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WORK TITLE: Rudy’s Rules for Travel
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.marykjensen.com/
CITY:
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:Loyola Marymount University, M.A.; University of Oregon, Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Worked formerly as an analyst and author for the federal research clearinghouse ERIC; as a grants writer; as a conference speaker; and as professor emerita from California State University, Chico.
AVOCATIONS:Participating in writing groups, book clubs, and taking walks.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Mary K. Jensen is a writer and former professor. Jensen received her master’s degree from Loyola Marymount University and her doctorate from the University of Oregon. While at the University of Oregon, she was an analyst and author for ERIC, a federal research clearinghouse. Jensen has worked in teaching, school psychology, administration, teacher preparation, and she has spoken at conferences. Before retirement, she was a Professor Emerita from California State University, Chico. Jensen is a twice survivor of cancer. She and her husband travel frequently and are based out of northern California.
Jensen’s first book, Rudy’s Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from Around the Globe, is a memoir. The book details her and her husband’s travel stories and tips. Their travels, spanning from 1976 to 1994, take them all over the world and often off the beaten path. Jensen makes clear that she and her husband land on opposite ends of the traveler spectrum. Jensen grew up with a very tame definition of vacation. Her family would drive half an hour from their home to relax at the beach. Quick, easy, safe, and free of surprises. When Jensen meets Rudy, she learns that for him, vacation is not about relaxation, it is about discovering new cultures, whether or not you are invited to do so. This stark contrast plays out repeatedly throughout the book, often with Jensen nearly collapsing with anxiety.
The humor of the title is that Rudy’s number one rule is, there are no rules. In his mind, the point of traveling is to stretch every dollar to the limit, to mingle with the locals, and to avoid anything intended for a tourist. We see this in New Zealand, when Rudy insists on camping in the dead of winter to truly experience the country’s beauty, instead of booking a hotel. At another point in the book, in Thailand, Rudy opts for the couple to accept the last elephant ride. Instead of a quick, planned ride, Rudy and Jensen are made to ride the elephants all the way home, a two hour trip through the jungle, which leaves Jensen shaking with anger and stress. Despite Jensen’s constant dread, only rarely does the couple face any real danger.
Through the stories we learn more about Rudy’s life. Rudy was born in Germany and became a citizen in the United States during WWII. He volunteered for air duty, which resulted in him flying over his homeland, fighting from above. As a WWII veteran, Rudy is accustomed to carrying little with him and has a passion for authentic experiences. Interestingly, during the year, Rudy is a school principal, a job that requires seriousness, structure, and discipline. It is only in the summer that he ditches his suit and tie and puts on his travel gear.
Despite the couple’s twenty-two year age gap, it is often Rudy who innocently lacks a sense of caution and Jensen who is overly worried. Rudy’s lack of planning and adventuresome spirit mirror his unending optimism for life. Although Jensen describes herself as a long-suffered wife, riffled with anxiety during their trips, it is clear that Rudy’s optimism and thirst for adventure rub off on her and help her appreciate the life they have together.
“A book that will make readers want to pack their bags and catch the first flight to somewhere far away,” wrote a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. Bridget Thoreson in Booklist described Rudy’s Rules for Travel as a “fun and tender memoir,” adding, “Rudy’s travels are imbued with his unceasing optimism and boundless enthusiasm, leaving the reader convinced that his rules are well worth following.” Cheryl Branche in Xpress Reviews penned: “This humorous travelog is a delight.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 1, 2018, Bridget Thoreson, review of Rudy’s Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from Around the Globe, p. 13.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2018, review of Rudy’s Rules for Travel.
Xpress Reviews, February 23, 2018, Cheryl Branche, Rudy’s Rules for Travel.
ONLINE
New York Journal of Books, https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/ (June 5, 2018), Jane Constantineau, review of Rudy’s Rules for Travel.
Mary K. Jensen, PhD is a recovering grants writer. After retiring as Professor Emerita from California State University, Chico, she ventured into her attic and pulled out boxes of trip diaries―raw material for her memoir. Jensen earned her master’s degree at Loyola Marymount University and her doctorate at the University of Oregon, where she was an analyst and author for the federal research clearinghouse ERIC. With experience in teaching, school psychology, administration, and teacher preparation, she has been a popular writer and conference speaker, skilled in translating research findings to school practice. She is a survivor―of cancer twice, and of decades of travel with her irrepressible spouse. She lives in northern California where she relishes her writing group, book clubs, poetry group, walks and friendships. Visit her at www.marykjensen.com.
