Personally, I think Elizabeth Gilbert is a strong and intelligent woman; I'd watched and enjoyed her
TED Talk long before I intended to read the book, and maybe it was that talk on creativity that made me read the book eventually, don't know.
As for her experience, well, it's hers. I can't help thinking that probably many people would do something similar, given the chance, or maybe many people already did/do that, but they just don't write about it.