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Once Upon a Continent by Susanna Janssen Review: A Vivid Pre-Internet South American Odyssey
Susanna Janssen's memoir recounts her 1979 solo leap into South America — trading her Sacramento apartment and part-time jobs for an unscripted continental adventure with a fellow young woman traveler, long before GPS, smartphones, or the internet could cushion the fall. Blending near-disaster, cultural immersion, and humor, the book has drawn praise from Midwest Book Review and a chorus of fellow authors for going well beyond travelogue territory.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers who love adventure travel memoirs with a strong authorial voice, a sharp eye for language and culture, and a taste for the absurd — especially those curious about or nostalgic for independent travel in the pre-internet era.
Worth it if
You're drawn to continent-spanning adventure writing that balances genuine danger with genuine humour, and you want a compact, efficiently told memoir grounded in cultural specificity rather than contemporary introspection.
Skip if
You're expecting a country-by-country travel guide or a deeply introspective contemporary memoir — at 215 pages, the episodic structure prioritises story and cultural observation over extended psychological interiority.
What readers & critics say
The Ukiah Daily Journal reports that Midwest Book Review Senior Reviewer Diane Donovan calls the book "packed with eye-opening cultural reflection and gripping moments of near-disasters and engrossing discoveries," describing it as "more than a travelogue and a memoir — a venture into wonder." Endorsements gathered on susannajanssen.com highlight the memoir's "refreshing mix of candor, humor, and humility" and credit Janssen's dual-language gift with bringing authenticity to the scenes she recreates.
Sources: Ukiah Daily Journal, susannajanssen.com4.9from 40 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
In This Review
- What Works & What Doesn't
- What the Book Is and What It Covers
- The Book's Place Among Travel Memoirs
- Strengths: Voice, Humor, and Cultural Depth
- The Pre-Internet Frame and Its Appeal
- Who Will Connect With This Book — and Where It Has Limits
What Works & What Doesn't
What Works
- Praised by Midwest Book Review's Senior Reviewer as 'more than a travelogue and a memoir — a venture into wonder,' with specific credit for cultural depth and narrative grip
- Multiple authors and reviewers consistently highlight Janssen's blend of humor, candor, and humility as standout qualities of her voice
- The pre-internet, 1970s South American setting offers a travel experience that is both historically specific and genuinely rare in contemporary memoir
- Draws on Janssen's established strengths as a language enthusiast, bringing Spanish-language cultural nuance to the adventure narrative
- Specific, memorable episodes — from a soup pot in Peru to frostbite in the high Andes to a discotheque proposal in Bolivia — give the book concrete dramatic texture
What Doesn't
- At 215 pages, the memoir is compact, which suits readers who prefer efficient storytelling but may leave those wanting deeper psychological reflection wanting more
- The episodic, adventure-forward structure and emphasis on language and culture may not align with readers expecting a more introspective contemporary memoir format
Once Upon a Continent is a memoir worth the journey, delivering the kind of candid, continent-spanning storytelling that makes pre-internet travel feel both impossibly daring and completely alive.
Once Upon a Continent: A Memoir of South American Adventures Unplugged by Susanna Janssen front cover
What the Book Is and What It Covers
In 1979, six years after finishing graduate school, Susanna Janssen walked away from her Sacramento apartment, set aside multiple part-time jobs and a boyfriend, and set off across South America with a fellow young woman traveler. The memoir chronicles that transformative odyssey — the places visited, the languages navigated, the cultural encounters absorbed, and the genuine dangers survived. Specific episodes the sources document include falling into what Janssen describes as a cannibal-size soup pot in Peru, risking frostbite in the high Andes, and deflecting a marriage proposal at a Bolivian discotheque. The subtitle's "Unplugged" is literal: no internet, no mobile phones, no real-time safety net — just hand-drawn maps, dog-eared guidebooks, and whatever Spanish Janssen could summon in the moment.
“packed with eye-opening cultural reflection and gripping moments of near-disasters and engrossing discoveries”
The Book's Place Among Travel Memoirs
This is Janssen's second book. Her debut was Wordstruck! The Fun and Fascination of Language, and the connection between the two is more than biographical. Language — specifically Spanish, and the idiosyncrasies that make it come alive across different South American countries — runs as a thread through Once Upon a Continent as well. Author and editor Richard Gardiner notes that the new memoir echoes the storytelling prowess of that earlier work, describing it as weaving a narrative that intertwines suspense and genuine hilarity. That lineage matters for readers approaching Janssen for the first time: this is not the work of a first-time memoirist finding her voice, but of a writer with an established reputation as a wordsmith and language enthusiast bringing those same gifts to the terrain of adventure travel.
