This was the description on goodreads:
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to just pick up and ride your motorcycle around this big beautiful country? Hollie lives in Rochester, New York with her husband Bonz. They have been together for over 30 years. With Bonz newly retired and the kids leaving to go off on their own adventures they needed something to reconnect. Join them on their journey through 22 states, many national parks and a couple of biker rallies. Hollie requested three months off work (with no pay), and her employer was gracious enough to allow this. So that was it, June, July and August of 2017 off they went to discover not only the USA but also themselves. No real plans and no reservations, flying by the seat of their pants, join them in seeing what it is like to ride a Harley on the open road for 87 days, one day at a time.Top on my bucket list is to visit all 50 states. And I'd love to just pop in the car and make my way from one state to the next, covering all 13 states that I haven't yet been to. I really thought that this book would have me green with envy and ready to pack my bag and hop in the car.
My guess is that Bell-Schinzing's friends asked her to blog while on her adventure. She does mention a blog. If this book is the manuscript of her blog, okay, I get it. I blogged while on our trip to Italy 3 years ago. You can check out The Pellegrinos Do Italy here. I tried to write at least something every day. Some days I was tired and I just wanted to get something posted. I didn't proof read, I didn't care about using the same words over and over. I just wanted it posted. Other times I tried to more fully convey everything I'd experienced that day. But if I were to publish my blog and present it as a book, I would carefully proofread. I'd embellish my writing to make it more readable - and more universally interesting. Bell-Schinzing did neither.
I did wonder a couple of times if I would have found One Day at a Time more interesting if I was a biker. I'm not a biker, though. However, I've been to some of the biker spots in Robbinsville, NC that were mentioned and I do understand the attraction of those spots and how interesting they can be. You don't need to be a biker to be able to understand that.
A few times, Bell-Schinzing writes about discrimination against bikers. I suppose it exists. But the way she expressed herself made it seem as though she has a chip on her shoulder.
It turns out, too, that my husband and I were driving the Tail of the Dragon (on the NC/TN border) just a few weeks after Bell-Schinzing and her husband biked it. She mentioned that they were warned on the day before they'd planned their ride that seven people had died on the Dragon already in 2017. And that two more bikers had gotten killed on the day before their ride. I guess I'm glad I didn't know that.
There was also a bit about Graham County being a dry county and about the only restaurant in the county that serves alcohol. I knew Graham County was dry, but didn't realize that you could have a drink at a steak house located between two tennis courts. And here is a perfect example of where I wish the author had given a little bit more context and more details.
She also briefly mentions that she was a recovering alcoholic and that her husband was part Native American. So briefly that I wonder why she bothered to include those facts. Both should have been excluded or expanded. Other than knowing that Hollie and Bonz like to take naps and that Bonz needs to eat regularly, I didn't get to know either one of them as people.
When Bell-Schinzing mentions that having a Go-Pro would be fun, but how boring would it be for other people to watch her unedited videos, I wondered why she didn't feel the same way about what appears to be her unedited blog.
The details of their checking into and out of motels could have been made more interesting. The same goes for the descriptions of meals they ate and restaurants they patronized.
A brief nod is made to alcoholism on Native American reservations, but it is thrown in totally out of context. That would have been a great place to embellish.
I expected to read more about our National Parks system than I did. (My bucket list includes visiting several National Parks.)
I caught lots of typos (desert instead of dessert, things like that). She placed some cities in the wrong states. She overused the word awesome. Being more descriptive would have enhanced her writing. Ironically, in the "About the Author," Bell-Schinzing writes that she's already started on her next book but does not expect it to be out for awhile because "really good things in life take time." Hollie and Bonz returned home from their bike trip in August 2017 and this book was published in 2017. Maybe more time and some friendly editors would have helped. The story of their trip has a lot of potential. It just didn't deliver.
The book concludes with Maybe it is time to take a new look at our surroundings where we live and start to discover some of the "things to do" around our own area and continue to play tourists for a bit. Life is way too short to forget to play, while learning to live our new life one day at a time. I couldn't agree with Hollie more here!
Would I recommend? No.
No comments:
Post a Comment