When
Susan and Charles receive a letter from Cyprus friends, now in Taiwan, they get
a chance to help crew a sailboat from Sri Lanka across the Indian Ocean. They
have no clue what to expect. Susan reminds Charles she isn't a good swimmer. He
tells her a life jacket will do the trick, and convinces her it's the
opportunity of a lifetime. A must-do travel adventure. They say goodbye to
friends and family in sunny California, fly to New York and on to India,
arriving the day the Indian government has issued a state of emergency. And
then onto the boat, and into the ocean. In monsoon season. With no charts. In this true-life travel adventure, Susan keeps a journal and record her bizarre thoughts and telling dreams. A real life thriller, Susan's monsoon-season journey is about discovery and spiritual realization—one dream at a time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:
Susan will be awarding a $20 Amazon or
B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $20
Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host.
My Impressions:
This is the first book I have read by this author but the book was ingenious.The author combines the genres of memoirs and travel books of adventures, when she and her husband, Charles, are invited by friends to travel in a maiden voyage on a yacht to many luxurious and exotic locations. What I really enjoyed about this book was the internal journey of self-discovery that the author recaps while she is on her adventures that really adds to the mystique of the locations.
This book was a good, fast read, because it pulled you in and rally made you wish you had friends like Dylan and Mia who stop and think about you when their millionaire friends offers them a Yacht to break in! Thank to another blogger I know now how the title came about as well! It seems that Diego Garcia is an atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean. Diego Garcia is the largest of the 60 small islands comprising the Chagos Archipelago. I dont know about you, but I was actually curious about that one! This is one of those books that I can recommend for those who love travel, and self-exploration.
Enjoy an Excerpt:
Ch 12
A powerful surge of energy flooded my body and relaxed me.
It was a breakthrough as I became aware of a reality outside my perceived
normal existence. The sea heard, answered me, and calmed. I experienced a
moment of pure joy when I discovered the interconnections of nature and the
universe around me. My epiphany.
This was not the first time I had felt supernatural powers
surround me. I had experienced this also as a child when I sat out on a hot
rock in the Arizona desert with my dog Brownie. We watched magic happen while
we waited on a spaceship to collect us. My senses became so keen I could see
rocks change as the wind brushed them.
I thought back to Cyprus and the long months I had spent in
bed thinking and dreaming, bedridden in an attempt to have a healthy baby.
Information seemed to flow then from a higher spiritual reality, and events
that were beyond what could be explained by nature happened. Again and again.
As the sea stirred my senses, I became the curious, wide
open-eyed child again, welcoming the power of magic
Examining these connections, I realized I had touched on a
greater truth; the reality of how I fit into the bigger picture of life. The
quieter I became, the more I could see and hear. Was it my imagination? Or was
I experiencing a heightened awareness as a result of being in tune with nature.
Floating in this immense ocean at eye level, gave me a new appreciation for how
massive the universe is, and how small and insignificant a human is by
comparison. A small speck in the full spectrum of life on earth.
I had traveled far and wide to find myself; to discover my
core. My soul.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Born in Los
Angeles California, Susan Joyce spent most of her childhood in Tucson, Arizona
and returned to LA as a young working woman. Inspired as a child by postcards
from her globe-trotting great aunt, Susan left the United States at age 20 to
see the world.
She planned
on being gone for a year, but ended up living her 20s and 30s in Europe and the
Middle East. As a Jill of all trades, she worked as a secretary, freelance
writer, taught computer classes, wrote songs, and became an accomplished artist
while writing her first children's book, "Peel, the Extraordinary
Elephant."
An award
winning author and editor of children's books, Susan's first adult book in her
memoir series, "The Lullaby Illusion--A Journey of Awakening" is a
travelogue of the politics of Europe, the United States, and Israel during a
twelve year 'roller-coaster' period of her life and an adventure of survival
through friends and sheer determination.
The Lullaby
Illusion was awarded
* Readers'
Favorite 5-Stars and the 2014 GOLD Medal Winner, Non-Fiction--Travel in the
2014 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards.
* Honorable
Mention Prize Winner--2014 Stargazer Literary Prizes
Her second
memoir, "Good Morning Diego Garcia" is about her adventure from India
and across the Indian Ocean in monsoon season in 1975.
Available for
pre-order:
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Morning-Diego-Garcia-Discovery-ebook/dp/B017S0ZXP6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Read more
about Susan's life adventures at: http://susanjoycejourneys.com/
Stop in and
say hello to Susan here: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSusanJoyce/?fref=ts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comments