I have been a big fan of Roosh, a popular blogger, for quite a long time now. I was fortunately able to meet Roosh while in Colombia back in August and was excited about a new book he was writing during the past year or so. I was able to read Roosh’s newly completed travelouge, A Dead Bat in Paraguay, a few weeks ago.
Roosh’s new travelogue, A Dead Bat in Paraguay, is a fun and insightful read for anyone interested in backpacking travel. I say insightful because Roosh is at his best when he offers his travel perspectives including thoughts of his unique meaning of travel and what it offers him. But this book strays from other in the travel genre because a main theme of this book is traveling to meet women. Not shady sex tourism but the literal pursuit of women which is fascinating as Roosh details the differences between women around the world. He doesn’t hold back with countless anecdotes of his death inducing bowel issues and epic failures.
A Dead Bat In Paraguay is a true adventure story about a 28-year-old man who decided that the best way he could deal with his existential crisis was to sell his possessions, quit his professional career as a scientist, and hop on a one-way flight to Quito, Ecuador in order to visit every country in South America. He sincerely believed the trip would put him on a track towards a more fulfilling life of excitement, intrigue, and exotic women, away from his soulless corporate job in a Washington D.C. suburb. Instead, he humorously falls from one country to the next, striking out repeatedly with the local women, getting robbed, having dreams that became reality, self-diagnosing himself with a host of diseases, and suffering repeated bouts of stomach illness that made marathon bus rides superhuman feats of bodily strength. Along the journey he chronicles the friendships, the women, and the struggles, including one fateful night in Paraguay that he thought would lead to his end.”
What the book is not is some around the world trip about the stereotypical tourist sites like the Machu Picchu or Amazon jungle. Instead, Roosh focuses on the relationships he forms while traveling ranging from interactions with foreign women to interactions with other backpackers. The book does, however, have its limits. While Roosh does explore interesting topics like meeting women in different cultures or the expectations of traveling, he doesn’t seem to integrate the topics together that well.
His theme of wanting to meet women is not evident from the beginning of the book and when it’s first introduced it can come across as somewhat awkward for people unfamiliar with the new community dedicated to meeting women. For instance, he often goes into specific detail about his interaction with women including the more awkward subjects like kino. This may turn off people who do not look favorably on the pick-up-artist community. I would have liked Roosh to explain why his techniques are important in meeting women and why he got into using them in the first place.
While the book has some issues, it is well worth reading at the very least for a different take on backpacking travel from a person with an interesting background and perspective. His story is an inspiration for anyone wanting to change their life significantly and will no doubt offer encouragement for those wanting to do likewise; to quit a well paid job for a different lifestyle. Roosh’s story demonstrates that even if the change you make does not meet your expectations, it is still worth mixing things up so you never go through life asking the what if question. It important to note that Roosh is currently living in South America even after all of his misadventures which is an amazing thing to see after reading A Dead Bat in Paraguay.
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