I have never before read such an amazingly powerful book about someone else’s journey through various countries and cultures. The way Todd Millick was able to create actual personalities for Bulgaria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Romania and Algeria you would think these are the names of people instead of places.

Bulgaria became the bad girl lover that would scare the crap out of your mom when she shows up looking a bit on the Kurt Cobain style grunge side but actually had one of those tortured artist souls which could find the beauty where others only saw brokenness.

Chad is the smelly, geeky kid standing on the sidelines begging someone to pick him to play flag football but all people can see are the negatives. They miss out on the determination and drive that will push him to succeed, if only by an inch, but never will settle for last place.

Admittedly, as a woman, it was harder for me to read about Afghanistan because of the decidedly and intentionally created anti-female culture. The fact that men can’t exist without women and would die out completely within a century making our gender quite important seems to have escaped them. I did love reading about the varied environments from the unending amounts of sand to mountain filled green hills. It reminded me a bit of Texas in that you get nearly every type of landscape within one geographic boundary.

I think I would endure sensory overland in Egypt with its reliance on using noise, and loudly with lots of it, to communicate. I’m better in silence, even dog barks make my spine curl up on itself. I get road rage just driving in DFW, I’m pretty sure I’d be on the news for turning their traffic jams into a session of extreme bumper cars.

Pakistan scared me. I had this image in my head of the monster under your bed who moved his cousin into your closet so nowhere in your room is safe. I have a lot of respect though for their family oriented culture.

Algeria definitely reminded me of the major metro areas in Texas as there are vast tracts of undeveloped land, which I love, but that also means you squeeze millions of people into 4 basic areas: Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas-Ft Worth which even though is technically two cities really is just one gigantic circle that feeds off each other. Of course there is the far west, east and north side but the center is where all the action is at. In describing how they handle terrorist attacks it really puts American reactions, particularly lately in perspective.

Millick’s writing takes humor to a whole new level as he uses descriptions about countries that immediately bring to life images of embarrassing cousins you hope never to admit publicly a DNA similarity to or roll your eyes at American misconceptions of everything outside its own borders. From page one I began feeling homesick for the greater world as I have apparently been inside the US geographic lines too long.

Reading his impressions reminded me of the first time I stood inside Bosnia while looking over Croatia and realized that despite all the wars which get fought there is no visible line to show you where one side ends and the other begins. We may have maps, Google Earth and GPS systems that insist a line is drawn down the land to ensure ownership but when you’re standing there it doesn’t exist.

The world is so much more of everything, more beautiful, more complicated, more intriguing than what many believe. Millick reminds you of that the deeper you get into his book.

Todd Millick is a little coy about why he was there, but as a US Government employee, he lived as an ex-pat in some of the places likely at the bottom of the list of favorite destinations. He shares his observations about everyday life, and points out the things that make every country unique.

=== The Good Stuff ===

* If nothing else, Millick keeps his sense of humor. He has a marvelous ability to point out what a country is like with simple, yet profound examples. For example, he expresses an opinion that Bulgaria looks and feels like Western Europe, but it is really a Potemkin village sort of illusion. As proof of this, he points out a trash receptacle with four separate openings in the lid for paper, metal, glass and trash. But upon closer examination, there is only one bin, and all the items deposited are intermingled into a single bag. And even more profound, the can itself is see-through. It is a marvelous illustration of life in the Balkans.

* The author’s writing style is easy to read, and I ended up reading the book in a single sitting. Millick has a gift for relating stories that have both immediate humor as well as deeper and more serious observations. For example, he relates a story about a re-enactment of Rosa Parks’ famous bus ride staged at the US embassy in Haiti. Unfortunately, the maintenance staff left some of the props in the lobby for a few days, so visitors were surprised by the “Whites Only” signage hanging in a US facility.

* The experiences the author chooses to share cover a range of countries, including a few from “first-world” countries. There are almost no stories or content that pertains to the author’s official duties, but rather are all about his interaction and struggles with the local civilization.

=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===

* The book starts out slowly, and I almost gave up on it after the first chapter or two. Most of the observations and events related in the early chapters are those that would be totally expected, even if you haven’t visited the country in question. It is worth powering through these, because the book gets much better.

* For the most part, the author avoids any more complicated analysis. For example, he points out that while Bulgarians are much “richer” today than they were under the Communist regime, in many ways they feel poorer due to the increased prosperity and visibility of their neighbors. It is an interesting question-are they better off being poorer and not knowing what “richer” means?


=== Summary ===

Once I got past the first chapters, I began to enjoy the book. The obvious comparison is PJ O’Rourke’s Holidays in Hell which is much the same genre. Millick does not have O’Rourkes sharp and biting humor, but he does have a style that is a bit sarcastic and is amusing and fun to read. The book is fast-moving, and anyone that enjoys looking at, and poking fun at, other cultures will find it an amusing diversion.

Short but humorous and enlightening book on what it's like to live is some very interesting countries across the world.