Poppy and Alex have been best friends since their freshman year at The University of Chicago. They share a ride back to Ohio for summer break and continue to take a trip every summer after for ten years. They visit Vancouver, Nashville, Sanibel Island, Tuscany and many other varied and beautiful places. Then something happens during the tenth trip, a trip to Croatia, and they are no longer on speaking terms. What happened to tear these two apart?
The novel goes back and forth in time for each trip while alternating with the present day, when Poppy and Alex reunite for a trip to Alex's brother's destination wedding in Palm Springs. The Palm Springs trip is an absolute disaster. Poppy plans everything online and on the cheap only to discover that the rideshare she booked is for an abominable tin can of a car that almost immediately requires roadside assistance. The apartment rental is at a complex that's under construction with no working air conditioning. In Palm Springs. In the summer. Everything that can go wrong does and the plot switching back to the ten years of "better" trips makes the reading journey unfold with pleasant anticipation.
Reliving Poppy and Alex's friendship as it grows and changes over the years is extremely satisfying, as was learning about how their trips were financed on a miniscule budget at the start and evolved into a for-profit adventure bankrolled by Poppy's luxury travel employer at the end. More money does not mean better trips and trying to go back to the way it was in the beginning backfires in every possible way.
This novel has all the stuff: heartache and heartbreak, loyalty, family and wanderlust. It's a tough time for travel these days and this novel makes me long for a future when it's easier again. For now, I enjoyed living vicariously through Poppy and Alex.