Travel influencer Jen Ruiz believed she was about to have her fairy tale come true. Having built a life of travel and sharing her book 12 Trips in 12 Months with the world, she was ready to settle down and marry her partner of two years. Only, he had different plans. On her birthday together on a cruise ship, he called things off. Trapped together for a few awkward days, he flew back to Puerto Rico and she decided to carry on to their planned trip to Egypt. No stranger to solo travel, she made a wish on an Egyptian statue and decided that she was going to learn to love herself again with independent travel. Jen Ruiz’ first book 12 Trips in 12 Months followed her (as it says on the tin) through a year of solo travel after thing didn’t work out with her career. What do you do when you get dumped? You write another book. All You Need is Flights takes listeners from eating pizza on a volcano to a weird Hobbiton-like adventure in Guatemala, to Rap Nui to see the giant Moai, through Scotland and Japan, and back to the States to see wonders like the giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park.
If I was a younger reader who hadn’t already survived Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love craze, I have a feeling I would have enjoyed this book much more. Jen Ruiz is bright and bubbly, plus more than happy to be open and honest with her feelings and travel mistakes. As someone who has traveled, survived the aforementioned Gilbert craze, and is now lingering in my middle age, I wanted to grab her by the shoulders, turn her around, and point to all the amazing stuff she’s gotten to do. Travel like this is not common for most Americans. In each chapter, I found that I wanted far more information on her destinations and far less information about her ex-boyfriend. I wanted to know more details of sights and smells, and less about how she helped build up his business only to have him turn his back on her. Break ups suck; there’s no denying that. Descriptions of the travel destinations felt like a quick Tik Tok video; there, a quick flash of color, then over and done with. I wanted to know so much more.
All You Need is Flights is available June 30, 2026 from Blackstone Publishing.
