Travelers, this one's for you!

"Paris revealed itself to me in layers." -Janice MacLeod, Paris Letters, Copyright 2014. 

 

Now here is a book that you will absolutely love! I read it in a couple of days because I just couldn't put it down. It's a great story, for sure. Who, among us, haven't asked ourselves, "How can I change my life and have a grand adventure?" I enjoyed the humor and craziness of MacLeod as she dreamed, planned, and did exactly what she wanted to do - she traveled. The book is a memoir that describes the life of Janice MacLeod, a young woman who realizes that she's not happy in her California life. She has a great job as a marketing writer, but she isn't content. She sees herself as basically a junk-mail author, and it doesn't satisfy her in the least. While some of her coworkers are driven by the fast pace, deadlines, staff lunches, and the rush of the California lifestyle, she realizes that she doesn't have the interest or energy to do the job anymore.

 

Everything begins to change for Janice one day when she is eating her salad with her colleague, Akemi. Janice simply asked her, "How much money does it take to quit your job?" At first, Akemi said that it might take a million dollars to make this dream come true. But then Janice clarified what she meant. She said that what she wants to know is "how much money would it take to buy yourself a buffer of time so that you could quit your job and figure out something else to do." The two women decided to try to figure out an answer by thinking about how much money Janice spent per day. They don't really know the answer yet, so they hypothetically used the amount of $100 to try to figure out if Janice could afford to quit her job. Then she set about a year-long plan to change her lifestyle and thus, to save money. She cleaned out her drawers, cut back on her grocery bill, sold everything that was not a necessity, took care of all of the unfinished business in her life, and stopped going out to restaurants with friends. She realized that if she ate with a group of five people, they would always divide the check by that amount, even though she didn't eat much! What a rip-off! She still wanted to see her friends, but she wanted to save her money. So, she suggested that they go on hikes or just play cards. She finds that simplifying her life is not so bad after all. She writes, "There is a certain freedom in not having so many choices." In the end, Janice saved more than $60,000 and began to plan her new life in Europe.

 

Her first stop was Paris. During her weeks in Paris, she met a handsome Polish butcher and they eventually began to date. They couldn't communicate very well, but they began a dating relationship by using signs and gestures. Janice knew a little bit of French, and Christophe was strong in French, so this was often their "go to" language. Gradually, Janice became stronger in French and Christopher learned English, his fifth language! Janice eventually began to run out of money, so she had to figure out a way to fund her new lifestyle. She began painting small postcards and sending them to people at $5 per shot, and she started to have a good business. She sketched often, blogged, kept a journal, and wrote personal notes to people. She was able to earn some money by doing something she loved to do, art. She, of course, is the creative sort, so deciding what to draw or paint was never a problem for her in Paris. She made herself vulnerable through her blog, and people enjoyed hearing about her many adventures and funny anecdotes. I know firsthand that a lot of funny things happen when you are in a country where you don't speak the language fluently.

I'm not going to tell you how the story ends, because I want you to read Paris Letters. I know that many of you like to travel as I do, so you will enjoy this book. And be sure to let me know what you think.

The last time I posted there was snow everywhere here in North Carolina, but today's it's a sunny 55 degrees F. Mother Nature only left behind some mud and sludge, but we're happy to be back in routine. I hope you're having a good weekend.

Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com