Ah summer! Time to slow down and catch up on some travel reading.
Since my trip to the South Pacific this spring- (see my earlier post about the Lindblad National Geographic Orion cruise I took: https://www.heirloomvacations.com/lindblad-nat-geo-orion/)
I have been fascinated with J. Maarten Troost’s trilogy of memoirs about his time in several South Pacific nations and islands. He captures perfectly the climate, the seas, and the sensibility of the islanders.
I love his funny, self-deprecating descriptions about what it’s like to live in these far-flung places. He also writes about the local politics and history with a wry sense of humor and sometimes outrage. He is the ultimate outsider looking in,observing strange and unfamiliar cultures, but he’s also on the inside, making the best of difficult living conditions and unexpected situations.
The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
In the first book in this series Mr. Troost describes moving to Kiribati so his girlfriend (now wife) could take a job at an NGO while he planned to write a novel. The day-to-day survival issues are almost overwhelming, and funny.
The chapter titles are great, setting the tone for many misadventures:
Chapter 4
In which the Author finally sets foot on the Distant Tarawa, where he is led by the Evil Kate, who seeks to Convince him that Tarawa is not what it seems and conceding that it is indeed Very Hot on the Equator; he Bravely overcomes his fear of Sharks and encounters something Much, Much Worse.
Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu
The next book details the couples’ return to “civilization” and, after marrying, becoming increasingly unhappy with life in the U.S. Another job opportunity for Sylvia takes them back to the South Pacific to Vanuatu. Mr. Troost, in journalistic fashion, travels to several islands learning about the history and culture, and is always surprised by what he learns. When they get pregnant they decide to move to Fiji, for the medical care, and the last part of the book describes what happens to them there. Having a child changes their lives, and having an island baby only adds to the adjustments.
Again, the chapter titles are a descriptive and funny:
Chapter 2
In which the author offers some interesting arcana about Vanuatu-its one-hundred-some-languages, its history of cannibalism, its cargo cults, its smoldering volcanoes-and arrives on the island of Efate where he soon gets stuck.
