Mum's Monday: The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian

Everyone said they shouldn’t do it, the road trip, but Ella and John are doing it anyway. It is such a heart-warming start/reason why.

On a personal note for me this is a great book to read if you want the sense of escapism, adventure and a sense of freedom. This is one of the reasons I am reading this book and it doesn’t disappoint. I have also been to both ends of ‘Route 66’, Chicago and Santa Monica, Los Angeles as well.

This book has been really well researched into the effects of Altzimers and also of a cancer patient. It does, although this is the point of the whole story of travelling, puts me on edge when John is driving with his condition. I sadly find myself shutting this part out that he is driving with Altzimers. I am not saying he cannot drive but maybe I am a nervous passenger and this book is written well, so that you feel like you are also there along for the ride as well and the result is I am on edge if i think too much or focus on his driving more than i should. I do realise that.

It is good to read of the stops at tourist destinations along the way although the visit to the caverns was a little negative and ended abruptly. This part shows that one good research has been done along the route of this road trip and two of how an elderly person/or a person without a care in the world can be outspoken. This is not only still an enjoyable, escapism book that can be read by a younger age group but I feel probably more suited to an older age range of readers.

The description of bed linen sheets and other household items like towels over the many years of married life is/seems trivia but is interesting as it is something that just happens in life. It goes to show how much depth there is in this book because it is there in life and we don’t realise any of it until it is in a book being pointed out in such a clear way.

I don’t agree with the gun situation. I don’t want to know why or anything about them having it. This is not only a shock but also horrible to read and fills me with shock, disappointment and dread.

It is lovely and heart-warming to read the part where Ella and John met up with another group of people travelling Route 66. It seems to me that the/a road can create a community feel to it.

This road trip is turning into quite an adventure it quickens up before Texas, what with being pulled over by the police, there is a life lesson in this part, ‘Keep your hands on the wheel and don’t try to open a bottle of drink or as I read, anything else for that matter whilst driving’. Also a museum that was too much of a sensory overload  and cars for sale or just ones that just needed rescuing.

This trip has taken a dark turn. I thought that John going for an ice cream and a blown tyre was going to be as action packed as it got, but sadly, some ‘Non helpers’ turned up. I am afraid to say the outcome and how it ended up is not so bad. This is still not a good thing to read about though.

It is heart-warming to read that when Ella and John hit another state and they met the little family with the baby.

I don’t agree with John driving and talking on the phone as well. This book is set in America and was published in 2009, though since 2009 laws have changed in the United Kingdom, so to me this is an outdated storyline in 2020.

Now parked at a campground things have taken a turn when Ella and John both have a fall. The description is very long and thorough of both trying to get up. It certainly explains the problems of falling when you are of a certain elderly age. Sadly, this part does go on and on. This is not a criticism as I may well struggle in later life, it's just this part is so well written.

Now after all that Ella and John have been through it is nice to read that they are now living a life of luxury in a hotel suite. For me personally I am with Ella in that it is extravagant , but it is one not my money and two my story or holiday/trip.

Ella and John have now arrived in their last state on their trip, California. After visiting Santa Monica and an even more eventful trip to Disneyland. I did wonder how this book would end, even how they would get back across the country and home. Well it seems Ella has taken care of everything sadly, even John and like she says at the end ‘It is basically none of our business what she has chosen to do.

This book is so well written that it  makes me understand Altzimers a lot more than I did before. Also it is almost an actual tour guide for ‘Route 66’ I would certainly take this book if I did the whole road trip myself.