What sounded like a very interesting account of self-discovery ended up being the smug, irritating and self-serving diary of a completely unlikeable woman. I wanted to like her, wanted to be empathetic, yet by the end I was cheering her husband for getting away from her.

I wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, Gelman has not learned the art of telling a story without giving her judgements on it. I wish she had given the reader some credit to be able to distinguish what characters are sincere and which ones aren't. Instead, she tells us her opinions of these people, leaving the reader no room for interpretation. I felt preached to. With every passing page, I felt more and more resentment toward her style of writing that proclaimed how her choices, her travel style and her friends were far superior to anyone else's.There are many other travel books that do a much better job of allowing the reader to feel a part of the story. Choose one with, perhaps not as good a title, but with better writing.

While Rita Gelman describes the countries she's visited and people she's met, her book is more of a travelogue than an insightful travel memoir. The writing is uninspired, particularly given the out-of-the-way places she visited and people she befriended. The roads she did take and places they led her had such potential to deliver fascinating insights into what she learned about herself in the process. But she chose not to take that road and rather gave us her travel diary: first I went here and met so-and-so and then I went there, etc.

I just finished this book & I love it! I love reading about interesting people & I love reading first hand travel stories. Rita Golden Gelman's book "Tales of a Female Nomad" has both. I am not a writer so I will keep it short, but I totally enjoyed this book.

I had contempt for this book and the author. She gives the impression of a teenager attempting to be 'cool'. She goes to foreign countries and mooches off families by living with them for months at a time and sleeping with men she becomes so connected to, after talking to them for a couple of hours in a restaurant. Give me a break. The most offensive for me however was her typical and obvious left-wing contempt for her own country.

I could not finish this dribble. Who does this woman think she is and why would I care. He r life is so out of touch with the norm that I think she isn't aware of how unresponsible she is.Do not waste your time.