The Lost Girls and the Wander Year: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World.

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Friends Pressner, Baggett, and Corbett were all busy climbing the corporate ladder of Manhattan media when they realized that, in their late twenties, they weren't sure they wanted the golden handcuffs of New York success. Reprioritizing, they decide on a rebellious, extreme course of action: quit their jobs, abandon their boyfriends, and take a year-long trip around the world. In this group memoir, the three take turns chronicling a journey from Peru to Kenya to Vietnam to Australia, and everywhere in between. Though they don't always get along, the three learn to rely on each other, keep their minds open and throw themselves enthusiastically after every adventure that comes their way. The three authors, all gifted writers (each has worked as a journalist), provide passionate, vivid descriptions of their far-flung travels, bolstered by thoughtful insights and genuine intentions, making this an intensely enjoyable read for fans of travel writing; their semi-improvisatory experience provides a broader look at travel than either a luxury tour or a backpacking trip would, proving especially resonant. This memoir should also be immediately relatable for any twenty-something unsure of his or her future (i.e., most of them). From After a thrilling trip to South America, Jen, Holly, and Amanda, three Manhattanites in their mid-twenties, decide to climb off the career ladder for a year to travel the world. Inspired by The Flame Trees of Thika, Jen has always longed to see Kenya, while Holly wants to study yoga in an ashram in India. Amanda has dreams of pursuing a career as a freelance travel writer, but when she takes time out from their adventures to work on articles, it grates on the nerves of Jen, who is hoping to truly immerse herself in their surroundings. Though the three encounter snafus on the way—Holly initially finds the rigors of the ashram disheartening, the girls find themselves trapped in a car with a frightening taxi driver in Vietnam—there are many rewards on the journey, most notably when the three friends organize a group of Kenyan girls to perform a play about an influential Kenyan woman. For those with similar wanderlust, Jen, Holly and Amanda’s lively accounts make for the ideal armchair journey. --Kristine Huntley

Jen, Holly, and Amanda are at a crossroads. They're feeling the pressure to hit certain milestones—scoring a big promotion, finding a soul mate, having 2.2 kids—before they reach their early thirties. When personal challenges force them to reevaluate their lives, they decide it's now or never to do something daring. Unable to gain perspective in fast-paced Manhattan, the three twentysomethings quit their coveted media jobs and leave behind their friends, boyfriends, and everything familiar to travel the globe. Dubbing themselves the Lost Girls, they embark on an epic yearlong search for inspiration and direction.

As they journey 60,000 miles across four continents and more than a dozen countries, Jen, Holly, and Amanda step far outside of their comfort zones, embracing every adventure and experience the world has to offer—shooting blowguns with Yagua elders in the Amazon, learning capoeira on the beaches of Brazil, volunteering with preteen girls at a school in rural Kenya, hiking with Hmong villagers in Vietnam, and driving through Australia in a psychedelic camper van. Along the way, the Lost Girls find not only themselves but also a lifelong friendship. Ultimately, theirs is a story of true sisterhood—a bond forged by sharing beds and backpacks, enduring exotic illnesses, fending off aggressive street vendors, trekking across rivers and over mountains, and standing by one another through heartaches, whirlwind romances, and everything in the world in between.

This candid and compelling memoir will speak to anyone who has ever felt the desire to spread her wings and discover the world with her best friends by her side.

Prologue: Kenya (October) Jen, Argentina/Brazil (January, one year earlier) Amanda, New York City (May, One Year Earlier) Holly, New York City (January-March) Jen, Peru (June) Holly, Peru (July) Jen, Peru (July) Amanda, Peru (August) Jen, Brazil (August) Holly, Brazil (August) Amanda, New York City (August-September) Jen, Kenya (September) Amanda, Kenya (September) Holly, Kenya (September) Jen, Kenya (October) Holly, India (October) Jen, India (November) Holly, India (November) Amanda, Goa, India (November) Jen, Vientiane, Laos (December) Amanda, Laos (December) Holly, India (November-December) Amanda, Thailand (December) Holly, Boston/Cambodia (January) Jen, Vietnam (January) Amanda, Vietnam (January) Jen, Thailand (February) Holly, Bali (March) Amanda, New Zealand (March) Jen, New Zealand (March-April) Amanda, Australia (April) Holly, Australia (April) Jen, Australia (May) Holly, Australia (May) Epilogue: Panama (August, two years later) “Brave, funny, and deeply moving.” — Cathy Alter, author of Up for Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex, and Starting Over “Three cheers to The Lost Girls for showing us, with good humor and graceful prose, the beauty and importance of leading life astray.” — Franz Wisner, New York Times Bestselling author of Honeymoon with My Brother Three friends, each on the brink of a quarter-life crisis, make a pact to quit their high pressure New York City media jobs and leave behind their friends, boyfriends, and everything familiar to embark on a year-long backpacking adventure around the world in The Lost Girls. Three friends, each on the brink of a quarter-life crisis, make a pact to quit their high pressure New York City media jobs and leave behind their friends, boyfriends, and everything familiar to embark on a year-long backpacking adventure around the world in The Lost Girls . Three friends at a crossroads in their twenties quit their high pressure New York media jobs, leave their friends and everything familiar behind, and embark on a year-long backpacking adventure around the world Three female friends detail their adventures after they each decide to quit their New York City jobs, abandon their apartments, and leave their boyfriends behind to travel the world for a year