This book investigates the complex intersections of gender, sexuality, and power dynamics within the global tourism industry. Susan Frohlick, an anthropologist specializing in gender and mobility, utilizes ethnographic research conducted in Costa Rica to examine how tourist encounters shape personal identity and social relations. The text argues that tourism is not merely a leisure activity but a site where eroticism, intimacy, and racialized differences are actively negotiated and performed.

Experts in the field of tourism studies recognize this work as a significant contribution to the understanding of gendered mobility and social interaction. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is well-suited for scholars and students interested in the sociology of travel.