reviewed by The "Ex" Patriot

Glen David Short has a passion for life. Real life. His book, An Odd Odyssey, California to Colombia by Bus and Boat, is in fact a treatise about the nature of learning to live in the ‘real’ world as much as it is about his trip through Central America. In fact, there is something more than vaguely Platonic about his metamorphosis from tunnel worker to world traveller and author.

After six years of labouring in the shadows of man-made caves, Short had a close call when part of the tunnel in which he had been working collapsed. The site of a chunk of rock the size of a Volkswagon falling in close proximity provided the impetus to search for something more from life. But the “real world” in which his friends lived, the world of couples, and mortgages, cell phones and car payments, and 2.5 kids and bedtime stories was as shadowy, grey, and undefined as the tunnel. It was time to break away.

Like the cave-dwellers in Plato’s metaphor, Glen David Short was about to emerge into the brilliance of the real world.

The setting of his travels through Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, and ultimately Colombia is the vivid rich earth of Central America where the past shines as intensely as the present. A society where friendly strangers who are willing to invite you into their homes like an old friend exist side by side with thieves and murderers not much older than the children of Glen Short's thirty-something friends.

The book itself is ambitious for a first time author. Short’s goal is nothing less than to share every aspect of his journey with the reader, so that by the end one feels as if they had accompanied him every mile of the way.

He is not a trained or a practiced writer but he has a natural poetry about himself and about the way he sees the world. He relates with infectious passion, descriptions of the natural and urban landscapes, details of the ancient remnants of the Aztec and Mayan civilisations, portraits of the many people he met along the way, the history of the countries he visited, and perhaps most importantly, his own spiritual journey.

The beginning is a jumpy collection of anecdotes, wandering from one locale to the next. The reader shortly discovers the reason for this is that his notes had been stolen on the Mexican subway during a hectic couple of days that saw him robbed not once but twice. This event seems to help bring his trek into focus, both in his mind and on the page.

From this point on, his entries are dated and more detailed. As if his eyes have finally become accustomed to the brightness of the world around him, he settles into his life as a traveller. More confident, less naïve than before.

This focus is mirrored in Short’s prose. At the beginning, one can feel that words and sentences seem foreign to him. His descriptions and imagery are tentative jabs into the unknown sometimes reaching their mark, sometimes not. But as the pages pass by, his confidence grows; he begins sharing more and more of himself. His prose becomes more refined and mastered. By the end, his prose is as professional and flowing as that of more experienced writers.

We grow to trust Short’s observations and opinions of the people he meets, sometimes in spite of how we know we would react in the same situation. The crazy Swede, Ari, for example, who consumes large quantities of drugs to help him meditate and who relishes showing strangers the knife which will be his defense in any situation is a character whom many of us would dismiss offhand as someone we would rather avoid. Short’s optimism in the human spirit, however, leads him to try and become more closely acquainted with this character. We grow to learn that Ari is a human being with the same passions and loves, which we all share, a guy who experiences a child-like enjoyment of the fruit drinks sold at the restaurant across the street from the hotel.

In fact, it is Short’s love of the human spirit in all its incarnations that provides some of the truly remarkable passages in this book and elevates it to something better than your average collection of travel articles. The people accompanying him through his journeys are just as colourful and exciting as his ascension of Pacaya Volcano or his life aboard a yacht in the Caribbean.

An Odd Odyssey also provides a first-hand insight into the world of backpacking. A world which some enter into like sponges ready to absorb all it has to offer but others wander through shielded by a wall of personal cultural bias. We also learn the ephemeral nature of friendship in this world where bonds seem to grow between travellers quickly, but fade just as fast as people go their separate ways.

The flaws found in An Odd Odyssey come from the nature of its publication. Short took the route of publishing through a "Print on Demand" company and although the binding, cover-art, and paper quality at first give the impression of a truly professional publication, we soon see the inconsistencies and flaws in such a work. The pages are missing chapter headings to help the reader remember where he or she is; the font is a little small and compact in comparison to most modern works; and journal entries do not have extra spaces between them to make reading easier. But these things are minor, and given the nature of the work can be overlooked.

Glen Short’s freshman foray into the world of travel writing represents a journey both mental and physical which many of us only fantasize about. He begins confused and uncertain about where his adventure will take him, but as he sheds the conceptions of the “real world” that he had been taught were absolute, he discovers the bounteous wonders around him. It is the story of how one man works up the courage to leave the shadows of his personal cave, and bask in the rays and glory life has to offer.

An Odd Odyssey, California to Colombia by Bus and Boat
published by
Trafford
290 pages, perfect bound QPB
$19.75 US

The publisher's page can be found here.

Glen David Short's Official Homepage and his complete An Odd Odyssey information page.

Glen David Short at ScribeCentral.com