A Hard Place to Leave
Winner of the 2023 Lowell Thomas Award!
Vogue's Best Books of 2022
“Intrepid and empathetic, gifted with the dispassionate gaze of a born observer…a harmonious collage of worldview and character, a wunderkammer of experiences in a life fully lived.” —Melissa Febos, The New York Times
Restless to leave, eager to return: this memoir in essays captures the unrelenting pull between the past and the present, between traveling the world and staying home.
Starting in a dreary Moscow hotel room in 1983, weaving back and forth to rural New England, and ending on a West Texas trail in 2020, Marcia DeSanctis tells stories that span the globe and half a lifetime. With intimacy and depth, over quicksand in France, insomnia in Cambodia, up a volcano in Rwanda, spinning through the eye of a snowstorm in Bismarck, and atop a dumpster in her own backyard, this New York Times bestselling author, award-winning essayist and journalist for Vogue and Travel + Leisure immerses us in places waiting to be experienced and some that may be more than we’re up for. She encounters spies, angels, leopards, shoes, the odd rattlesnake, a random head of state, and many times over, the ghosts of her past. Each subsequent voyage leads to revelations about her search for solitude, a capacity for adventure, and always, a longing for home.
La Dolce Vita University – 2nd Edition
Come travel with La Dolce Vita University (L◆D◆V◆U) to the heart of Italian culture in the seductive spirit of la dolce vita. L◆D◆V◆U is the perfect sampler to indulge anyone curious about—or already in amore with—Italy and its remarkably rich trove of cultural treasures. In dozens of entertaining yet authoritative mini-essays, including 60 new stories and 40 new illustrations in this fully updated 2nd edition, L◆D◆V◆U lets you explore, at your leisure, fascinating aspects of Italy’s cuisine, history, art, traditions, style, legendary personalities, and so much more.
The book is organized alphabetically, but nothing is ever quite that straightforward when it comes to Italy. Even if you choose to read these mini-essays sequentially, you may very well feel as though you’re wandering the mysterious alleys of a medieval town, the hidden vicoli of a larger city, or even along the serpentine canals of La Serenissima.
The End of the World Notwithstanding
“Every word the right word, this book is a genuine keeper.” —Kirkus Reviews***Starred Review***
Rife with misadventure, brushes with death, and moments of existential insight, The End of the World Notwithstanding is a hilarious and reflective look at the emotional experiences that make everyday life exciting—and the physical ones that remind us we’re lucky to be alive. These nail-biting stories, all true, fill the reader with wonder, as in, “How do any of us survive?”
Encounters with wildfire, hideous insects, psychotic house pets, bad weather, gravity, predators, bullies, and the most potent force of all—fear—unfold in remote landscapes of the American West; on neon-splashed Hollywood sidewalks; in a Catskills summer camp for actors; in the Boston apartment of a famous senator; on a cliff high above the Mediterranean; beneath the streets of Paris. Goodwin looks for and finds meaning, if not security, in a clear-eyed acknowledgment of the human condition—and in the saving grace of laughter.
The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 12
As Andrew McCarthy wrote in The New York Times Book Review, “For more than 20 years, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing books that might best be described as the literary equivalent of a group of travelers sitting around a dim café, sipping pints or prosecco and trading their best stories.”
Now comes The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 12: True Stories from Around the World—the latest collection in the best-selling, award-winning series that invites you to ride shotgun alongside intrepid female nomads as they wander the globe discovering new places, faces, and facets of themselves.
“In story after story,” McCarthy wrote about the previous volume of The Best Women’s Travel Writing, “the refreshing absence of bluster and bravado, coupled with the optimism necessary for bold travel, create a unifying narrative that testifies to the personal value and cultural import of leaving the perceived safety of home and setting out into the wider world.”
The essays in this volume are as diverse as the destinations, exploring themes of kindness, transformation, nature, friendship, family, strength, and resilience.
The Creative Spark
“Michael Shapiro’s finely tuned, informed and intimate interviews strike to the heart of the matter.” —Tim Cahill, author of Hold the Enlightenment
The Creative Spark is a collection of interviews with some of the most creative people of our time: musicians, writers, visual artists, explorers, and chefs. These makers speak about what drives them, what helps them to see the world in fresh ways, and what inspires them turn their visions into art. During the past decade, Michael Shapiro has interviewed some of our brightest creative luminaries. Among the authors are Amy Tan, David Sedaris, Barbara Kingsolver, Pico Iyer, and Frances Mayes. His work as a music journalist has led to interviews with legends including Smokey Robinson, Lucinda Williams, Graham Nash, Lyle Lovett, Melissa Etheridge, Merle Haggard, and Jethro Tull bandleader Ian Anderson. And he’s spoken with creative masters in other fields, such as director Francis Ford Coppola and comedian Joan Rivers.
