Below are some optional questions (both in plain text and in a downloadable PDF) to help guide discussions of Unpacking for Greece and Repacking for Greece. You are welcome to use as many or as few of these questions as you please.
If scheduling allows, I’m happy to join book club chats via Zoom or similar — you’re welcome to contact me at www.sallyjanesmith.com/contact. If you prefer to chat without the author present, I’d still love to hear about it.
CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD
- Have you travelled to Greece? Did anything about the book’s setting feel familiar? Why, or why not?
- What was your favourite passage in the book, and why?
- What do you think the author was trying to convey with the title Unpacking for Greece? Her second book is called Repacking for Greece – how do you think it might differ from the first?
- Were you surprised that a book about Greece started in Sri Lanka? Did the backstory of Sally’s solo travel accident enhance your reading of the story, or did you skip it and start the book with her arrival in Athens?
- Sally saved a few hundred dollars in airfare by taking a series of cheap connecting flights – resulting in more than forty hours of travel each way. Would you have made the same choice?
- Unpacking for Greece travels to major destinations including Athens, Monemvasia, Sparta, Meteora, Santorini and Rhodes. How many of these did you know about before reading Sally’s story?
- On the rim of Santorini’s spectacular caldera, Sally has a sudden realisation that shocks her out of her mid-life malaise. Have you ever had a moment where something you observe completely changes your perspective?
- When Sally arrives on Rhodes, she plans to visit Rhodes Old Town, Symi and Lindos, but ends up having to choose between them. What did you think of her choice? Do you think it is better to visit as many places as possible, or to spend more time in fewer destinations?
- Sally describes her mum’s diary as a travel companion. Did you feel you had a glimpse into Sally’s mother, as a character, through the diary?
- Public transportation features in the book, with Sally travelling to most destinations by bus, train and ferry. What are the advantages and disadvantages, for most travellers, of relying on public transport? Do you think there were any other factors in Sally’s decision to travel this way?
- This is a cross-genre book, combining a destination-focused travel narrative with strong memoir themes. Which of these aspects appealed to you the most? Did you prefer reading about the landmarks of Greece, or about Sally’s personal growth and reflections while she travelled?
- Do you think this book could be described as a coming-of-(middle)-age story? Why or why not?
- Did you read the epilogue? Did it change how you looked at the cover?
- Did you learn anything about Greece that surprised you?
- If you could visit just one place described in Unpacking for Greece, which would it be and why? Do you think the author had a favourite?
Sally Jane Smith 