Mary K. Jensen, PhD is a recovering grants writer. After retiring as Professor Emerita from California State University, Chico, she ventured into her attic and pulled out boxes of trip diaries—raw material for her memoir. Jensen earned her master’s degree at Loyola Marymount University and her doctorate at the University of Oregon, where she was an analyst and author for the federal research clearinghouse ERIC. With experience in teaching, school psychology, administration, and teacher preparation, she has been a popular writer and conference speaker, skilled in translating research findings to school practice. She is a survivor—of cancer twice, and of decades of travel with her irrepressible spouse. She lives in northern California where she relishes her writing group, book clubs, poetry group, walks and friendships.
Release Your Inner Book—Two Pages at a Time
April 10, 2018 | By Mary K. Jensen | Reply
Do you have an unwritten book inside you? You may have been hearing that inner voice that says “Quick, find a post-it, write that down.” Maybe you find yourself stepping back in life, viewing encounters from a far-away place and hearing words that describe the chaos or angst or bliss. Whether stuffing the post-its into the back of a desk drawer or the memory into the filing cabinet of the mind, your book takes shape.
After Rudy’s death, Tales and Memories, his account of his young years, sat on my bookshelf trying its best to move me to action. I had promised him that I would someday add the story of our marriage and our journeys, but for a time illness and grieving were not compatible with writing. Having learned the value of superstition from my half-Irish mother, I developed a mighty one that said, “If only I am in a structured writing class, I will be structured. I will write.”
I came early one fall day to register at Chico State’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, only to learn that the class was already filled by people who obviously didn’t need its structure as much as I did. I approached Jim, the instructor, just as Martha, a woman I had never seen before and whose name I knew only from her nametag, took my arm and pleaded with him: “This is my dear, dear friend (she looks at my nametag)–Mary– and we both have to have this class. We have major projects underway. You’ll need to open a new section.”
I have a major project underway? Two classes a week for Jim?
“Wait till you see how well behaved we’ll be,” Martha, my new best friend, insists, and he, warm-hearted soul, capitulates.
I knew I had a lot of post-its and trip diaries, and vivid memories to spare. Being married to Rudy for over thirty years was, after all, a bit like riding a cyclone through life, and one remembers cyclones. What I was not so sure about was how much time I had.
Not long after beginning the writing class and despite my outcry that This Is Not My Turn, my breast cancer returned. In an encore from its first appearance fifteen years earlier, this time the cancer was more mature and deadly serious. Its treatment rounds left me with a raging sepsis infection, and a hospital stay in one of those too-quiet private rooms where nurses wear sterile masks and robes.
All I had was time to sit and think, time to ponder the old questions: “What do I do with what’s left?” “What still sits on that bucket list?” Up until then, I had had a career as a professional writer, churning out research reports and grant applications and program evaluations, but never a Real Book, never one with soul and memory. That is, up until now I had not fulfilled the bucket list ambition: “Write a Book.” I was not exactly the age of Grandma Moses when she embarked on her new life, but I was close. Too close.
***
Sitting in that hospital bed, I sensed a sudden clarity of purpose, experienced a massive rush of adrenalin, threw my blankets back, grabbed a notebook and pen from the bedside table, and began to write My Book. (Well, not really. None of that happened. That is only what I wished had happened). Instead, I continued to sit, feeling more and more intimidated by my own lofty goal, more and more aware that it would be physical limitations that stood now in the way of writing.
Urgency and high expectations do not necessarily a book make. In fact, I can tell you that these forces frequently conspire to overwhelm the writer. This is where the two-page rule comes in.
Elisabeth called when I returned home, Elisabeth whose life has intertwined with mine many times. We have visited in Europe together, mourned spouses together, joined a writing group together.
“We think you should come back to writing class. Of course you couldn’t be here in the months Rudy was so ill, and we know you have challenges of your own now, but think about it. We have an empty seat– and most of us are doing just two pages a week.”
“Are those double spaced?”
“Sure. They can be. Just come to visit maybe.”
I hung up the phone and it came to me: 2 pages a week at 52 weeks a year times 2 years. That could be my book. The real one, the one that has been inside me, the one that has been waiting.
“It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old. They grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
—
Mary K. Jensen, PhD is a recovering grants writer. After retiring as Professor Emerita from California State University, Chico, she ventured into her attic and pulled out boxes of trip diaries―raw material for her memoir. Jensen earned her master’s degree at Loyola Marymount University and her doctorate at the University of Oregon, where she was an analyst and author for the federal research clearinghouse ERIC. With experience in teaching, school psychology, administration, and teacher preparation, she has been a popular writer and conference speaker, skilled in translating research findings to school practice. She is a survivor―of cancer twice, and of decades of travel with her irrepressible spouse. She lives in northern California where she relishes her writing group, book clubs, poetry group, walks and friendships. Visit her at www.marykjensen.com
Jensen, Mary K.: RUDY'S RULES FOR TRAVEL
Kirkus Reviews. (Apr. 1, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Jensen, Mary K. RUDY'S RULES FOR TRAVEL She Writes Press (Indie Nonfiction) $None 4, 10 ISBN: 978-1-63152-322-9
A set of rules for life, by way of a delightful travel narrative.
