Bad Karma: Confessions of a Reckless Traveler in Southeast Asia by Tamara Sheward

Academy Chicago Publishers, 2005
Review by Cheryl A Townsend

A travelogue of hilarious and sometimes perilous escapades for the adventurous woman

Tamara Sheward is an Aussie-born adventurer with a penchant for taking the road less traveled when vacationing. When she overhears a fellow Aussieman talk of his travels in remote areas of Asia, she immediately calls up Elissa, her backpacking travel partner. Tamara is between jobs and El is on summer vacation from teaching. It’s a must go and they do. Herein begins a vacation of perpetual “Bad Karma“ segues.

What follows is a lively recap of monk flashings in Udon Than, risky rent-a-heap planes, “Chicken innards on a stick“ kiosks, inane phrase book entries put to use in Bangkok, horrid disco bands in Laos, hitchhiked booze-running to Khe Sanh Hue, a boat-ride to total debauchery, cursing a family in Saigon, visiting a temple with Victor Hugo as one of their saints, getting stuck in a sniper tunnel in Viet Nam, and finally meeting up with their initiator in Cambodia.

Tamara writes with a jovial style one could easily envision conversed over drinks at a local tavern, especially as most of the adventures were centered around imbibing. Her camaraderie and bawdiness reminds me of the acidic wit of Dorothy Parker while still getting the vital points across. Picturesque and anthropologically intriguing, this is how all travel books should be penned. Tamara is a risk-taking, intent on annoying, penny-pinching trailblazer for the rest of us cruise ship wimps. While I doubt I’ll have the guts to go her route, I assuredly applaud her audacity for making her own history so appealing.

Tamara has a travel journal website.