When we first meet Ancil he and his girlfriend are headed off on the holiday of a lifetime travelling around Europe and Ancil has high hopes that this holiday will help to mend their failing relationship. As they make their way across Europe, told within the three parts of the novel The Hedonist, The Digital Nomad and The Survivor we see not only their journey told through Ancil's narration but also a fresh perspective on travel, the world and the coronavirus pandemic and it's effects for someone left unmoored throughout it.
The authors main occupation is maintaining an entertainment blog and the pop culture and movie references scattered throughout helped to lighten the tone when needed and keeps some experiences a bit more relatable/ helped to broach topics which might have been difficult otherwise such as the mental health issues he faced, I especially liked the use of zombies for this as well as the other references throughout as it really helped the author's personality to shine through.
Ancil is so relatable in this novel that I found myself mourning his failed relationship with him, living vicariously through him in his party stage and feeling the weight of the decisions he was grappling with.
As someone who hasn't travelled much at all this book was really eye opening to how easy it was before the pandemic (and now to some extent is again) and to just how many people were left stranded away from home when countries went in to lockdown. The fact Ancil was not only able to survive but thrive during this is testament to his own fortitude and just adds to the fascinating story he tells in this memoir. I was able to fly through this is a couple of days because I was impatient to hear what happened next and would thoroughly recommend you check it out.
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