Jensen (How to Recruit, Select, Induct and Retain the Very Best Teachers, 1987, etc.) and her late husband, World War II veteran Rudy, had diametrically opposite personalities, but their combination makes for excellent stories. Her memoir highlights her husband's list of travel rules, and over the course of their adventures, he taught her how to apply them to all things in life. The tales can be hilarious or heartbreaking, but all highlight "Rule #11": "Relax. Some kind stranger will appear." Throughout, the author highlights Rudy's adventuresome spirit and absolute optimism as they journeyed to Scotland, Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia, and elsewhere. The stories don't necessarily teach readers very much about the places they visited but rather tell how to live life to the fullest. "We don't travel to have comfort...we can have comfort at home," Jensen writes; traveling, according to Rudy, is for learning about new cultures, and to do that, you must "ride with locals, not tourists." In Oaxaca, for example, the Jensens were swept up in a crowd headed to celebrate Holy Thursday. They would have missed the opportunity to participate in the ceremony if they'd gone to the recommended tourist destinations--and indeed, Jensen looked up "to see tourists in the two restaurants above us...straining to see, to understand what has happened on the streets below. I see what they had missed." Other stories are laugh-out-loud funny, as when the couple decides between two dangerous modes of transportation in Puerto Escondido. When in Egypt, the Jensens faced a heartbreaking experience, yet it was one that also showed the generosity of the people in the community. Not a lot of time is spent at any given location in each section; instead, the author takes readers to many places, briefly but vividly describing each. In this way, the author shows how Rudy's Rules applied to a wide variety of scenarios.
A book that will make readers want to pack their bags and catch the first flight to somewhere far away.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Jensen, Mary K.: RUDY'S RULES FOR TRAVEL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532700337/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8027959c. Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A532700337
Rudy's Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from around the Clock
Bridget Thoreson
Booklist. 114.11 (Feb. 1, 2018): p13.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Rudy's Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from around the Clock. By Mary K. Jensen. Apr. 2018. 230p. She Writes, paper, $16.95 (97816315232291; e-book, $9.95 (97816315232361.910.
Traveling with Rudy was not easy. The school principal and WWII veteran was determined to stretch every dollar to its limit, meet the locals, and get off the beaten tourist path, as his long-suffering wife attests in this fun and tender memoir. His rule on hunting for the best bargains, for example, landed them on an elephant's back for a hair-raising ride down a cliff in Thailand. And his insistence to travel to dangerous countries before they became inaccessible led to more than one tense encounter with Soviet soldiers. But as often as Rudy's rules caused trouble for his anxiety-riddled wife, they also led to astonishing moments of wonder, especially at the kindness and generosity of strangers. Along the way, Rudy's own remarkable story emerges: born in Germany, he became a U.S. citizen during the war and volunteered for air duty, flying missions as a gunner against his homeland. From exotic destinations like Bali to more personal excursions to uncover family history, Rudy's travels are imbued with his unceasing optimism and boundless enthusiasm, leaving the reader convinced that his rules are well worth following.--Bridget Thoreson
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Thoreson, Bridget. "Rudy's Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from around the Clock." Booklist, 1 Feb. 2018, p. 13. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A527771747/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3c9b508f. Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A527771747
Jensen, Mary K.: Rudy's Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from Around the Globe
Cheryl Branche
Xpress Reviews. (Feb. 23, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Full Text:
Jensen, Mary K. Rudy's Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from Around the Globe. She Writes. Apr. 2018. 256p. photos. ISBN 9781631523229. pap. $16.95; ebk. ISBN 9781631523236. TRAV
Jensen's first book describes the often humorous, exasperating, and frustrating (though not in that order) travel adventures of the author and her husband, Rudy, recapping their many journeys taken from 1976 to 1994, in the days before cell phones and Internet maps. They are opposites in almost every aspect. Jensen is cautious and safety-loving, prepared to "expect the worst"; Rudy's rules of the road are much more spontaneous and include advice to "ride with locals, not tourists" and "relax, some kind stranger will appear." Their destinations include East Asia, Eastern Europe, Egypt, England, Mexico, New Zealand, and Russia. The author portrays the frustration, exasperation, and challenging emotions that accompany responses to what she sees as preventable situations, all without admonishing her husband with, "I told you so!"
