Highway of Diamonds: An International Travel Adventure

by J. Jaye Gold

What begins with two groups of adventure travelers journeying through the mountains of Morocco, the Sahara desert, remote eastern Turkey, and rural Thailand, develops into a cooperative high-tech kidnap rescue operation. The people they encounter along the way contribute humor, perspective, and wisdom, giving the story a unique depth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Travel

306 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2020

About the author

Justin has been assisting people in their search for inner meaning for 40 years. He works with several dozen seekers of truth. Over the years he has deliberately resisted the trend to become a “traveling guru” with followers around the world in favor of preserving an element which he considers precious – that of maintaining opportunities for developing an actual teacher/student relationship. He is available to anyone who seeks his guidance and has never asked to be compensated for his help, either monetarily or otherwise.

Reviews

[Matthew B]

A Highway of Diamonds (and nobody's on it)
I am reading this for the second time out loud with a group of friends. With each passing chapter it is becoming one of my favorite books of all time.

The narrative is gripping and takes you on many of the travel adventures through rural Thailand, the Sahara desert, and the plight of the Kurdistan region in Turkey (that's still happening).

But these travel stories really serve as the structure to hang the depth, beauty, insight, and tremendous wisdom the author clearly has and drops, like diamonds, throughout the book.

I laugh out loud, and have wet eyes often touched by the beauty of the human connections, and delight at where the stories and interactions take me.

The title is based off a line in Bob Dylan's incredible song, It's a Hard Rain Gonna Fall. There's a Highway of Diamonds and nobody is on it.

This book has littered the diamonds all over the ground so that you can pick them up as you read, and also know more of where you can be looking in the rest of your life.

I give it my highest recommendation.

[Jenna Mobley]

This book seemed to quench a deep thirst in me. As Bob Dylan says, there’s a “highway of diamonds with nobody on it”— Lucky for me, I got on it! Just like on a beautiful, empty hiking trail, I am left wondering why more people are not there!

Joining a travel expedition with 6 others, the main character, Adam, gets multiple “face-fulls” of qualities the others are capable of that he is not. He undergoes a nuanced evolution from outsider/observer to participant/experiencer as he discovers new, emotionally honest connections with his generous traveling companions.

While criss-crossing multiple international borders, the adventurers encounter a host of extraordinary, “ordinary” people. I was struck by the explorations of the human condition presented in so many simple moments and interactions, and how these characters really came to depend on one another.

The friendships and subtle love stories threaded throughout were striking enough to make me look inside myself and feel the gift of having people in my life to love, to be on this life journey with, to rely on, and to “be there for.”

I love how books can elicit such depth of feeling! This is the second time I have read this book, and yet I don’t consider I have fully read it even now. The highway is long, there is much to discover, and I am left feeling hopeful for new possibilities (and a post-Covid travel adventure)! I highly recommend this rare find.

[Johanna]

DIAMONDS INDEED!
I totally dug this book. I've been to rural Thailand AND the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. WISH I could say I've camped in the Sahara! Despite many "main" characters, they were distinct and easy to picture and get to know. Multiple stories wonderfully woven into one overarching adventure, with some tense action segments that (gratefully) never led to the usually requisite violence.

I liked the wise yet practical nuns, the struggling Kurds, a mysterious statue, the monk's unique perspective on the meaning and "burden" of enlightenment.

You have to grant the author a little narrative license to wrap it all into one, but it's well worth it. Taking my time, I found so many gems, er… diamonds along this highway!

[Tishia]

This book is one of my favorite books ever. Aside from being an amazing travel adventure taking me to remote places that fewer travelers go, I get to know some amazing characters. The interaction between them is striking and has a profound depth. I was deeply moved by the turn of events in the story and the expanding experiences that each character has. To be with them on their journey is a delight.

[Amalthea Birkholz]

This book is sweeping me along like a canoe ride past small encampments on a river or ...a Highway of Diamonds. I think the title is ingenious. It really feels like that and I am loving the ride. There are small interactions that say so much as the author travels between two groups of three on two very different adventure trips:

"It took us a while to work on one thing at a time without constantly projecting our actions out into future completed accomplishments. It would take an even longer time to value that way of living that we would take the actions that we would actually seek out the conditions that would nurture it, and turn away from those that didn't ........Drilling a hundred small holes in a piece of hardwood without breaking a drill bit is a curious discipline for learning to arrive at the here-and-now. For us, it was a necessary beginning."
I am giving it 4 stars for the sake of honesty since I am only a quarter of the way through.

[Chela Grace]

This book should be a movie it is such a ride! Lots of adventure, interesting interactions, lots of interesting ideas and wisdom - "diamonds" - it surprised me totally. I love to travel and have been to some of these places. There are some bold characters who like each other and support each other and also grow to love each other, in ways, because they really go through some stuff! Sometimes I would have to go back in chapters to remember a few things and keep on track with what was going on because of the flash backs. I found myself wanting to remember the characteristics/backgrounds of the people. It helped there were descriptions of each character in the beginning. Nice idea. I hope this story is in line for a Netflix movie soon.

