader gets little sense of who his wife is other than a woman obsessed with yoga who prefers to let life take her whichever way and his children, his daughter in particular, come across as rather unpleasant and spoiled. The latter perception makes it all the stranger when Marshall continually mentions how much everyone, adult and child alike, throughout their journey loved these amazing and wonderful kids. The first volunteering experience at the wildlife sanctuary is the only one that is discussed in any sort of depth and the only one that admitted there were negatives and a sometimes steep learning curve. The details of their experiences really diminished as the book went on, taking away the more interesting aspect of the memoir. In fact, in the end, I was left with the question of how much they could really offer to the organizations since they didn't commit much time to any of them and needed time and explanations to understand their duties in each place. Certainly small organizations without adequate resources need volunteers; they got volunteers in the Marshall family but how much was help and how much hindrance from short term workers like them is probably debatable. Marshall does include information on how they pulled off their six months which might inspire others who want to do something similar but find the idea of it overwhelming and obviously the groups who hosted the family are getting good publicity but there was just something not quite satisfying and just a little disappointing about this book.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What an adventure Mr. Marshall and his family had - and what a gift to give your children. From Costa Rica to India, the Marshall family spent time volunteering with various groups - seeing the world and sharing what they had to give. There are a multitude of funny and inspiring and cringe-worthy experiences depicted over the course of the six months the family traveled and just reading about their trip feels like a peek into the vast differences in the lives lived on earth.

[junipersun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Parents and their 2 teenage children volunteer at a monkey sanctuary in Costa Rica, farms in New Zealand, an orphanage in India and a school in Thailand. The author (the father), makes a big deal of how his teenage children loose their selfishness, materialism, and sense of entitlement. There is also quite a bit of page space devoted to his troubled relationship with his wife.All in all, a fairly light read, which actually cured me of romantic notions I may have had about volunteer travel. Not altogether a bad consequence, since volunteers who are not willing to handle impoverished settings will not be useful to the needy non-profits. I really think most people should consider volunteering at a single location rather than constantly switching countries. That kind of a schedule makes it harder to absorb and reflect on what you are experiencing.This review is based on an Early Reader copy.

[willowone_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wide-Open World is a wonderful eye opening read to all that you can experience volunteering around the world. John Marshall and his wife Traca decide to take their kids on a year long "volunteer-cation" around the world. They have their first place booked but their second is spur of the moment and they do this throughout. Marshall is the more organized of the couple and would rather everything be planned but Traca is a fly by the seat of your pants woman who wants to experience cultures, people and whatever comes their way. Their two teenagers say they are willing, but at times (as teens do) they fight the flow. Marshall and Traca had been having marital problems and the trip was also the chance to spend time together, as a family and to look deeper into the state of the marriage. All of the trips with their personal awakenings, animal hi-jinx, and emotion will make you laugh, smile, shake your head, and sometimes shed a tear. The family cares for monkeys and ant eaters in the rain forest, pulled weeds in New Zealand, taught English in Thailand, helped out a Christian orphanage in New Delhi and many other adventures. That change them forever. This story is great for those that would like to go volunteer, it helps to show all that is available and how the author and his family found opportunities. The epilogue explains how they afforded the trip, how they planned things, and lessons learned. I received a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

[nebraska_girl1971 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Would I recommend this book? If you like Eat, Pray, Love, then you will enjoy this book. It was great reading about all the great volunteer programs that this family was involved in, but is it something that a lot of us would actually do. You did get to know his family, though I did feel that there was always a barrier between myself (as the reader) and his family. Final question, would I recommend this book for a book club? Depends on the club.

[nicole_a_davis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very intriguing and enjoyable book about a family's adventures volunteering around the world. The family members weren't people I felt like I'd connect with or be friends with, but their stories were nevertheless interesting and fun to hear. The book is great at demonstrating how travel and opening your eyes to the world can change you fundamentally. The epilogue with practical information about how they paid for their trip and organized it was also interesting to read. It definitely makes me want to embark on a similar sort of journey at some point in my life.

[dele2451 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found the epic voluntourism family vacation described both inspiring and commendable, and the descriptions of animal encounters--especially those gone awry--informative and (dare I say it?) quite entertaining. The budgetary breakdown was also a welcome addition. While this book is very interesting from a travel/sociological standpoint, I found the overall arrangement, pacing, and tone of the story a bit formulaic which could simply be the result of the author's extensive television background. Worth the read though, especially for aspiring overseas volunteers. Thank you to the publisher and LT for offering this through the Early Reviewers program.

