Category: Travel
Memories of Christmas Past or, So You Think this Holiday Season is Sad?
2020 has been a year to forget. And now we are looking forward to a Holiday that is limited by a pandemic – a Christmas or Chanukah without our usual parties or family gatherings. This got me thinking about other Christmases that were less than perfect. There have been a few, but one stands out…
Books for the Armchair Traveler
In early January of 2017, when I sat down at my computer to begin my memoir, I knew it would be of interest to armchair travelers. But I never imagined, as I typed the first words of the first chapter, that the book would be released in the middle of a pandemic when travel was…
Covid-19 Journals
Recently I spent a few hours looking through my dozens of travel journals. As I flipped through the pages, it occurred to me that now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, would be a good time to keep a diary. Unlike many who love to write, I’ve never been a consistent journalist. In fact, the only times…
Climbing the Mango Trees
I am at it again – reading memoirs. Recently I was lucky enough to find the delightful memoir, Climbing the Mango Trees, A Memoir of a Childhood in India, by Madhur Jaffrey.
Memory of a Beijing Market
March 2003. Tom burst into the room as I finished my second cup of tea. “I’ve found the market,” he announced. “It’s just around the corner.” We had arrived in Beijing the afternoon before. After checking into the hotel, eating a Chinese meal in a dining room filled with western tourists, and wandering Tiananmen Square…
Collecting Fabric as a Travel Souvenir
A Facebook friend, a lady who is a master quiltmaker, recently posted a T-shirt with the following slogan emblazoned across the front: “I sew, but my favorite hobby is collecting fabric.”
A Mother’s Memories of her Son’s Boot Camp Graduation
Some years ago, I took an emeritus class at U.C. Irvine in Travel Writing. There I learned that a travel essay needs to be more than a travelogue. In order to interest a reader, travel writing should also have attitude. The writer’s voice is essential as it is through their eyes we view the adventure.…
A Lifelong Traveler Looks Back at her Passports
“I am a lifelong traveler, have visited every continent except Antarctica, and have not been without a valid passport since I was sixteen.” This quote, lifted from my Instagram bio, represents what I believed to be true until I began to write this post. . . . which says something about personal memory and the…
Paris Memoirs of Art and Love
Art and Paris memories flow from A Paris Year, by Janice MacLeod. I found this book just as the Covid-19 pandemic nudged into our consciousness. Days later, I regretfully cancelled a planned “April in Paris/Tulip season in the Netherlands” trip. Instead of walking the streets of Paris myself, I read Janice’s book, a delightful guide…
Illustrations for a Travel Memoir, Wherever the Road Leads.
Wherever the Road Leads has always been planned as an illustrated memoir. After all, with a subtitle that starts “An Artist’s Memoir . . .,” readers will expect to see artwork. Luckily, I didn’t have 1000 drawings to choose from like I did with the photos. However, because of page consideration (Print on Demand…