I usually actively read more than one book at a time. This book I read "all by itself". It's an interesting look at our country both physically and through the people they meet. I love the idea of what they did but would never want to do it myself...weird side note, at one time he lived a few blocks from me although not in California where he lived at the time of this trip. I found that out through a local Craigslist ad when he was trying to get rid of extra copies of this book before moving.