From Saginaw to Srinagar

A college graduate with no job prospects and no boyfriend, Marilyn Murphy was bored and dispirited, living back with her parents in her Midwest hometown.

And then an old friend threw her an unexpected lifeline: “Meet me in the Philippines—we’ll travel through Asia together.”

It did not go as planned. This engaging memoir captures the adventures and misadventures of her eight-month saga as a solo tra...