The World Is So Big: An Artist’s Sketchbook

The product of a combined mid-life crisis, James Tan and his wife decided to mark their 40th birthdays by quitting their jobs and traveling around the world for six months. They bought one-way tickets and began their travels in Asia before continuing on to Europe, only planning two countries ahead at any given time. A professional artist, James packed his bags full of sketchbooks to document their trip through candid, on-the-spot sketches of people and places. Illustrated in a direct, gestural style and complemented by the subtle use of watercolors, the scenes are largely captioned and present a charming portrait of their incredible voyage.