How Can I Be Lost When I Don't Know Where I'm Going : Wandering Across the Continent with Barb Thacker and her dog, Ink

Barb ventures from her New Mexico home up to the Maritimes on the Eastern Canadian coast and back in one 4 month stint staying, more or less exclusively at campgrounds around the country. The book is in large part, a recounting of her trip in diary form, from the people she met and the places she visited to the antics of her loveable dog, Ink. Although Barb can get a little Mother Earth-y for me at times, I loved this book enough to purchase her follow-up.


How Can I Be Lost When I Don't Know Where I'm Going?   April 2, 2003
John A. Kuca Jr. (Rio Rancho, NM United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book struck a veritable symphonies worth of chords inside the soul of this fastidious critic. It is quite refreshing to read the intimate first-person observations and perspectives of this brilliant author's travels. After reading this book, you will feel like you have just met an old dear friend. It will likewise have you listing the house with the realtor, purchasing that little camper and fulfilling that primal desire --- wanderlust. I thank Barb Thacker for such a brilliant book.


One of the best trips I ever took, without leaving!   April 2, 2003
Luray Hodder Kuca (Rio Rancho, New Mexico)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Barbara's humor is the type you giggle yourself into a heap over then explode trying to repeat it to the next person you see. Nothing comes close to giving you a most real-life feel of seeing the scenery pass by. An ultimately necessary book for all gypsies, nomads, wanderers and every person in between.


Puhleeese!   February 13, 2003
3 out of 7 found this review helpful

This is a more or less verbatim rendering of her diary and a deadly boring read. All her visits to friends are detailed. This might be nice in a letter to mutual friends but the fact that the Grahams were moving from Ghost Ranch to Durango or that "Barbara and her husband were contemplating a divorce" is not of interest to me.

And then there are the teasers that turn out to be dead ends, for example, "I had never been to Crested Butte and just loved the name. Sure enough, the road was marked. We headed down a hill and past an interesting guest ranch. About three blocks later, the pavement ended. Nothing but gravel. I wasn't sure Tessie (the nickname of her vehicle) was ready for 20 miles of mountainous gravel road, nor did I feel I was ready to tackle it either. We turned around and went back to Route 133 which led us north through beautiful country. The weather was great..." ...