As promised, here's another book from my summer reading list. Honeymoon with My Brother is a memoir by Franz Wisner, a successful young executive, whose carefully planned wedding at Northern California's historic Sea Ranch, is called off when his fiance gets cold feet. About 70 of the guests decide to come anyway to console the jilted groom, show their support, and to make use of their non-refundable airline tickets. The only detail that was impossible to resolve was the pre-paid honeymoon in Costa Rica. So, Franz invites his brother to join him for an all-expenses paid vacation in paradise, where the two hike, soak up local color, eat delicious food, meet interesting people, and drink lots of concoctions with little umbrellas sticking out of them. They have such a great time that when Franz returns home to discover that he's been demoted, he quits his job, rents out his house, and invites his brother to join him on a two-year tour of the world.

The two don't bother with western Europe and the comfort of nice hotels. Instead, they don backpacks and take the off-the-beaten path to 53 different countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. During the course of their journey, they encounter interesting, weird, and wonderful places and people. Better yet, the two re-establish the once-close relationship they enjoyed in their boyhood. During their two years on the road, old wounds are healed and some important shifts take place in their worldview. This book is funny, touching, sometimes almost painfully personal, and very well-written. Enjoy!