The Kindle edition of Big Red contains full-color illustrationsSeeking to experience simplicity and contentment in the “Happiest Place on Earth,” Big Red: How I Learned Simplicity from a Suitcase, Dias struggles to jettison her Western ways while lugging a 95-pound suitcase full of her “bare necessities” while traveling halfway around the world. Common sense should have told her how completely … sense should have told her how completely inappropriate all of her “must-haves” were for spending three and a half weeks in the farmlands and jungle of Bhutan, Nepal, and Tibet. It left her wondering whether the Universe—via her Big Red Suitcase—was trying to teach her something.
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“Big Red”, is a 95 pound red suitcase, which the author packs for a 22 day trip of a lifetime. Despite warnings from her husband Ron, she is determined to pack for ALL eventualities!
However, as her journey unfolds “the penny” finally drops…
Although this is essentially a travel memoir, full of interesting facts about the countries she visits, it is also a unique illustration of the healing power of letting go.
*** I read an advanced review copy of this book. ***
Big Red and her human twin Ellie go on a trip of a lifetime to the three Himalayan kingdoms of the Buddha in search of simplicity. Brought up Catholic, Ellie turned to Buddhism in rebellion of the perfection her childhood and marriage demanded. Yet Ellie was also a risk taker. As a child, she loved to roam: the older she grew, the farther she explored. She dreamt of trying new things, and no matter how long it took her, when she got the opportunity to chase one of her dreams, she grasped it, like the trip of a lifetime. She planned and primped for it. She methodically packed Big Red, her zippered, expanding suitcase almost her height and weight, for their 22-day trip together, ensuring Big Red held everything she would need in out-of-the-way places, like toilet paper and Permethrin, and everything that would let her continue her Western routine, like supplements and cute sandals.
There was only one problem with taking her entire material life with her on a journey in search of simplicity: she couldn’t carry Big Red.
But that didn’t deter Ellie, and despite getting lost at the start, Big Red found her. Wherever Ellie went in Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, Big Red demanded to be dragged, hefted, carried, opened, and completely unpacked, no matter how short the stay.
Her relationship with Big Red made Ellie roll her eyes at herself while she self-deprecatingly tells us of her attachment to perfection and materialism in the midst of her hilariously chaotic west-meets-east trip of a lifetime. It is unusual for such a light, fun book to have thoughtful moments where the narrator exposes her weaknesses, her hypocrisies, her struggling quest for spiritual simplicity and lets the reader judge her — or more likely think with her. And then immediately laugh with her as once again she wonders how she’ll avoid the squat position until she can find relief in a proper Western bathroom.
While Big Red weighs her down, barking dogs follow her nights, and holes in the ground haunt her days, Ellie slowly finds times of peace in the pastoral landscapes, awe-inspiring yet informal temples, and grandeur of the Himalayan kingdoms. She takes us with her in her colourful descriptions. We’re usually alone when we read, but this is a book that blossoms when shared with others, when read aloud to each other as a way to dive in with Ellie to share our own quests and experiences.
This is a book that will make you chuckle, groan in sympathy, laugh out loud, ponder with Ellie, and make you smile in delight.