The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

As I have been reading books about travel, I came across a travel-related book about happiness. It reminded me that as I became an adult, I had this idea that obtaining certain things would bring me happiness. I had a great husband, beautiful little daughter, interesting job and a new house. Based on the “American Dream” I should have been very happy and yet I felt oddly dissatisfied. I wondered why I didn’t feel “happy”. As I learned more about myself I came to realize that my happiness was more about contentment than about the everlasting sense of joy that I had expected.

So, what is happiness? How do we find happiness? How do we know when we are happy? What does happiness look like around the world? These are all questions the author of The Geography of Bliss looks to answer as he travels around the world visiting some of the world’s most contented places.

Eric Weiner made his way from Iceland (one of the world’s happiest countries) to Bhutan (where the king has made Gross National Happiness a national priority) to Moldova (not a happy place). In Switzerland he discovered the hidden virtues of boredom and in the tiny-and extremely wealthy-Persian Gulf nation of Qatar he found the relationship between money and happiness is laid bare. In India, Westerners seek their bliss at the feet of gurus and in Thailand; not thinking is a way of life. He found a small town outside London where happiness experts attempted to “change the psychological climate.”

This is not a typical travel book but rather a travelogue of ideas. The author roams the world in search of answers to the pressing questions of our time: What are the essential ingredients for the good life? Why are some places happier than others? How are we shaped by our surroundings? In each place he visits he gives the reader a glimpse into the place and its culture.

Place. That is what The Geography of Bliss is about. How place—in every aspect of the word—shapes us, defines us. Change your place, I believe, and you can change your life.