Verdict In the vein of the blog Universal Man by young Turkish adventurer Yigit Kurt, which describes the travel adventures of Kurt and his father, this humorous travelog is a delight. Armchair travelers and their active counterparts, spouses who have traveled or are thinking about traveling together, solo trekkers, women journeyers, and dysfunctional spouses will enjoy this work.--Cheryl Branche, Brooklyn
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Branche, Cheryl. "Jensen, Mary K.: Rudy's Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from Around the Globe." Xpress Reviews, 23 Feb. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530232558/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=36bc4613. Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530232558
Rudy's Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from Around the Globe
Author(s):
Mary K. Jensen
Release Date:
April 10, 2018
Publisher/Imprint:
She Writes Press
Pages:
256
Buy on Amazon
Reviewed by:
Jane Constantineau
Rudy’s Rules for Travel, a slim memoir written by Rudy’s wife, Mary Jensen, offers vignettes from the couple’s trips to far flung destinations from Mexico to Bali. Jensen portrays herself as the long-suffering wife of a man who rushed headlong into dicey situations with little planning, preferred to vacation on the cheap, and would rather camp out in the dead of winter to experience New Zealand’s natural beauty than book a hotel.
Rudy’s travel philosophy, which Jensen details in list form, included rising at dawn, washing his clothes in the shower, and buying only the tiniest souvenirs that would fit in a small carry-on (the only luggage permitted). Jensen grew up taking family vacations to the beach half an hour from her home. Her life with Rudy, a World War II veteran 22 years her senior with a passion for authentic foreign experiences, challenged her idea of travel while seriously aggravating her anxiety.
Rudy drove the bus in this relationship, letting his wife have a say in their travel arrangements only occasionally. Still, Jensen seemed devoted to her husband—often inexplicably—as he led them into countless scrapes. Jensen describes his change from school principal during the year to adventurer over the holidays as “not unlike that of Clark Kent to Superman. He exchanged suit and tie for battered jeans, faded navy captain’s hat, plaid shirt, and backpack, leaving razor and dress shoes scattered behind.”
The short chapters center around mishaps or scary moments precipitated by Rudy’s adventure-seeking, poor research, or just bad luck. In many stories, Jensen employed deep breathing and shot panicked looks at Rudy, who tried to put a positive spin on the calamity.
In one typical scenario in Thailand, Rudy found a real bargain on an elephant ride—the last one of the day. Unlike the other patrons, who rode in an enclosure, they discovered they were riding the elephant home, two hours over steep hills, through streams and forests. The ride ended without incident except for damage to the author’s nerves and muscles.
Jensen’s stories would be more satisfying if she had better developed her two main characters. She drops crumbs of insight into Rudy’s background but never enough to create three dimensions. Her own background and motivation receive even less attention.
The question that often comes to mind is, “Why does Jensen put up with this?” We never understand what bonded these two and why Jensen tortured herself with Rudy’s style of travel, which despite his vast experience never seems particularly savvy. In one instance, they arrived late at night in the driving rain on a Thai island where Rudy had made reservations at a hotel that hadn’t been built yet.
Because most of the stories focus on a predicament—a unnerving helicopter ride, armed soldiers boarding their tour bus—we get little flavor for the varied places Jensen visited. A welcome exception is Russia, where the couple went in the 1980s, and to which the author devotes more detail. Jensen describes the tightly controlled hotel where they were not allowed to switch rooms, and a “key monitor” sat in the hallway to keep guests’ room keys when they went out. “A light fixture in each room hangs low and is mysteriously connected to the concierge service—when we talk to each other about how cold the room is, the phone rings and the operator inquires about our number of blankets.”
While the similar pattern to each story and the scant context of country or character can frustrate, Jensen intends for this book to be funny, and sometimes it is. In one of Rudy’s bigger failures in planning, he organized a shore excursion in Tahiti in rebellion against their cruise ship’s expensive, touristy ventures. “With fanfare, our driver/guide parks along the side of the road, opens a weathered shed, and pulls out a worn, white plastic chair for each person, arranging us in a precise half circle facing a tall palm tree. We are, he tells us, lucky to be here today, because today is the day. Today the island gets its first satellite dish put up on the tree, and we have the best seats.”
Jane Constantineau is co-author of the memoir, Kill the Gringo: The Life of Jack Vaughn―American Diplomat, Director of the Peace Corps, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia and Panama, and Conservationist. She has lived in Tehran and Guatemala City and holds a masters degree in journalism from Northwestern University.