Category: Travel
A Young Woman on the Hippie Trail
Diane was barely twenty-one when she began her adventure. Raised in a middle-class family in Colorado, she felt lucky to be attending Stanford University as a pre-med student. However, by her Junior year she realized she didn’t want to be a surgeon as she had always thought. Suddenly unsure what she wanted to do with…
Hippie Trail Adventures
According to Wikipedia, the Hippie Trail is the name given to the overland journey from Europe to India and Nepal taken by travelers between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s.
A Reading Challenge for Travel Lovers
I have been aware of book-reading challenges for some time but I never thought I would join one. My own bookshelves offer enough of a challenge. I am a book buying addict and my shelves overflow with books waiting to be read. I love used book stores, Friends of the Library shops, and most of…
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.…