All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft

Written by Geraldine DeRuiter

Narrated by Geraldine DeRuiter

Some people are meant to travel the globe, to unwrap its secrets and share them with the world. And some people have no sense of direction, are terrified of pigeons, and get motion sickness from tying their shoes. These people are meant to stay home and eat nachos.

Geraldine DeRuiter is the latter. But she won't let that stop her.

Hilarious, irreverent, and heartfelt, All Over the Place chronicles the years Geraldine spent traveling the world after getting laid off from a job she loved. Those years taught her a great number of things, though the ability to read a map was not one of them. She has only a vague idea of where Russia is, but she now understands her Russian father better than ever before. She learned that what she thought was her mother's functional insanity was actually an equally incurable condition called "being Italian." She learned what it's like to travel the world with someone you already know and love -- how that person can help you make sense of things and make far-off places feel like home. She learned about unemployment and brain tumors, lost luggage and lost opportunities, and just getting lost in countless terminals and cabs and hotel lobbies across the globe. And she learned that sometimes you can find yourself exactly where you need to be -- even if you aren't quite sure where you are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: May 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781478920366

Reviews for All Over the Place

[plancultivatecreate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this (audio)book. Started it without any expectations, and was pleasantly surprised. Witty and conversational, introspective yet also with perspective.

[amaliagavea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This memoir is one of those cases when the title actually matches the book perfectly. And I mean it in the best way possible. It is a lovely creation, a memoir full of hilarious moments (and some really moving ones) and the most unique travel book I’ve ever read.

I tend to be cautious when I choose to read a memoir, because there were quite a few instances when self-indulgence took control of the writer and destroyed everything. Also, travel books can easily become boring, in my opinion. Here, Geraldine DeRuiter has created a delicious account of journeys that are of special importance and are related to key moments of her life. New York, Paris and Ireland are in a prominent position but the real star of the book is Italy. This is what made me love it even more since my family on my mother’s side is Italian, coming from Napoli (Naples in English). We’re talking Southern Italy here, a beautiful, wild, sunny place. You have been warned...

Geraldine comes across as a lovely person, but you will find no trace of self-indulgence. She apparently has unlimited resources of patience to deal with her mother, unlimited resources of love for her husband and, most importantly, unlimited resources of courage to overcome a very serious obstacle. I really enjoyed the way she narrates her experiences and the optimism that comes from her writing. I bet that she must be a wonderful travelling companion. She is quirky and weird and down-to-earth.

I’m not a fan of blogs outside of our book community but judging from this book, I should definitely start reading hers. If you want a memoir that balances humour, life experiences and adversities, along with beautiful descriptions of Italy, then ‘’All Over The Place’’ should find a place in your reading schedule.

[cburnett5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All Over the Place had me laughing so hard at times that I had tears streaming down my face. Geraldine DeRuiter has written a travel memoir unlike any other travel memoir that I have read, and the result is fabulous. She writes about both her travels around the world and her own internal journey through brain cancer, spousal trouble, and dealing with her hilarious mother (more hilarious when you are not the one having to deal with her I am sure). DeRuiter manages to cover numerous destinations that I have now added to my list of places to see while telling absolutely hysterical stories about her time in each place.

My favorite stories were the one about her mom bringing a pickax through airport security and the time she and her husband went to Italy to meet her relatives and see the towns her grandparents grew up in. I laughed so hard at a section of the Italy story that I had to put the book down for a few minutes to recover. I also love that she is completely prepared for a zombie apocalypse.

The book ends with the following sentence about traveling which will stay with me for a long time: “Even if you don’t end up where you planned, you still might end up somewhere great.” This is a great motto to keep in mind when taking a trip, but even more broadly to remember in our day-to-day lives. I also have to mention that I was so excited to see in the Acknowledgements that DeRuiter shares my obsession with Hamilton. I was not aware of her blog but plan to locate it and start following it.

I am so glad I read this book and highly recommend to everyone. Thanks to PublicAffairs and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.