Joy of Travel .....books

I love books on travel.  I have an adventure through the written word, as I travel through the pages of the book, my eyes hopping from one word to another the way a child hops from rock to rock along a stream.  I travel through the pages of the book as the writer is struggling and fighting through the snowstorm or the heat and humidity.  Books of travel are the best, as I am allowed to tag along with modern day adventurers and explorers from the past.  My eyes and my imagination have hiked the Appalachian Trail many times.  I’ve been along on the Pacific Crest Trail and I’ve sailed around the world a few times.  I’ve crossed the Arctic, kayaked the rivers of Alaska and Canada and I’ve lived in a tent among wolves. Someday I may actually do these things in person.

Most of these books are so much more than just a romp through the woods or across the oceans.  The explorers and adventurers share their fears.  They share the worries, their wishes to escape and the beauty they see on the way.  When I’m hiking I find my mind wandering along it’s own paths, and in my favorite books the writers share these musings.  A good travel book is a window into deep discussions, interesting ideas, various cultures and lifestyles, nature and beauty often not seen by the rest of us, as well as the fears and joys of the travel they are experiencing.

This year I read about a wildlife biologist that grew tired of lab work and endless research and computer models.  She and her husband traveled 4,000 miles from the Pacific rain forest to the Arctic Circle.  They traveled by boat, foot, skis, rafts and canoes.  The writer described the beauty and danger of the trip while also writing about her relationship with her husband and her doubts of career choice in biology.  She has a wonderful way of describing the beauty of nature and she is brutal and realistic about the hardships.  The book is called “The Sun is a Compass; a 4000 mile journey to the Arctic. 

I also read a true account based on heavy research of two women that circled the globe in the late1800’s.  Nelly Bly, a popular journalist, attempted to circle the globe in 80 days while writing about the adventures for her newspaper.  A rival paper found out and decided to send a quickly chosen “woman adventurer” on the same chase but circling the globe in the opposite direction.  As a reader we get to travel in both directions, see the world as it was in this era, and thrill that these two women did not let the expectations of the time slow them down. I loved reading Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World.

Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of Solitude follows a woman who travels to various cities alone, and finds exploring alone to be enriching.  I immediately decided to visit museums in my town by myself.  Travels with Epicurus was enlightening, making me smile and learn at the same time.  I read a book called On Trails and learned about so much more than just trails, and in a wandering way, much like I explore and learn.  Now I am on my way to the local library, a wonderful warren of stories, lives lived and places explored.  I never know what I will find there as I meander among the shelves.  Where shall I go next?  Let’s see!