Title: Gathering No Moss, Memoir of a Reluctant World Traveler
Author: Don Feeney
Publisher: Blueprint Press International
ISBN: 978-1-959365-36-5
Pages: 366
Genre: Memoir
Reviewed by: Susan Brown
Pacific Book Review
Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan wrote in his 1960s hit, Like a Rolling Stone, “How does it feel, how does it feel? To be without a home. Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone.”
In this memoir, author Feeney explains exactly how it feels to be “like a rolling stone,” in a narrative detailing both a personal and professional life that took him to more than 50 countries on five continents.
The amount of detail in this book is extraordinary. The author showcases his three-decade career of service to the U.S. Military, plus embassy and consulate posts around the world, while at the same time reminiscing about the places he lived, sights he saw, and a smorgasbord of food he enjoyed in every location.
A career that began with the flip of a coin between him and his first wife led Mr. Feeney into the Air Force. From there he hopscotched through a myriad of jobs and multiple countries. He writes, along the way people around him “saw something in me I never saw in myself.” And so, as his professional life unfolded, he built a resume that included positions from airman to officer, as well as instructor, commander, administrator, trainer, plus diplomat.
Being a nomad is not without challenges. He writes, “Moving overseas is very traumatic. Like the stages of grief, you have to go through denial, anger, bargaining depression, and then acceptance.” Although his itinerant lifestyle cost him three marriages, he found a partner, his fourth wife, who shared his spirit of adventure and hand-in-hand they embraced their vagabond lifestyle, and lo and behold he says, “believe it or not, after so many moves, the abnormal becomes normal, the unknown is expected, and the fear of change dissipates into a comfort zone.”
It’s interesting that the author classifies himself as a “reluctant world traveler,” because he was anything but hesitant when it came to establishing a home, friends, favorite restaurants and work teams in every country he lived in. What a dichotomy! A rolling stone who metaphorically gathers moss, putting down roots … some shallow, some deep … in every new spot. It’s a successful life model for would be wanderers and the heart of this story. Community, family, friends, something the author built in all of his posts, is the key to thriving as a vagabond … and perhaps for those who are content with staying in one place.
But the world through the author’s eyes is quite the travelogue, an entertaining read filled with descriptions of exotic places to explore which just might inspire wanderlust. It’s written in a breezy style, carrying the reader along from one exploit to the next, and there’s a mixed bag of photographs that highlights significant moments in his life.
Gathering No Moss, Memoir of a Reluctant World Traveler is a captivating account of the author’s well-lived life. His journey is a little bit travel blog with a smattering of his personal philosophy mixed in. He says, “It’s hard to change your life. But nothing stands still, either.” Sometimes all it takes is a flip of a coin to get moving.