Author Interview: Sihpromatum: I Grew My Boobs in China by Savannah Grace

Sihpromatum - I Grew My Boobs in China
by Savannah Grace
Sihpromatum Publishing House, 366 pages
19th August, 2012

SIHPROMATUM (Sip-row-may-tum) is a memoir series of one family’s four-year backpacking adventure around the world. The first installment, "I Grew my Boobs in China", is the beginning of an intensely fascinating, sobering, and emotional memoir of Savannah’s introspective and innovative family adventure.

In 2005, 14-year-old Savannah Grace’s world is shattered when her mother unexpectedly announces that she and her family (mother, 45; brother, 25; sister, 17) would soon embark on an incredible, open-ended journey. When everything from her pets to the house she lived in is either sold, given away or put in storage, this naïve teenage girl runs headlong into the reality and hardships of a life on the road. Built around a startling backdrop of over eighty countries ("I Grew my Boobs in China" relates the family’s adventures in China and Mongolia), this is a tale of feminine maturation – of Savannah’s metamorphosis from ingénue to woman-of-the-world. Nibbling roasted duck tongues in China and being stranded in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert are just two experiences that contribute to Savannah’s exploration of new cultures and to the process of adapting to the world around her.

- Goodreads.com description

Hi Savannah! Thank you for stopping by on my blog today! :D

Hi Fara, thanks for having me!

Let's start by telling a little bit about yourself and your book.

Well, as you know, my name is Savannah. I go under the pseudonym of Savannah Grace. I am 22 years old and have just completed and self-published my very first book. The name is “Sihpromatum – I Grew My Boobs in China” and it is the first book of a memoir series about my family’s 4 year, 80+ country backpacking journey around the world which began in 2005. Written from my perspective as a 14 year old, rich brat who does NOT want to go when my mother unexpectedly drops the bomb that we’re going to sell everything and leave.

What was your favorite place?

Stunning pyramids deserted in Sudan.

This question has always been one of the hardest to answer. It’s nearly impossible for me to choose amongst trekking the Himalayan mountain range in Nepal and seeing the sun rise over Mt. Everest, snorkeling with the colorful fish in the Maldives and sun tanning on the soft white sands, canoeing through the tangled jungles of Suriname with parrots flying overhead, riding atop camels through endless mountains of sugary sand dunes across the Sahara desert in Mauritania and experiencing the historical genius of Pyramids in Sudan or the beautiful architecture of any European village, town or city.

There are so many places I could mentions that I feel guilty not listing them all!

When did you discover you wanted to be a writer?

As a kid, writing was never my dream, though I did often find myself in the dark hours of the night writing down my thoughts and feelings. I remember people always complimenting me on my writing but it wasn’t until the trip and keeping a journal everyday that the possibility of actually being an author blossomed. Everything was laid before me and pointed in the direction of writing. With so many stories to share, how could I pass up the opportunity? So far, it’s the most rewarding work I could imagine. I love it.

How did you finish school if you were on the road since you're 14?

This is a question I find myself often being asked. In some parts of the world, like Holland, parents are not able to pull their kids out of school, so the option of doing what we did, in some cases, would actually be impossible. 

Before I left I had been doing my schooling by correspondence which is a form of homeschooling but self- taught rather than parent-taught. When I left it was easy enough to simply put the schooling on hold and come back to it later. The only thing was, we expected to be gone for only one year which turned into four. I was constantly stressed about my school situation and was concerned I would be so far behind that I wouldn’t graduate until I was thirty. Though when I came home I was pleasantly surprised when they informed me I could simply skip ahead and finish grade 12 courses (the final year). A year later, at the age of 19 I graduated with the same certificate as everyone else. Looking back on it, I regret all the stress I put myself through by fretting over the schooling. Everything always works out in the end.

 Where would you go back to?

I rarely go back to the same place twice, because it seems a shame when there are still so many new places in this world to visit. I have been to Italy a few times and would go again. I would go back to Nepal. I really want to plan a trip back to Yangshuo, China which was the second places we visited on our trip.

What's your most memorable experience throughout your travel years?

Savannah's mom, swimming and riding the
elephant in crocodile infested river - Chitwan, Nepal.

Goodness, there are so many!! Staying with locals all over West Africa and having them welcome seven of us into their homes and sharing everything with us, despite their poverty. Swimming with an elephant in crocodile infested rivers of Chitwan, Nepal. Eating and riding ostrich in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, Great White shark diving in Hermanus, South Africa. Meeting Future, a local friend and catching a wild camel while we were stranded in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Meeting and being rescued by the love of my life in Ghana, West Africa. It’ just too hard to mention only one!

Are you still travelling?

Yes and no. I would not say that I have been travelling... I have been either vacationing or taking road trips. No backpacking since the big family journey! But I am always having an adventure. This year I have eaten, fished and swum with piranhas in the chocolaty rivers of Suriname, skied in the mountains of Leukerbad, Switzerland, explored the rivers, mountains, beaches and city of my hometown with my boyfriend’s mother an 80-year-old, WW2 survivor and zip-lined through the rain forests of Dominican Republic and relaxed in the Caribbean sun. In fact, while I type this I am sitting on a ten-hour flight to Vancouver, Canada from Amsterdam, The Netherlands ready to take on the next challenge of publishing and marketing my book.

Where are you now and when do you plan to travel next?

Well, in the air! Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, Vancouver bound. But mainly I am based in Alkmaar, Holland, a beautiful little town 40 minutes north of Amsterdam. After this month-long trip to Vancouver I will return to Holland and start book #2. The next places on my list are Iceland and I am hoping to make the big celebration of my100^th country in Japan. I hope to make it there by the end of next year.

What are you looking forward to?

I am looking forward to writing this memoir series. I can’t wait to share my experiences with the world and encourage people to follow their dreams! I look forward to all of the new and exciting things that will happen in the future.

Speed Round

1.Candies or chocolate? Candies

2. Backpack or suitcase? Backpack

3.Coffee or tea? Coffee

4. Drama or comedy? Drama

5. Movie or series? Tv Series.

Buy link: Amazon 

Website: www.sihpromatum.com

Follow me on twitter @Sihpromatum

And like my FB page : Sihpromatum - I Grew My Boobs In China

Contact me at Sihpromatum@gmail.com

Here's a few more pics  Savannah shared! :D

Guiding Savannah's sister around her new home, Alkmaar, 

The Netherlands. Endless bridges, windmills and canals.

Old crashed airplane eaten up by the jungles of Kabalebo,
> Suriname. With the explorer, Kees, Savannah's boyfriend.

Ammon, Savannah's eldest brother and leader for the four

years with camel, Mauritania, Sahara Desert.

Savannah taking a leap off a bridge off the 

highest bungee jump, South Africa

Bree, Savannah's sister riding an ostrich in South Africa.

Savannah Grace, the piranha she caught and the 

river they both once swam in, Palumeu, Suriname.

Fara