Honeymoon With My Brother by Franz Wisner

Honeymoon with My Brother: A Memoir
by Franz Wisner
Pub. Date: February 2005
Genre: Memoir
288pp

Synopsis from BN.com:
This is the true story of Franz Wisner, a man who thought he had it all- a high profile career and the fiancée of his dreams- when suddenly, his life turned upside down. Just days before they were to be married, his fiancée called off the wedding. Luckily, his large support network of family and friends wouldn't let him succumb to his misery. They decided Franz should have a wedding and a honeymoon anyway- there just wouldn't be a bride at the ceremony, and Franz' travel companion would be his brother, Kurt.

During the "honeymoon," Franz reconnected with his brother and began to look at his life with newfound perspective. The brothers decided to leave their old lives behind them. They quit their jobs, sold all their possessions, and traveled around the world, visiting fifty-three countries for the next two years. In Honeymoon With My Brother, Franz recounts this remarkable journey, during which he turned his heartbreak into an opportunity to learn about himself, the world, and the brother he hardly knew.

Why I Picked It:
Seeking something different after The Walk was so utterly horrible.

My Review:
How devastating... How embarrassing. To come so far in a relationship, and have it end just days before the wedding. It wasn't even like this was a spur of the moment wedding, this was after buying a home together, building a life together... Wow.

To go through with a wedding without a bride, however, takes some major strength and some seriously supportive friends and family. I admired that. I think I would crawl under a rock and hide for 6 months to a year... Then to make matters worse, Franz is demoted at his job leaving him thinking that it's all perfect timing to just quit and go.

His brother is at a place in his life where he can also just leave (isn't that amazing!?!) And so together, they make a plan to travel the world and off they go, visiting 53 countries over the next two years! Franz discusses all the intimate details with such a genuine voice, offering amazing honesty, and even a little bit of comedy. He intertwines history, travel details with a very heartwarming reawakening and development of friendship with his brother whom he had come to barely know.

It was a very heartwarming story. I think his true calling is as an author. Isn't life funny? After he gets dumped, demoted, and rebuilds his relationship with his brother, things turned out so well, that they are continuing to travel so he can write another book, "How the World Makes Love."