I am, for the most part, a person that looks on the bright side of things, and on a happiness scale of one to ten, a strong 8.5, maybe more. But why? How? And what is it about where I am that makes it so?

Eric Weiner attempts to answer all these questions in his book, The Geography of Bliss, a year of exploration to ten of the happiest places in the world.

During his successful career in journalism, first as a New York Times reporter, then as a foreign correspondent for NPR, he traveled to more than 30 countries, " most of them profoundly unhappy."? All the coverage of consequential bad news, as most news is, had taken a toll on his personal happiness. Weiner was a grump and a " self-described mope"? and sets out with good intentions to change.

He begins in Rotterdam's World Database of Happiness. He discovers that the study of happiness, like any other scientific field of study, is not particularly warm and fuzzy, that happiness is subjective, and that some things, like happiness, are beyond measuring.

Still, from the Netherlands, a country of tolerance and freedom, Weiner visits the clean and punctual streets of Switzerland. He finds a connection between boredom and patience, patience and happiness. And that perhaps, a combination of three makes it easier " to just be."? He then goes to Bhutan, a real life Shangri-La, a place where other expats warn, " If you stay here long enough, you lose touch with reality."? But maybe warning is not the right word to describe it, for the simplicity of life in Bhutan brings him peace, as he falls deeper into the trance of a country that prioritizes Gross National Happiness. From there Weiner spends time in Qatar, Iceland, Moldova, Thailand, Great Britain, India, and wraps it all up in his home country of the United States.

Although an optimistic nation, the U.S. is nowhere near the happiest. " We are able to acquire many of the things that we think will make us happy and therefore suffer the confusion and disappointment when they do not."? Our lives, for the most part are led too quickly, too focused, and with too much room for improvement, (something better, something bigger). There is not enough for human connection and contentment.

In the end, he concludes that, " Money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude."? A conclusion and yet there is not even an inkling of a definitive answer.

The reader, however, is hardly left confused, let alone unfulfilled. Weiner's writing is charming, enlightening, and funny. In my experience he sometimes evoked moments of embarrassment as I literally laughed out loud while reading in my favorite cafe.

Furthermore, he is not merely traveling to find any answers. He uses his journalistic talents to meet and spend time with so-called happiness experts as well as lifelong residents, global nomads and country leaders. His interviews are in-depth and casual and reveal more about the study of happiness in some ways than most scientific studies. The beauty of Weiner's travelogue, however, is that he also weaves this science throughout, providing proof and well-research insight into his personal findings.

He experiences the cultures just as the reader does, with a fresh yet critical perspective. It is impossible to truly encompass one people, one life, one country in a single book let alone a single chapter and yet his participatory lifestyle provides a satisfying dip.

Weiner is a wonderful companion and leader on a journey that has the power to take you simultaneously around the world and within the complete being of yourself. If there's one thing to take away from The Geography of Bliss, it is to " allow these places [that Weiner explores] to move us."? And of course, to smile more.

In the comforting words of one of the leading happiness researchers, Jon Helliwell, " It's simple. There's more than one path to happiness."?

Where will it lead you?

Thanks to my love for his masterpiece, Into Thin Air, I was already on Krakauer's side before I even picked up its predecessor, Into the Wild. I knew it would be a story that would tempt, scare, and awe me.

The Storyline

Starting from the book's cover, the outcome is apparent to the reader: the protagonist, a 24 year-old Emory graduate, dies. Where does the story unfold from here?

McCandless' Letters to his Road Friends

Krakauer reveals the perspectives of the people who became integral parts of McCandless' quest: the electrician who dropped him at the mouth of the Stampede Trail outside Healy, Alaska; the hunters who found his body; the jack-of-all-trades who employed and befriended him in South Dakota throughout the two year journey; an old man who felt so connected as to ask to be his guardian; and the tormented family still writhing in painful loss at home in Virginia.

It's an investigation where the main mystery is the state of the human condition, and the reader asks, "What compelled Chris?" It is through the tales of these personal encounters with McCandless that the reader can decide if he was narcissistic and stupid or in touch with something most of us try not to channel.

