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marleybud 's review for:
Nowhere for Very Long: The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life
by Brianna Madia
Although the author writes good descriptions of her misadventures, I just didn’t have any patience for her ascetic lifestyle. She seemed to take a perverse sense of pride in all of the discomfort and suffering she subjected herself to through stubborn, stupid imprudence. Moreover, she came across to me as sanctimonious because she had escaped the treadmill of societal expectations of what constitutes success. I’m far too pragmatic to be charmed by her accounts of hardship through recklessness and unnecessary, self imposed martyrdom.
I was irritated by her disdain for regular rank and file people who strive to make a living and do their best to provide for themselves and their families. It is not necessary to suffer such extreme deprivation and hardship in search of a simpler more spiritual life. I know from personal experience that it’s possible to eschew materialism and consumerism while still living in a humble, rented dwelling with four walls and indoor plumbing. However, it seems that she embraced hardship, the deprivation of creature comforts like cleanliness, a proper bed and basic plumbing, and the discomfort of extreme heat and cold living in an uninsulated van simply because it made for good copy on Instagram and lent her notoriety. The more dramatic and challenging her circumstances, the better the story.
I grew impatient with her smug, self-satisfaction and the endless details about her van breaking down. The gory details of her dog’s accident and vivid description of his extensive injuries and prolonged suffering was just way, way too much information, possibly because I am presently grieving the recent loss of my own beloved dog.
I also frequently wondered how she financed her lifestyle. How did she pay for food, gas and maintenance on her vehicle and in the end, how did she qualify for a loan to buy a property? I don’t know enough about how all the various social media platforms work to know for sure, but it stands to reason that she “sold” her private life to people living vicariously through her melodramatic pursuit of her dreams given that she had no meaningful employment. No, that was beneath her but trading dollars for private details of her reckless, self-imposed martyrdom on Instagram was perfectly acceptable. I’m grateful I only borrowed the book from the library and didn’t help to finance her life by buying her ridiculous book.
I was irritated by her disdain for regular rank and file people who strive to make a living and do their best to provide for themselves and their families. It is not necessary to suffer such extreme deprivation and hardship in search of a simpler more spiritual life. I know from personal experience that it’s possible to eschew materialism and consumerism while still living in a humble, rented dwelling with four walls and indoor plumbing. However, it seems that she embraced hardship, the deprivation of creature comforts like cleanliness, a proper bed and basic plumbing, and the discomfort of extreme heat and cold living in an uninsulated van simply because it made for good copy on Instagram and lent her notoriety. The more dramatic and challenging her circumstances, the better the story.
I grew impatient with her smug, self-satisfaction and the endless details about her van breaking down. The gory details of her dog’s accident and vivid description of his extensive injuries and prolonged suffering was just way, way too much information, possibly because I am presently grieving the recent loss of my own beloved dog.
I also frequently wondered how she financed her lifestyle. How did she pay for food, gas and maintenance on her vehicle and in the end, how did she qualify for a loan to buy a property? I don’t know enough about how all the various social media platforms work to know for sure, but it stands to reason that she “sold” her private life to people living vicariously through her melodramatic pursuit of her dreams given that she had no meaningful employment. No, that was beneath her but trading dollars for private details of her reckless, self-imposed martyrdom on Instagram was perfectly acceptable. I’m grateful I only borrowed the book from the library and didn’t help to finance her life by buying her ridiculous book.