Title: American Vacation. 12,000 Miles Into the Wild West
Description: Raluca and M. are two thirty-something fresh divorcees who have just rediscovered love in the late summer of their lives. They have embarked on a brand new relationship together, and all they want is to explore each other’s worlds. Raluca shares the importance of writing in her life, and M. has a deep love for nature. A year and a half into their romance, M. starts planning an ambitious trip to the US with the intention of experiencing his favorite places with his new partner. This is how their passions entwine into one glorious travel adventure under the Southwestern sun. This easily being any writer’s dream subject, it later turns into Raluca’s fifth book.
AMERICAN VACATION is the result of one man’s generosity and one woman’s eagerness to give back after having been gifted a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel  12,000 miles into the Wild West for 45 days, through 7 types of natural landmarks, from 260 feet below sea level up to 14,000 feet of altitude. Together, they hiked 170 miles across 33 national, state, and tribal parks discovering iconic places and corners of paradise hidden deep within the North American landscape.
Starting in The Land of Lincoln, they crossed 18 states, at times, asking themselves whether they left the earth and landed on a different planet.
Immerse yourself in Raluca’s vivid pages, and you will see wild America through a foreign writer’s eyes who deeply appreciates the beauty of the land, and the way it is respected and preserved by the authorities and visitors. You will laugh and empathize with the author whenever she has to overcome her fears and limits, like climbing down rugged rocks in Spooky Gulch, reaching the summit of Mount White, or simply breaking down with exhaustion and overheating in Arches National Park.
American Vacation. 12,000 Miles Into the Wild West is Raluca Barbu's fifth book and the first one in English, the first four having been published in her home country, Romania. It is a travel book about the most iconic Western US landmarks, seen through the eyes of a Romanian writer. It is in many respects one-of-a-kind because no other Romanian author has traveled and written about the American West. It provides a foreign writer’s take on the American landscape and tourism through the eyes of a former citizen of a communist country. 
The book is a homage given both to the beauty of the American outdoors and to young relationships that can blossom in such exotic scenery.
As a vivid slice of Raluca’s travel experience, this book stands witness to a small fraction of this world's flawless beauty, which has taken hundreds of millions of years to perfect.
Subjects: USA, national park, state park, tribal park, memoir, travel book, narrative travel book
Places: Whitaker Point, ARPedernales Falls State Park, TXThe Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, TXSouth Llano River State Park, TXCaverns of Sonora, TXWhite Sands National Monument, NMDevil’s Bridge, AZCathedral Rock, AZSlide Rock State Park, AZGlen Canyon Recreational Area, UT & AZLake Powell, UTHorseshoe Bend, AZThe Petrified Forest National Park, AZCanyon de Chelly, AZFour Corners Monument, AZMonument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, AZGrand Canyon, AZAntelope Canyon, AZCoral Pink Sand Dunes, UTWhite Pocket, AZVermilion Cliffs Natural Monument, AZCoyote Wash, UTBuckskin Gulch, UTZion National Park, UTKanarra Falls, UTThe Subway slot canyon, Zion Wilderness, UTThe Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, UTSnow Canyon State Park, UTBryce Canyon, UTGrand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, UTDry Fork Slot Canyon, UTPeek-a-boo Canyon, UTSpooky Gulch, UTDevil’s Garden Outstanding Natural Area, UTCapitol Reef National Park, UTGoblin Valley State Park, UTCanyonlands National Park, UTDead Horse Point State Park, UTArches National Park, UTValley of Fire State Park, NVDeath Valley National Park, NVAncient Bristlecone Pine Forest, CAMount White summit, CAMono Lake, CAMammoth Lakes, CAYosemite National Park, CASequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, CAMoro Rock, CAHearst San Simeon State Park, CAPiedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, CAGarrapata State Park, CAPoint Pinos Lighthouse, CALaguna Creek Beach, CAShark's Fin Cove, CAPigeon Point State Historic Park Light Station, CABlack Sand Beach, CAGlass Beach, MacKerricher State Park, CADrive-Through-Tree, Leggett, CALiving Chimney Tree, Phillipsville, CAAvenue of the Giants, CARedwood National Park, CAArch Rock View Point, CASisters Rock State Park, CAHeceta Head Lighthouse, CANeptune State Scenic Viewpoint, CACape Perpetua, Siuslaw National Forest, CACannon Beach, ORKalaloch Tree Root Cave and Beach, WARuby Beach, Rialto Beach, and Hall of Mosses, Olympic National Park, WACape Flattery, WARainier National Park, WANarada Falls, WAReflection Lake, WABox Canyon, WAPalouse Falls State Park, WAGlacier National Park, MTYellowstone National Park, WYMount Rushmore National Memorial, SDBadlands National Park, SD
Time periods: 2018 American outwest