BOOK REVIEW: ADVENTURES AND DANGERS ABOUND IN TRAVELS WITH A ROAD DOG

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Travels With A Road Dog: Hitchhiking Along the Roads of the Americas, by R.K. (Charleston, SC, 2012, 364 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

December 26, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--Reading East County resident R.K.s’ memoir, Travels With A Road Dog: Hitchhiking Along the Roads of the Americas, immediately conjures up thoughts of Woodstock to me, and all things associated with that time and place in American history and lore. It was a time of expression of freedom and adventure, which the author certainly demonstrates in her book.

Kathryn Rajam Roose is on her birth certificate; the author’s mom chose Rajam, in honor of a close friend from India, with whom she had shared a room at the Cincinnati Conservatory College. Although her name is Kathryn, to avoid confusion while she was growing up, everyone called her Rajam. Perhaps that was the beginning of the free spirit that the author would exhibit in her travels talked about in this book. After reading the book, it is a wonder that the author was able to live to tell this remarkable story, as she actually found herself in many dangerous and compromising situations.

At the age of 20, R.K. gives away her belongings to embark upon an exciting four year journey of camping and hitchhiking with only a cooking pot, blanket, tarp, and matches. She begins her adventure at Rainbow gatherings, helping to build kitchens and seed camp. She spends many months traveling and living within this little known nomadic subculture that creates its own form of utopian communalism. She writes unabashedly of the use of marijuana and acid in this revealing memoir, a further reminder of Woodstock. She wanted to experience life without structure, to be free to see the world and meet extraordinary people. She recalls meeting and joining up with a couple of guys on one of her hitchhiking trips, noting that these guys’ lives revolved around following the Grateful Dead.

Someone had told R.K. about a “regional” gathering in Northern California at Mt. Shasta.  So having no way of getting there, she decided to hitchhike out and see the West Coast. She recalls in her teens having taken vacation trips with her family to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Mt. Rushmore, but this would be different.

With little to no money, her travels take her around North America from the dangerous streets of East Hollywood Boulevard to a little known beach on Vancouver Island in Canada and even to the warmer climes of Key West, Florida. Along the way, she picks up a Shepherd/Lab mix dog for a traveling companion. Her resourcefulness is truly tested, as her memoir illustrates.

During the mid 1990s when U.S. tourists were warned to stay away from Mexico, she and a companion entered illegally into Mexico, hitchhiked down the East coast through Chiapas and returned up the West coast where she found herself in the presence of a Mexican cartel. It was actually in Mexico where she was put in a compromising position with a husband and a wife; the wife wanted to have sex with her and the husband would acquiesce, but it never came to pass.  She also alludes to seeing a man shot and killed in Mexico. Her unique travel experiences continued when she hitched a sailboat ride to the Bahamas on a boat with no engine and on to Venezuela where she experienced student riots and the anger of a madwoman.

Travels with A Road Dog are the true stories of a young woman who discovers herself and the world around her. Not only is hitchhiking considered an unconventional way to travel, but it is rarer still that this journey was completed by a woman. She has one remarkable experience after another in her travels. R.K., somewhat nonchalantly, describes a chance encounter with two-time NFL Super-Bowl MVP John Elway of the Denver Broncos in a restaurant. After paying for meals for the author and her friend, Elway stated that “they had some balls” for what they were doing, and that he had always wanted to try hitchhiking and “wished he had the nerve to follow his dream.” We all have our own dreams in life, and it is really surprising to hear the author state in her book that the much accomplished John Elway, had a similar dream as hers.

This book is full of many anecdotes and travelling experiences, as well as risky behavior.  She is fortunate to be here to tell this remarkable story, and to be in her right mind. I applaud her for the courage to tell her tales and recommend this book to anyone having a similar dream to follow.

Dennis Moore is a writer and book reviewer with the East County Magazine in San Diego and the book review editor for SDWriteway, an online newsletter for writers in San Diego. He is also the author of a book about Chicago politics: “The City That Works: Power, Politics and Corruption in Chicago.” He can be contacted at contractsagency@gmail.com or you can follow him on Twitter at: @DennisMoore8. 


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Comments

Thank you for the review

After reading your review I ran right out and bought this book. It reminded me so much about my hitchhiking trip around the Northeast. Once again, I thank you for the review and I will keep looking for other books by this author.

 

R.e.Taylor

John Elway of the Denver Broncos

It should be noted that two-time Super Bowl MVP John Elway actually paid for the coffee that Rajam and her friend in the restaurant ordered. It should also be noted that Rajam witnessed a Mexican being knifed, not shot as indicated. For further clarification, and after communicating with Rajam, she did not go on vacation at Mt. Rushmore and the other referenced places.