Bohr shines . . . provid[ing] glimpses of herself as a whole person, not simply a traveler. Gap Year Girl is an excellent choice . . . a travelogue filled with historic places, but its personal stories provide its highlights.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“An absorbing rundown of a cultural odyssey bursting with insights and quiet truths, which the author absorbed, way out there, without a guide, and often intuitively—some might even say through her pores. Thanks to Gap Year Girl, Ms. Bohr’s travel universe and the way it’s recorded are an inspiration to thousands of baby boomers who are coming to realize that it’s possible not only to dream Don Quixote’s Impossible Dream, but to make it come true.”
—Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince, coauthors of many dozens of Frommer’s best-selling guides
“Gap Year Girl speaks to the curious youth in us all, reminding us on every page of the anticipation, excitement, and futility that go into finding a cure for wanderlust. Bohr’s delicious prose brings sights, smells, and tastes to life and inspires the reader as she and her husband climb off of the corporate ladder and jump into the great unknown. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself dusting off an old language textbook and checking the Internet for the best airfares!”
—Michael Hughes, Education First Language Travel “Don’t we all dream of quitting our nine-to-fives to travel the world? Marianne Bohr and her husband do just that with the mindsets of college students backpacking through Europe. The author tells a great story and it’s easy to forget that theirs is a 'senior year' abroad.”
—Neil Levin, President, EverPub
“I lived vicariously through this adventure-infused chronicle of getting away from it all. Bohr's recounting of running the Paris marathon rang true to my runner’s soul and captured the event’s raw emotion. I want to be Gap Year Girl!”
—Mary Anne Marciante, International Marathoner
“For those bitten by the travel bug, the author’s story of giving up the ‘real world’ for a year abroad is inspirational. She took a daydream and made it a reality with a combination of bravery and planning. Read about the highs (literally in the Alps) and lows (the inevitable fatigue of constant traveling) as she and her husband retrace the steps of their youth and forge new paths.”
—Davida G. Breier, blogger at Next Exit Travel
“Having worked with the author of Gap Year Girl, I wasn’t surprised that she would be so courageous as to sell all her worldly possessions and begin an amazing adventure traveling through Europe. Her memoir did surprise me, however, as it’s not just a travelogue, but also an inspirational guide to all with a repressed desire to quit their jobs to go on a similar journey. It’s easy and fun reading.”
—Judy Rothman, Former Publisher, Harper Collins
“...a terrific story. I'm now dreaming of my own gap year.”
—Lisa Shroder, Bethesda Magazine
“To all my friends in book clubs ... a perfect read to inspire all to live our dreams!”
—Lynn Arndt, Deputy Director, Community Ministries of Rockville
“The author's voice is warm and insightful, such that by the time you finish her travel memoir, you feel you've not only visited 21 countries with her and her husband, but also that you've made a new friend.”
—John Ray Hoke Jr, FAIA, Former Publisher of AIA Press
“Gap Year Girl is a celebration of life in all its vivid intensity. Fueled by memories of another time and place, the author takes her maturity on the trip of a lifetime and rediscovers the exuberance of youth. That exuberance is contagious. I defy anyone to read this book without being uplifted by it. Marianne Bohr has that rare knack for bringing the kaleidoscope of experience alive with a few well-crafted words; she seduces her reader away from black and white text and into a reality where all the senses are teased. You can’t read Gap Year Girl as a bystander. You’re with her every step of the way, for this is travel writing at its very best. Dreamers beware. This is a book with consequences.”
—Kev Reynolds, author of The Tour of Mont Blanc, Cicerone Guides
“Many fantasize about doing what Marianne Bohr did, but few actually do it. It is truly the adventurous who embrace their dreams. There is so much we learn through travel, whether it be about ourselves or the world in general, and this learning is perpetual throughout life. To think that an adventurous spirit dies with youth is just nonsense. Bohr inspires the adventurer in all of us.”
—Matt Holmes, Boundless Journeys, Founder and President
“I love this book! The mid-life transition is all about becoming 100 percent ourselves and shedding what no longer serves us. Rejuvenating and inspiring, Gap Year Girl reminds us that travel can change who we are—if we let it. And sometimes we need to leave home in order to come home to ourselves. I’m buying this book for all my friends who are forty-plus. Thank you, Marianne, for this heart-warming, eloquent gift!”
—Renee Peterson Trudeau, life balance coach and author of Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life
“Marianne did what all of us dream of doing: she visited the exotic places of her youth with a lifetime’s worth of experience to sharpen the view. With humor and candor and an enormous amount of appreciation, Gap Year Girl gives us back the excitement of travel and the charm of European life.”
—Trish O’Hare, Publisher, GemmaMedia
“Gap Year Girl goes well beyond travel literature: it's a fascinating story of the author and her husband's journey, full of insights into what goes into intense travel. The author's sincere and open voice gives the reader an honest view of the realities of travel by presenting rich illustrations of the highs and lows, the exhilaration and tedium, that are necessary parts of extensive travel. This book was hard to put down and I was sorry to see it end.”
—Chris Darby, Film Editor, Univision
"[In Gap Year Girl,] Bohr steps outside of her comfort zone and explores the world . . . and she vividly conveys her experiences, such as when she describes the chaotic streets of Morocco and the loneliness of the bucolic French village Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.”
—Publishers Weekly