Strengths: Voice, Humor, and Cultural Depth
Multiple sources converge on the same core strengths. Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer at Midwest Book Review, calls the book "packed with eye-opening cultural reflection and gripping moments of near-disasters and engrossing discoveries," going as far as to say it is "more than a travelogue and a memoir — it's a venture into wonder." Jody Gehrman, author of The Girls Weekend and The Protégé, credits Janssen with highlighting "the perils and thrills of globe-trotting in the pre-internet era" and describes the memoir as one that "sings." Carol D. Hamilton, MD, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at Duke University and author of Hitchhiking to Madness, points specifically to the blend of candor, humor, and humility, adding that Janssen's dual-language gift brings authenticity to the scenes she recreates. These are not vague gestures of praise — the reviewers consistently name the same qualities: the narrative balance between danger and comedy, the cultural specificity, and the authorial presence Gehrman sums up as "clever, curious, informed, and cool in the face of danger."
The Pre-Internet Frame and Its Appeal
One of the memoir's most distinctive features is the era it captures. The 1970s South American travel experience — reliant on physical maps, human connection, and improvisation — is, as Gehrman observes, a world modern travelers have likely never experienced. Hamilton echoes this directly, noting that reading the memoir sparked her own memories of pre-internet travel when hand-drawn maps and dog-eared guidebooks were essential. For readers who lived through that era, the book functions as a vivid act of recollection; for younger readers, it offers a portrait of independent travel stripped of its contemporary scaffolding. The historical distance also gives the book a natural dramatic charge: the risks Janssen describes were not theoretical.
Who Will Connect With This Book — and Where It Has Limits
Once Upon a Continent is designed for readers drawn to adventure travel writing with a strong personal voice, an eye for language and culture, and a genuine sense of humor about brushes with the absurd and the dangerous. It will particularly resonate with anyone who traveled internationally before the internet age, or who is curious about that experience. Readers seeking a conventional country-by-country travel guide, or a memoir focused primarily on personal transformation in the contemporary mode, may find the book's episodic structure and its emphasis on language and cultural observation a different kind of read than they expect. The book runs to 215 pages — compact by memoir standards — which means the storytelling moves efficiently, but readers looking for extended psychological interiority should calibrate their expectations accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Once Upon a Continent worth reading?
LuvemBooks describes it as a memoir worth the journey, praising its candid, continent-spanning storytelling that makes pre-internet travel feel both impossibly daring and completely alive. Diane Donovan of Midwest Book Review goes as far as to call it more than a travelogue and a memoir, describing it as a venture into wonder.
Who is the target audience for Once Upon a Continent?
The review identifies the ideal reader as someone drawn to adventure travel writing with a strong personal voice, an eye for language and culture, and a genuine sense of humor about brushes with the absurd and the dangerous. The book will particularly resonate with anyone who traveled internationally before the internet age, or who is curious about what that experience was like.
What is Once Upon a Continent about?
The memoir chronicles Susanna Janssen's transformative 1979 odyssey across South America, undertaken six years after finishing graduate school, when she walked away from her Sacramento apartment, set aside multiple part-time jobs and a boyfriend, and set off with a fellow young woman traveler. It covers the places visited, the languages navigated, the cultural encounters absorbed, and the genuine dangers survived along the way.
What does the subtitle Unplugged mean in this memoir?
According to the review, the subtitle's Unplugged is literal: the journey took place with no internet, no mobile phones, and no real-time safety net. Janssen and her travel companion relied instead on hand-drawn maps, dog-eared guidebooks, and whatever Spanish Janssen could summon in the moment.
What specific episodes or scenes does the review highlight?
The review names three specific episodes: falling into what Janssen describes as a cannibal-size soup pot in Peru, risking frostbite in the high Andes, and deflecting a marriage proposal at a Bolivian discotheque. These moments are cited as examples of the memoir's balance between genuine danger and comedy.
What is the writing style and voice like in this memoir?
Multiple reviewers converge on the same qualities: a narrative balance between danger and comedy, cultural specificity, and a strong authorial presence. Author Jody Gehrman describes Janssen's voice as clever, curious, informed, and cool in the face of danger, and says the memoir sings.
How does humor factor into the book?
Humor is identified as one of the memoir's core strengths, with reviewers consistently naming the blend of candor, humor, and humility as central to the reading experience. Episodes like deflecting a marriage proposal at a Bolivian discotheque illustrate the book's ability to find comedy in genuinely unpredictable situations.
What role does language play in Once Upon a Continent?
Language, specifically Spanish and the idiosyncrasies that make it come alive across different South American countries, runs as a thread throughout the memoir. Carol D. Hamilton, MD, notes that Janssen's dual-language gift brings authenticity to the scenes she recreates, and the review connects this theme directly to Janssen's earlier book on language.
How does this book compare to Janssen's first book?
Once Upon a Continent is Janssen's second book; her debut was Wordstruck! The Fun and Fascination of Language. Author and editor Richard Gardiner notes that the new memoir echoes the storytelling prowess of that earlier work, describing it as weaving a narrative that intertwines suspense and genuine hilarity.
Is this a good book for readers new to Susanna Janssen?
The review suggests that newcomers should know this is not the work of a first-time memoirist finding her voice, but of a writer with an established reputation as a wordsmith and language enthusiast. That context matters because it sets appropriate expectations for the level of craft readers will encounter.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
- Further reading
- 2
mendocinocounty.gov
- 3
susannajanssen.com
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