Being Amanda - In Europe (Paperback)
Being Amanda in Europe is the first in a planned series of self-labeled "reality travel" books authored and edited by the adventure-oriented Gilstrap family of Phoenix, Arizona. The emotional, yet consistently humorous, journal follows the family's attempts to remain actively involved in each other's lives during 19-year-old Amanda's colorful "study abroad" college travels. Based out of one the most beautiful college campus locations in the world (Gaming, Austria at the base of the Alps), Amanda eventually traveled with classmates to and through 12 countries. The book reveals her spirited determination to make the most out of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. During the journey, she goes cliff jumping on the Italian coast, bikes through rural Ireland, samples Guinness Beer in Dublin, eats crepes at the base of the Eifel Tower in Paris, and visits many Catholic shrines and historic sites.
Amanda Gilstrap was a college student at Franciscan (Catholic) University of Steubenville, Ohio at the time of initial publication. She graduated from FSU with a nursing degree in May of 2010. A graduate of Northwest Christian High School in Phoenix, Amanda was a member of the National Honor Society and earned eight varsity athletic letters in track and soccer. Greg W. Gilstrap, age 47, is a Past Chairman of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Arizona Tourism Alliance, and teaches the senior-level Tourism Management course at Arizona State University. Previously, Greg served as a founding partner of what is now known as Madden Media, Cabinet Secretary of the Arizona Office of Tourism, and as the Director of the Kansas Travel and Tourism Division.