If you're looking for some great travel writing, Donald Miller's "Through Painted Deserts" might just be the book that you're looking for. Donald Miller is a very talented writer who has carved out an interesting niche for himself. He's a "Christian" writer whose books tend to be more spiritual in nature, more reflecting than preachy, leading to a book that is heavy on all the questions of the universe and tends to find more fans among readers who love travel writing and philosophy than the heavily religious Christian readers.
This book turns out to be Miller's first, though it was not the first published. He decides part way through college that he needs a road trip. He dreams about that huge road trip that every college male dreams about, but while other friends hem and haw, he and a hippie friend name Paul get serious and decide to go through with it. He hates everyone's dumbing it down to "Don needs to find himself," and Don willing gives up his comfort, his job, the best living situation he's ever had, and a mutual break up with his girl friend in order to take the trip he knows he has to have.
This is travel writing at its best. It's not just about location or destinations, but it's about the people they meet and the problems along the way. It's that first night at a rest stop where you look at a clear starry sky and feel the forest around you, only to realize the next morning the forest is a few scattered trees and you're still by the Interstate.
This work is about asking questions. In a world obsessed with how: (how can I make money, how can I get a girl, how can I get a better job) Donald says he thinks, if not obsesses about the "Why." Why was it so necessary to take this trip? Why does the universe exist? Why do we worry about the how questions? Why?
This leads to an incredible story about the open road, about the beauty of traveling with only a vague destination and itinerary, of realizing how much of what you learned is learning the "structure" everyone "has to" live, and what breaking away from that means. This book is about freedom, about questioning faith and yourself, about bonding, about travel, and about living instead of existing.
Donald Miller is an exceptional writer, and while "Blue Like Jazz" might be his most popular book, "Through Painted Deserts" may be the best he has written, and we can only hope he plans more travels in the future.
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