The Lost Girls
Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World.
by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett and Amanda Pressner
List Price: $15.99
Pages: 560
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780061689079
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
With their 30th birthdays looming, Jen, Holly, and Amanda are feeling the pressure to hit certain milestones --- score the big promotion, find a soul mate, have 2.2 kids. Instead, they make a pact to quit their jobs, leave behind everything familiar, and embark on a yearlong round-the-world search for inspiration and direction.
Traveling 60,000 miles across four continents, Jen, Holly, and Amanda push themselves far outside their comfort zones to embrace every adventure. Ultimately, theirs is a story of true friendship --- a bond forged by sharing beds and backpacks, enduring exotic illnesses, trekking across mountains, and standing by one another through heartaches, whirlwind romances, and everything in the world in between.
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1. Did you find the format of the book --- each Lost Girl taking her turn telling the story --- to be interesting or confusing? Were you able to tell which narrator was speaking without referencing the guide at the bottom of the page?
2. At one point during the trip, Jen, Holly and Amanda have a disagreement over their travel style --- staying in more economical hostel dorms versus more private rooms. If you had $2,000 to spend on a trip, would you rather stay on the road for a month in low budget accommodations, one week in at a luxurious hotel or somewhere in between? Why?
3. Considering the current state of the economy, would you be willing to leave your job for two weeks or more to travel? Would you be worried that your job might not be waiting for you when you return?
4. Which of the three main characters in the book did you most identify with, and why?
5. Do you think that the Lost Girls made any mistakes in the way that they traveled? What were they? How might you do things differently if you had the chance to travel for so long?
6. Jen, Holly and Amanda all split up and traveled solo for a period of time (Amanda did this after Australia). Do you think that you'd enjoy traveling alone? Why or why not? Who would be your best travel partner, and why?
7. If you could choose any country or region to visit, which one would it be?
8. Jen always wanted to volunteer in Kenya, Holly wanted to study yoga and meditation at an Ashram, and Amanda wanted to practice Spanish in Latin America. If you could live out your real-life bucket list (the thing you absolutely have to see or do in life) name three things that would be on it.
9. What did you learn from The Lost Girls book?
10. Other than traveling, what kind of activities do you do to find your passions and live a more connect life?
11. After reading the book, are there any places that the LG's traveled to that peaked your interest now that wouldn't have before? What changed your mind?
12. Throughout the Lost Girls Amanda, Holly and Jen tried new experiences like bungee jumping in Australia, tubing down a river in Laos and meditation in India. Do you think people are more open to new experiences when they travel? And why?
13. Throughout the novel the girls maintain a balanced friendship that grows stronger with each destination. When searching for the ideal travel partner what is important to consider?
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"[P]otentially serious side effects [include] chronic wanderlust; severe allergic reactions to the daily grind; and an incurable desire to toss that Blackberry down a drain….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
"Brave, funny, and deeply moving, The Lost Girls is a real-life fairy tale for anyone who’s ever wanted to chuck it all and see the world with a best friend on each arm."
— Cathy Alter, author of Up for Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex, and Starting Over
"The three authors, all gifted writers...provide passionate, vivid descriptions of their far-flung travels, bolstered by thoughtful insights and genuine intentions, making this an intensely enjoyable read for fans of travel writing....immediately relatable for any twenty-something unsure of his or her future (i.e., most of them)."
— Publishers Weekly
"For anyone-young or old, female or male-who has ever been tempted to trade in the rat race for the thrill and adventure of long-term global travel. And after reading this book, don’t be surprised if you want to do just that."
— David Farley, author of An Irreverent Curiosity
