Andrew McCarthy’s Travel Memoir: The Longest Way Home – One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down

If you grew up in the ‘80s, you will never forget Andrew McCarthy who played Blane in Pretty in Pink. The teen preppy heartthrob who also starred in seminal films such as St. Elmo’s Fire, Mannequin, Less Than Zero, The Joy Luck Club and the classic Weekend at Bernie’s is also a well-regarded travel journalist and an editor of National Geographic . McCarthy is also a recipient of the Travel Journalist of the Year (Gold 2010, Silver 2011) from Lowell Thomas Grand Award and 2011 Folio Award to name a few.

I had the pleasure to attend his book signing event in Los Angeles while McCarthy was on the circuit promoting his travel memoir “The Longest Way Home.” It was a standing room only and the crowd cheered giddily as the author entered the room.

Andrew started telling the attendees that his publisher thought that his latest book is the male version of the movie Eat, Pray Love. “ It’s an internal, emotional journey toward a commitment and intimacy in very exotic places, “ he explained.

McCarthy mentioned that he found a change in himself while traveling, that gave him a solidity in the things he didn’t have. “ The more I travel , the more far from home I got, the more home myself I felt. And that paradox is fascinating to me. “ He added, “I traveled alone and without a plan and opened myself up to the vagaries of the world and be received. And I found the more I made myself vulnerable to the world, the more the world received me and the more empowered I felt.”

So he started writing a journal about his travel and little vignettes of people he encountered on the road. He did this for approximately 10 years. Eventually it began to absorb his life. “I decided to try maybe do that. I started writing for magazines about travel and it just sort of spread out in this weird strange parallel career and it totally revitalized my creative trajectory in a certain way.” He also added, “Instead of waiting for someone to hire me and validate my sense of creativity, I was creating things for myself and it was a wonderful release for me.”

McCarthy said that people solve their problems by going to therapy or having tea with their girl friends but with him he solves his problems by hitting the road and he admitted it was a real dilemma for him. “ I told D, I love you so much but at the same moment I can’t wait to hit the road. And it really began to bother me and I know it was a strain on my life, my relationships, my family and so I wanted to solve the problem.”

So what is the book really about? McCarthy explained that the book is coming about terms of getting married. It plays out in interesting places like Kilimanjaro and the Amazon while testing his manhood, questioning of motive, intent and fear and exploring that kind of fear.
As he finished his event, he welcomed his fans to have a photo op with him and graciously signed his book. I was also fortunate to have a photo with D, his wife, a real nice lady.