[dawn1361 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Year of Service." Three simple words that launched author John Marshall and his family unto a journey that gave back to the travelers in more ways than what their service meant to the groups that they lived with, worked with, and learned with. Marshall's chronicle of the trip is filled with rich imagery that pulls the reader along the adventure. His reflection on their process from winning his teenagers to the idea and working through the basics of the "how" to all the stops along the way never becomes tiresome. The courage to uproot the family and removing the trappings of the plugged in lifestyle is one that each family member eventually embraces as they travel to Costa Rica, New Zealand, India, and Thailand. Tourists they are not, they truly experience the culture. It is obvious that the outlook and future paths of his children are impacted by this experience. But Marshall is also painfully honest. He deeply explores his marriage throughout the book and this is one factor that contributes to the honesty of the work. They have taken the opportunity to volunteer around the world, to remove the day to day distractions, to peel back and discover who they are and what is important to them. Even if you have never felt prodded to pick up the volunteering banner, the memoir is thought provoking. Thank you to Marshall for sharing the adventure and if ever the thought is entertained that the story would make a great movie, believe it. I received this book, "Wide-Open World" by John Marshall as part of the LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

[asomers_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There is so much to be learned from other cultures. Wouldn't it be nice if every college graduate was required to spend a semester engaging in some sort of volunteer work either at home or abroad. Wouldn't we benefit as a country, no as as a culture if our leaders had a better understanding of the world and empathy for others. This family's year of volunteerism is certainly inspirational. My favorite quote from the book is from the old villager in Stok, India who was asked, "What makes your village work so well?" He replied, " It is simple. if you are rich you are a failure. ...that means you have not learned to share with other people." Such wisdom!You may not want to pack you bags after reading this book, but you'll certainly have an appreciation for those that do.

[monamie-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

John Marshall does a good job of showing how it is very possible, and even not so hard, to pick up your family, step outside of your reality, and go make a difference in the world. The family shows that you don't have to be rich or a single 20-something to set out on an adventure (and that your life experiences in the world don't have to stop the moment you have children). As a regular and passionate traveler, I related to and was inspired by their choice and dedication.I admire and appreciate the candor of Marshall's account for the process and experiences, though I wish we had been provided direct accounts from the rest of the family. I trusted Marshall as the family narrator (he seems both reflective and honest), but this wasn't the trip of one observing and reporting on others. It was a family trip and this book would have been a stronger, more holistic record if each family member's voice had been captured and included. This is not a book to pick up for phenomenal writing or a story you'll never find elsewhere. But it's a solid read and has a good mix of life-change reflection and practical travel (well, volunteering abroad) advice.

[marcal-15 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this book from Random House as an Early Reviewer, and read it aloud to my husband and tween son on a recent road trip. We all loved it. While the Marshall Family's adventure is not something I aspire to (even remotely!), this book was inspiring, and highly entertaining. John and Traca Marshall accomplish the unthinkable by quitting their jobs and taking their teenage children on a worldwide volunteer mission for six months -- a mission that takes them to a remote Costa Rican wildlife sanctuary, New Zealand, Australia, Tibet, a Thai village, and an Indian orphanage -- and changes all of them forever. Even if you have no desire to uproot yourself or your family for a trip of this magnitude, on a virtual shoestring no less, you will enjoy this engaging memoir and be moved by the stories of the people they meet and assist along the way. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[vibrantminds · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Wide-Open World is a wonderful book about the possibilities that each one of us can embrace to make the world a little bit better just by giving of ourselves through service. The family set out on a 6 month journey volunteering around the world. They started in Costa Rica with the monkeys went to New Zealand to farm, Thailand to teach English, India to an orphanage, and Tibet back to teaching, each location effecting them on a personal note. The book was full of emotion at times; it was comical, endearing, heart wrenching, and somber. The appeal to do such a journey, to change one’s life for the better and in turn someone else’s is an achievement that everyone should embrace. I am impressed at the courage and motivation that it took this family to come together and do this. Unfortunately as the story ends, the journey was not enough to heal the soul completely for some but as for others it was a beginning to a new way of life.On a side note, as a medical professional I do have to address the point the author made about immunizations. It is a choice to have your children immunized but I would strongly suggest that it be done. The human body does have its own defense system but it only goes so far. Immunizations work on preventing disease and the consequences of getting the disease can cause serious side effects or even death. Please immunize your children!

[loisb-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was an interesting, often funny account of the author's family volunteering adventure around the world. The author, his wife and 2 teenage children embarked on a 6 month trip that included Costa Rica, New Zealand, Thailand, and India. While they paid for their own travel, they earned most of their room and board doing a variety of tasks. And, it changed their lives.I received this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. When it arrived I intended to add it to my TBR pile. It never made it - the story seemed so compelling after just a brief perusal that I immediately started reading. The author is a typical middle class American dad with a strong sense of family and a reluctant undercurrent of spirituality. He tells a compelling story which makes for a very enjoyable read.