The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down

Fantastic story and so well written! Andrew takes you on the journey with him. He's inspired me to do the same adventurous travel. Just hit 21 countries in eleven years.

Absolutely loved it! How awesome to hear about Andrew’s life experiences. Leaves you wanting to hear more of his stories.

Why 4 stars? I liked it, a lot. I am just comparing to other books I have read. I did like it and would recommend it. It has a lot or interpersonal going on and not a genuine travel book but very good, a great book about personal discovery, increasing confidence and passion in your life. In buying the book I thought it was about Andrew's travels through the world. I read the reviews and most were good. I saw some of his movies when he was younger and I always liked him. I thought I would give it a shot. The book is about his travels, also about his relationship with himself, and his partner D. The places he traveled and his accounts of his travels were interesting. His candor about himself, very interesting. To me the interesting part was his thoughts about himself. I thought most actors were outgoing extroverts who enjoyed people, he didn't. His enjoyment was being by himself, his self analysis was excellent. I guess acting is a gig, like all gigs, you don't need to be out there. He was traveling figuring himself out, his why's! So many of us lead lifes without thinking about why we are the way we are and whether we are happy and have some purpose, we exist. I think Andrew got it right. His family relationship was intriguing. I remember taking my dog to the vet and he asked if she was a good mom, I said yes. I asked aren't all dog mom's good, he said oh no! I thought mmmm, how many of us would give our parents a good score? But we don't seem to figure it out do we! We have kids but what do we do to make parent's be better parent's, nothing! Too damn busy thinking about ourselves, our torrid past, what we deserve, what we missed, how to spell ME! How about how to be a parent class, mandatory, in higher education! I don't doubt his home life affected him, his drinking, his life, his confidence. He was doing a great job in "getting over it", many can't. He came across as a loner, pompous, from Chicago (but he wasn't). But, this was him, I don't think he ever thought he was better than anyone, he had a passion for life, that was him. Too many people put on "fake" personalities to receive reinforcement from others, builds their low esteem. I liked him in the end, other than his verbiage of his relationship with Timmy-pedia, one of his climbing partners. He kept working on what happened and how can I get better, it was almost like there was someone helping him try to figure life out. His relationship with his partner "D" was interesting. She was more outgoing but had great love for Andrew. I often questioned his love for her. I thought he used her as the compass to direct his life, he didn't like some things she wanted to do or did yet he kept going with the flow. If there marriage failed I think it might be Andrew stepping off of the white line. My other question: are the kids alright? Really, who cares about the adults! The kids, it's about the kids they are our future. We have to bring the family back, restore marriage and think of the grand-kids for 2060. I don't read other reviews until after I write mine, and I don't write a review on every book I write. In reading the reviews I noted some of the readers disliked Andrew, I don't think Andrew liked Andrew. I think as you read on in the book that was very apparent. I think his travels helped him! I think he became more loving and caring and a better parent, and a better parent than what he had.

I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I was first drawn to Andrew McCarthy's new book because he starred in two of my favorite 80s movies, St. Elmo's Fire and Pretty in Pink. The truth is, however, about a year or so ago I read an article he wrote on Ireland for Bon Appetit magazine, and I remembered being impressed with his writing ability.While I may have come to McCarthy's book partially because of my nostalgia for most 80s-related things, it was his writing ability, and his insights into the appeal of travel and why he is more comfortable being alone--even while surrounded by strangers--that made me keep reading. But don't be taken in by the quote from Elizabeth Gilbert on the book's cover--while McCarthy meditates on love and relationships, and does eat throughout the book, this is no male version of Eat, Pray, Love.McCarthy is unable to commit to his fiancée of nearly four years, and doesn't quite understand why. He recounts always being a somewhat ambivalent person; while he initially fell in love with acting in high school and felt truly alive onstage, he never really imagined himself a successful actor, and once his career started taking off, he found himself at odds with this success. (It's interesting to find out the characteristics that most intrigued me about McCarthy's acting--his ambivalence, his vulnerability, his shyness--were actually real-life personality traits, not dimensions of his characters.) At one point he recounts that he saw acting as a terrific way to meet women, travel, and drink to excess.At a crossroads in his life, and at risk of jeopardizing his future by alienating the woman he loves, he sets out to try and find the answer to what causes his fear of commitment, of showing his true self to people. He begins traveling to places both exotic and remote--the glaciers of Patagonia, the rainforests of Costa Rica, the heart of Amazonian country, Mt. Kilimanjaro, even one of his best friend's childhood hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.As he travels, McCarthy recounts what events in his life shaped him to be the type of person he is, how his somewhat strained relationship with his father has affected the way he parents his children, how his fear of failing after one divorce has impacted his relationship with his fiancée, and he realizes how much he needs what he desires most--a loving wife and family. This book is part travelogue, as he shares risky adventures, breathtaking sights, and encounters both enriching and bizarre with the people he meets along his journey, and part memoir of self-discovery.McCarthy says, "In life there are dividing lines. These moments become a way to chart our time; they are the signposts for our lives." That quote is a fairly accurate description of The Longest Way Home. Andrew McCarthy is a writer with great talent, one who truly made the anecdotes of his travels come alive, and his use of imagery really evoked pictures in my mind. But at times, McCarthy's ambivalence, his reticence to disclose his feelings, even to the woman he loves, was a little frustrating. You almost want to shake him from time to time, to warn him he needs to find his answers quickly or his whole life could fall apart. That melodrama aside, this is an insightful, enjoyable book that makes you see travel, and why people do it, in a very different way.

Love it. Adventures and introspection without filters. No mask, real life.

I can't give a comment on this book as it was a present to someone who enjoys Andrew McCarthy. As far as I know, she was enjoying the book.

This is a really lovely beautiful book to read. I highly recommend this book. Great work Andrew. Thank you for sharing.

Not my thing. Expected a travel book of adventure but got something entirely different. Didn't make it all the way through, not for me sorry.

McCarthy is no amazing writer, and is a little pretentious-sounding at times, but it's good for 80s movie fans and people who like travel.