Title: Around the World in 12 Years and 12 Square Meters: Memories and Insights
Author: Steffen P. Russak
Publisher: Author Press
ISBN: 978-1957546445
Genre: Travelogue / Memoir
Pages: 204
Reviewed by: Lily Amanda

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Each of us today is the product of all our past experiences. Family and friends leave an indelible impact on our lives, as do the many places we see and experience –  Anita Desai.

Around the World in 12 Years and 12 Square Meters: Memories and Insights by Steffen P. Russak is an inspiring and breezy travel memoir that compiles stories and fond experiences by both Steffen and Marianne Russak, who set out on voyaging around the world after they retired. In a conventional campervan, the two travelled the world on epic trips in search of personal nourishment and enlightenment.

Vivacious and stirring, the text is divided into two parts, with every section running true with emotional clarity and propped up by the relaxing aura of the writer’s reporting. The first part discusses the travel preparations, the vision, and the purpose of the trip they undertook. The second part demonstrates the central enduring tenet of travel: examining different cultures, customs, people, places, and some key experiences that are worth mentioning. The author does not falter from digging into some of the struggles they encountered in their travels which included mechanical problems, accidents, and camping challenges.

The chapters are like a breath of fresh air, a welcome interlude from the usual gloom of the wearisome atmosphere of ordinary life that at times threatens to engulf us. As a tribute to his late wife, this travel memoir runs true and speaks more sharply than any adorned prose would. Their love for each other manifests plainly across the pages creating an empathetic and good-natured tone for readers.

Their travels, spanning various continents such as Africa, South America, and Australia are capped off by colorful photographs that appear throughout, with captions which clarify their place in the narrative. Around the World in 12 Years and 12 Square Meters: Memories and Insights is a well-layered and tightly braided portrait that apprises, fascinates, and inspires. It manages to adduce the urge to travel and satisfies the armchair travelers’ curiosity and appetite, resulting in a win-win by itself.

Steffen P. Russak’s ranging work deftly demonstrates despite the vast topographical and cultural distances that separate us, we’re all intertwined, and the practice of getting to know a place and its people is a small rarity to be savored. It is indeed a treasure not to be missed.