Travel to Australia

Tracks

Format: Paperback
Author: Robyn Davidson
ReleaseDate: 30 May, 1995
Publisher: Vintage
Rating:

Did she learn anything along the way?


When she finally starts her journey from Alice Springs two years after her arrival there, one is relieved to finally read about the torturous journey she undertook, both with the locals, those annoying tourists along the way, and her intermittent relationship with photographer/sex partner Richard from National Geographic. This story is 254 pages long and the first 100 pages are nothing but the battles Robyn fought with the townfolk and their feelings about Aborigines, her landlord, finding suitable camels and then training them. Somewhere in the middle of the book the journey lost its meaning for me, although I finished the book. It was obvious by then that Robyn made this trek to wrestle with the demons within her, to battle something she had been battling all her life.

A travelogue is always a journey of one's own soul and Robyn's soul was troubled from the start, both from loneliness and what appears to be either drug or alcohol addiction (she mentioned several times how she'd drink her whiskey hard after trouble with the camels. )

I have to admire her for finishing her journey, but she doesn't give her partner enough credit for pulling her through this. She loves her camels and her dog and yet sometimes she treats them as less than that, and like some readers have already mentioned, she paid dearly for that in the end. Some of the honesty angered me and I wanted to yell out "Woman, why would you do something like that!"

This is not an adventure I'm willing to emulate. Although Australia and its people and terrain fascinate me, I'd be much happier along the eastern shore.

Writing from the Guts
Tracks was written by a rare bird; this is writing from the guts. The integrity of this writing, this soul-baring, reminded me of Doug Peacock's Grizzly Years: a flight from the insanities of civilization into the healing refuge of nature's raw dangers. For a first book, exploding out of nowhere, chronicling a soul in search of what is ultimately significant, Robyn Davidson has got the write stuff. Intrepid is the word.

The crystalline expressions of her soul match the purity and desolation of the Outback landscapes. Even a guy like Edward Abbey was swept up in admiration for the courage of this person to embark on her 9 month odyssey. Truly a remarkable book - 5 plus stars.
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Great for the explorer in everyone!
I think Robyn summed it up best when she said, "The two important things that I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking the first step, making the first decision. Let me first say that this should be required reading for young girls. " Having been on a few 'mini-adventures' with my husband, this rung so true in my ears that I had to quote it in my review. How many of us, especially young women, are afraid to take that first step? This is a great tale of the human struggle to overcome fear of the unknown and accomplish a deeper sense of self in a beautiful land of mystery. You must get a copy of this book and go along on Robyn's journey.

Chrissy K. McVay
author of 'Souls of the North Wind'.

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