Jubilant Journeys

“To travel is to live.” Here is a statement that Peter and Connie Spenuzza live by whole-heartedly. In her memoir, Jubilant Journeys, Connie tells of many of their adventures and memorable moments while traveling as a family overseas. Originally from a very prestigious family in Ecuador, Connie chose to break from the mold of an arranged marriage and life that would be far from exciting or desirerable. At a young age, Connie developed a love for learning and traveling. When she got older, she left and lived in France for several years, then ended up in southern California, where she met her husband, Peter. The two married and began traveling the world, learning life lessons with their two sons. Her narrative starts with their traveling to research her ancestry overseas, with the surprising pleasure of finding distant relatives. Throughout her stories, she speaks highly of family and love, and works diligently to immerse herself in the culture of the area she is visiting to fully understand the reasoning for the people’s thoughts and actions. Spenuzza does not have anything less than wonderful things to say about the areas she has traveled, so this is a must-read for people interested in traveling the world or who need help knowing where to start.

The way Spenuzza speaks and writes her adventures is breathtaking and puts the reader right in the story to relate to and enjoy her experiences. You can tell that Connie and her family have a love for travel and have experienced wonders of the world many times over. I appreciated the additional historical and mythical information she would give within the stories; many I had never heard, which led me to do some extra research. The people she references make the stories more interesting, especially when you understand the culture of the area they are visiting. With many of her stories being uplifting and ceremonious, it was interesting to read the stories that were a little different, such as the two involving the “shape-shifters;” a little frightening! With fifty years of travel, the Spenuzzas have eaten, seen, and done things that the majority of the world will not do in a lifetime, and for that, they are truly blessed and are humbly aware of their good fortune. Knowing she is the author of other books, I would be very interested in reading more and would love to meet this world traveler!