[Geneviève Merdy]

I find myself reading this book again and again for the adventurous travels and the hidden jewels of human insight that pop up unexpectedly. It is written in such a way that several stories are cleverly woven. The various characters manage to work things out as a team which makes me want to experience that in my own life.
One of my favorite part is when the main character finds himself picking up bugs of rows of vegetables with a monk in Thailand and gets to hear about enlightenment.

[Helen Bowers]

The seven travelers are depicted in a kind of brave earthy honesty -diamonds in the rough!
Rich with interior and exterior explorations, seven travelers journey together and smooth each others’ rough edges in a rock-tumbler of high adventure and close quarters. I especially love the fierce female characters in this story. Their boldness and compassion bring the newest traveler along in a series of self discoveries he would have never tripped over without them.

[Art]

Gold's creation is a wonderful immersion into another culture. The writing style lures you in and I felt I was along for the adventures. In a pandemic quarantine time, this was a perfect escape to remind me that there is a beautiful world out there to discover especially if it is unexpected. The juxtaposition of service work with one group to traveling along a border with the other group kept the pages turning and my explorative spirit thriving.

[Ming Tu]

This was a zanny travel adventure bespecked with moments of friendship, tenderness, spiritual insight, and heart. If you like stories where characters end up with a different perspective or a different approach to life from when they began, then pick up this gem of a book and give it a go! Maybe you'll end up with a few shifts in perspectives yourself!

[Eugenie]

I had expected to read about the experience of the author in traveling to Thailand, Morocco and Turkey, two of which I have visited. The book turned out to be much more than just a travelogue. The author conveys his search for understanding people's motivations in living and interacting with others. There is adventure for sure, but so much more as well.

[Sofia Marie]

Gold buried his life's ideas inside a travel adventure, and the result is a book that works on two levels. The Morocco mountains, the Sahara, the rescue operation, all of it moves, but underneath is something quieter. A story for readers who like their wisdom hidden in the journey.

[Mary]

Great read

[Johor]

I'm currently reading this book after having read it 3 other times. I get something new each time I revisit the adventures of the seven travelers in the book. There's a lot of intense moments that make it difficult for me to slow down and not finish in a few sittings, wanting to know what happens next. But I try to read it slowly because there are so many subtle gems (in a highway full of them, after all), so many deep, meaningful interactions between people. Clearly the author is an observer and student of human life, and it's a joy to go along for the ride!

[Koji San]

After my time in the army I travelled enthusiastically in many countries, including to several of the places in this story, but always as a solo traveler. This book provided the action I hoped for in an entertaining “travel-adventure” story, but also turned me on to the idea of including others in my travels, which has been very rich and rewarding. This book also contains many gems of deeper understanding about human behavior. Some are on the surface and some are buried deeper and only came to me on the second and third readings. One of my top picks!

[Renee French]

I adored “Highway of Diamonds” by J. Jaye Gold. It’s one of those books that I read slowly, savoring each chapter fully before moving on. If you’re a world traveler or arm-chair explorer, you’ll enjoy all the exotic settings—the Sahara desert, the bazaars of Marrakesh, and ancient ruins in Turkey. The story has intrigue and humor, and like other books by the same author, it is sprinkled liberally with gems of wisdom.

[Pranavati]

I've always loved that line from Dylan, "There's a highway of diamonds with nobody on it." This book seems to be written by someone who has traveled that highway and found those diamonds. They are interspersed in a story ranging across three continents and two connected travel groups - suspenseful at times, heart-opening at others. I just re-read it and found new diamonds. Has the book changed or have I?

[Stephan Blum]

Unique book in which 7 friends take on traveling together and find themselves in a series of situations that test both their ingenuity and personal connections. As a person who normally travels alone or with one other friend, I found this intriguing). I appreciated the dynamic of their working stuff out together, especially as the women in the group really shine. I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with this diverse group on their adventure.

[Hope Brady]

We read this in our reading group and savored every paragraph. It's filled with rich wisdom, revealed through subtle observations the characters make, while getting to know each other on a sometimes dangerous but always heart warming, travel adventure. Real food for the soul, heart and mind.

[Ian Thompson]

This is a truly unique adventure story! There are so many pearls of wisdom throughout this colorful story-- that you will be left with so much more than just being entertained.....though you will be entertained for sure!

[Patti Scott]

I really liked this book and felt I was taken on a ride around the world with the adventures of the two groupings of people. Among this were sparks of wisdom and perspective interwoven with the exciting story that unfolded. This book should be made into an epic movie.