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

EDITORIAL REVIEW: 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.

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