McCandless mailed many letters to road friends, kept journals and wrote thoughts in book margins, which help the reader to deduce further his mental state. One such letter to his friend, Ron (an older man whom McCandless met in Salton City, California), illustrates his passion to inspire those bound by habit to security to do something invigorating:

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future."

The Author's Presence

Not only does Krakauer question these real-life characters in their surroundings but describes every landscape and lifestyle vividly, enough to prove he's been there and absorbed McCandless' experiences viscerally.

Jon Krakauer's National Bestseller

And if the craft and accuracy of his writing aren't enough to prove Krakauer is the right person assigned to the story, then the final affirmation comes from his own stories about paternal relations and outdoor challenges of the body and soul that relate to McCandless. It's through his own solo experience in the Alaskan wild, climbing the Devil's Thumb and traversing the Stikine Ice Cap, that Krakauer impresses the drive of man's primal allure and connection to that which has great potential to kill him.

Chris' Art of Travel

Many say McCandless took on more than he could handle and underestimated the magnitude of Mother Nature, but had he survived [and sidestepped his tiny, fatal mistake] would people have considered him so childish?

Is survival the test of someone's philosophical or inexplicable purpose?

The essence of the narrative, what McCandless sought for those two years as a vagabond, is a means to happiness. If you don't mind a good spoiler, these two excerpts demonstrate the evolution of his viewpoint from journey to final words:

[In his letter to Ron while en route to Alaska] "You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships...We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living..."

[Note found in the margin of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Paternak, the last book he read] "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED"

What was certainly magnified by Krakauer's text was the reality that we humans harbor primordial desires, and it seems we're on a sliding scale with respect to how much we allow these feelings to be heard and acted upon.

It is my belief that travelers and the like-minded are more responsive to those "calls of the wild." Unconventional living forces a constant reevaluation of one's life [and one's mortality], and when we are closer in mindset to our own expiration, it seems we connect closer to the motivations of our primitive ancestors.

Thanks to the realities described by Krakauer, we can assume McCandless died understanding a lesson that seemingly takes half-centuries to comprehend; one could call it a priceless lesson, but since his life was the cost, was it justified?

Case in point, it's a good book. Read it.

I promise I don't only read travelogues and memoirs by women, it just happens to be that I've consequently read many of the sort.

Still, there's certain safety concerns and precautions that I would assume cloud the mind of female globetrotters more so than their male counterparts.

This book, Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad, is a testimonial to just that.

The writers of these 22-short stories are teachers, international businesswomen, mothers, and students (like I was). 

They've traveled and settled in places as far as Borneo; they've lived alongside the coasts of Greece and within the family homes of Egypt.

Others have moved to neighboring countries like Mexico or placed their roots in the so-called familiar such as Australia (in reality, the English language is the only similarity, and about half of it at that). 

Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad literally and honestly makes its way around the world.

It should be no surprise then, that this book lured me in from the start.

I don't recall having doubts, but if I had, the back cover alone would have eliminated them:

Expat taps into the bewilderment, joys, and surprises of life overseas, where challenges often take unexpected forms and overcoming obstacles (finding Drano in Ukraine, shrimp paste in Prague) feels all the more triumphant.

Featuring an astonishing range of perspectives, destinations, and circumstances, Expat offers a beautiful portrait of life abroad.

There is a difference, you see, between traveling and living abroad, one that I have experienced first hand.

I've had the opportunity to visit multiple beautiful places and cultures around the world and yet have only had the unique honor of living in three international cities.

I am not saying that this is a small amount, for I am aware that the majority of people can go their entire lives without making a home outside the borders of the United States or Canada, I am just pointing out a contrast.

This contrast is similar to many expats, a certain period of time in one country, maybe two, and it is certainly true of the writers in this book.

To live as an expat signifies that you not only observe the culture, you experience it, you don't only practice the language, you learn it, you don't only taste the local cuisine, it becomes your primary sustenance.

Whether you yourself have lived it or not, Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad is an inspiring must-read.

Any reader with a passion for travel can understand the transforming effects of cross-cultural experiences; these memories don't just tell the stories of our past, they dictate our future.

And this alone will continue to motivate us to step outside our comfort zones time and time again.

As risky as it may be, there is no other way to find yet another home that we never knew existed.