Wanderjahr

Once he has assembled his characters in the lively youth resort of Torremolinos, Michener packs them into a Volkswagen bus and sends them on their Wanderjahr through some pretty interesting places.

And these Wanderjahre, and combats with the Beast, are the story-teller's version of the incest taboo; whereby a man must first prove ‘fitness’ and then much ‘marry far’.

When she initially conceived of the “52 Places” job and worked with video, interactives, and masthead editors to develop its duties, Ms. Drake thought of it as a sort of “grown-up gap year,” a reflection of the growing popularity, over the last few decades, of Wanderjahr-like jaunts.