The Mystical Backpacker: How to Discover Your Destiny in the Modern World

Fans of Cheryl Strayed and Elizabeth Gilbert will recognize the format of this travel memoir, but Papp’s youthful viewpoint stands out in a field more given to midlife reckonings. She reviews her first solo backpacking trip, taken in 2000 after she finished graduate study in Budapest, with an eye toward helping other travelers on their journeys. Papp relates her European adventure through journal entries, poems, and photographs as well as an anecdote-filled narrative, and though one might wish for more vivid accounts of her interactions with others on the trail, her story conveys her open-mindedness about all that she encounters. Papp builds on the “mystical nature” of solo travel with exercises and journal writing prompts in each chapter. While the travel diary benefits from Papp’s openness, the “how to” portion of the book does not. Prompts are fairly general (“make a list of your 10 happiest memories in life”) and suggestions for mining the mystical tend toward the familiar (look for signs, write affirmations, reflect on your life). The voice of youth is refreshing, but could use refinement. Agent: Regina Brooks, Serendipity Literary Agency. (May)