Travels of the mind
By Kendra Nordin | 08.15.08
It’s raining here (again), in New England and even for those of us breaking free of “staycations” and actually going somewhere, a stack of books is still required for the packing list to help pass the days indoors. My suggestion: Read a travel book. At least you can go somewhere sunny in your imagination.
If you are looking for a good read, be sure to check out “The Wild Places” by nature writer Robert Macfarlane and reviewed by Todd Wilkinson. And if the the rain hasn’t stop pounding on your roof, click on the audio link to hear a conversation with the author. Todd lives in Minnesota and Robert is in England, but we connected them here in Boston, and then wandered together over the wilds of Britain’s disappearing untouched places.
Paul Theroux’s new book “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star” is another easy way to climb aboard the travel train (watch for Matt Shaer’s review of it next week).
I stumbled across a good book this summer from 2001: “Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Spain” by Chris Stewart. It’s a travel memoir about an American who decides to raise sheep in southern Spain. It is funny, well-written, and about as far away from a rainy city afternoon as you can get.
What are your favorite travel memoirs? I’d love to hear about them since this rain shows no signs of letting up.
Marjorie Kehe is on vacation this week.
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1. H | 08.15.08
Two of my favorite travel memoirs are offbeat stories.
One is A Year of Sundays by Edward Webster. He, his blind wife, and their aging cat go to Europe for a year. Don’t worry, the cat plays only a minor role, but the adventures of Ed and Marguerite, a fifty-ish couple, are quite enjoyable.
The other book is an Australian import, Absolutely Faking It by Tiana Templeman, is about a thirty-ish couple who normally take backpacking trips. When they win a sweepstakes prize of a stay at each of fourteen luxury hotels, they go first class. Except that their airline tickets are economy class and they don’t have any actual money. They have a good time anyway.