Written by: Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett and Amanda Pressner

As a self-proclaimed travel bug, I always wondered if I was a rare, immature twenty-something woman: someone who preferred parties over Prada, travel over real estate, new restaurants over domestic bliss, and adventure over stability. Well, after reading The Lost Girls, I know I’m not alone. The Lost Girls is a non-fiction travel tale starring three women, Holly, Amanda and Jen. Their story follows the twenty-something women around the world (four continents, to be exact) for one year as they search for insight and direction in their lives. The authors left their jobs, family and significant others in New York City, packed their backpacks, and made their way to their first stop in South America.

As I read the earlier chapters, all written from each girl’s perspective, I found myself sitting on the subway and throwing my hand over my mouth… not in surprise, no, but more to stifle a yawn. As The Lost Girls described hiking up the Inca Trail and meeting sleazy men in Peru, I found my eyes skimming the pages in search for something more. It wasn’t until the authors arrived in Africa and started their volunteer work with young girls, that I really began to thirst for more details of their adventure.

Starting off slow, but finishing with a bang, I rate this Harper Collins female-skewed lit a solid B. There were emotional and loving moments peppered throughout the story, and a ton of inspiring and eye-opening cultural details. And while I would have liked a faster paced first half of the book, I kept reading because I was intrigued by their year abroad. So, as I sit here typing out my review, I continue reflecting on the positives in the story. My mind is frequently wandering from the girls yoga classes in India, volunteering with female borders, and river tubing in Laos, to bungee jumping in New Zealand, and road tripping and surfing in Australia, and I can’t help but find myself longing to plan my next trip. Considering my surroundings; a world map hanging on the wall beside me, my blog open in one tab, and the Expedia flight page open in another; it’s safe to say that The Lost Girls are still inspiring me long after I placed the book back onto the shelf. So maybe I’ll give it a B+, after all.