Eszter Barabas

Bridget's third book in the "Hay Girl" Trilogy, "Hit the Road, Gals" complements the other two books of the series wonderfully. It makes me want to write, about my travels, about my experiences with people, about the simplest day-to-day activities of my life. It makes me want to keep a record of every, seemingly insignificant event of my life, which may turn into a wonderful adventure some decades later. It makes me want to go out on the street and swing my arm out with my thumb extended, and hop onto the first car that stops for me, going anywhere. It also fills me with bittersweet jealousy, for not having been alive in the 60's, for this world that changed so much since then, for not being able to replicate the way Bridget and her girlfriends experienced the world through their daring travels and relentless thirst for adventure. But ultimately it encourages me to enjoy and appreciate my own ways of travels, appropriate for the time I live in, and unique to me as a person.

I really enjoyed reading Bridget's second book of the "Hay Girl" Trilogy, "Cold War, Warm Hearts". It brings simple but detailed insight of the life of common people in the Communist 60's Eastern Europe. Her daily scribbles in her diary of mundane, day-to-day events become fascinating historical remembrances that paint a unique picture of how she experienced people and life in the countries she visited. It is especially interesting to me, having been born in post-communist Eastern Europe; to better understand the decades my parents and grandparents had lived through, but to also marvel at the courage and boldness of a young woman, curious to experience the world around her, relying on the kindness of strangers that no regime can suppress. Having recently read the third book in the trilogy as well, "Hit the Road, Gals", I feel like it really gives more context and insight to how Bridget came to the conviction to do her year-long travel after her studies.