100 Places in Cuba Every Woman Should Go
The secret is out: Cuba is the world’s sexiest, most magnetic travel destination. What isn’t a secret is that folks from around the corner and around the globe have been exploring and falling in love with the largest Caribbean island for decades. Now you can too with 100 Places in Cuba Every Woman Should Go, written from the unique perspective of a New Yorker who has called Havana home for more than 15 years.
The 100 places profiled in this book are the result of decades of travel, research, and living in Cuba by a US journalist with uncommon access, ensuring travelers incomparable experiences. Much more than a prescriptive list, these narratives incorporate adventures and mishaps, insider opinion, slang, gossip, and conversations with Cubans during a historic shift that saw Soviet support evaporate, Fidel Castro take his final bow, economic reforms whiffing suspiciously of capitalism, and quasi-normalization with the United States.
Author Conner Gorry deciphers the mysteries of Cuba while describing the country’s most alluring sites, sounds, and off-the-beaten track locales. Go with her and discover this magical island for yourself.
Baboons for Lunch
Author and explorer James Michael Dorsey has spent two decades visiting the world’s most remote tribal cultures. In Baboons for Lunch and Other Sordid Adventures, he tells his remarkable travel stories in rollicking accounts that keep readers off balance and eager for more.
Many stories are funny, others are poignant, and quite a few are heart stopping, while others are unique insights into remote ways of life most of the world does not know exists.
In this book the reader will climb a remote volcano in Ethiopia, cross the Sahara Desert with nomads, undergo a tribal exorcism, and visit shamans, healers, witch doctors, and holy men.
This is not your average travel book, but an entree to some of the world’s remote corners and people.
The Soul of a Great Traveler
Since 2006 the editors of Travelers’ Tales have run a writing competition to find the best travel story of the year: The Solas Awards. Over those years, thousands of stories have come across their desks, from writers famous and unknown, covering all corners of the globe with stories of adventure and discovery, love and loss, humor and absurdity, grief and joy. In this collection appear all of the top prize winners of the first ten years, stories that bring readers along for journeys that are inspiring, uplifting, and, very often, transformative. These tales are powerful, moving testaments to the richness of our world, its cultures, people, and places.
The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 11
The Best Women's Travel Writing, Volume 11 presents stimulating, inspiring, and uplifting adventures from women who have traveled to the ends of the earth to discover new places, peoples, and facets of themselves. The common threads connecting these stories are a female perspective and fresh, compelling storytelling to make the reader laugh, weep, wish she were there, or be glad she wasn't.
The 31 true travel stories in this year's collection are, as always, wildly diverse in theme and location. They tell of places like California and Cuba, Switzerland and Singapore, Iran and Iceland, Montana and Mexico and Mongolia and Mali, our own back yards and some of the farthest, most extreme corners of the world. They are the personal stories we can't help but collect when we travel, stories of reaching out to embrace the unfamiliar and creating cross-cultural connections while learning more about ourselves.
100 Places in Spain Every Woman Should Go
DISCOVER SPAIN'S BEST PLACES FOR WOMEN
Patricia Harris began her love affair with Spain shortly after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, and she has since witnessed the country’s amazing renaissance in art, culture, and cuisine. Drawing on three decades of intimate acquaintance, she leads readers down to the docks of fishing villages, along twisting mountain roads, into the shoe outlets of Elche, out to the muddy saffron fields of La Mancha. She takes you through the streets of Sevilla, Madrid, Barcelona, and San Sebastian to dark flamenco clubs, sybaritic public baths, endlessly inventive tapas bars, design shops full of mantillas and fans, and into a brightly tiled chocolatería for hot chocolate and churros at 3 a.m.
Harris explores art from Velázquez to Picasso, architecture from the phantasmagoria of Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia to the cool suspension spans of Santiago Calatrava. She tells tales of formidable Spanish women, from a fourth-century b.c. goddess to a queen who wrested Spain from the Moors, and to twenty-first-century winemakers who have elevated Spain’s Toro and Rueda onto the world stage. Literary, sexy, whimsical, and spiritual, 100 Places in Spain Every Woman Should Go is for the smart and curious traveler who wants to see Spain, her way.
The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11
CELEBRATING GREAT TRAVEL WRITING
Travelers’ Tales publishes books about the world and life-changing experiences that happen on the road. The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11 is our latest collection of great stories guaranteed to ignite your wanderlust.
Includes Grand Prize Winners, Solas Awards
Introduction by Rolf Potts
Wings
Wings is a love story of France, a blend of travel writing and memoir that reveals the country's art, cuisine, history, and traditions through encounters with characters such as Winged Victory, Claude Monet, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Coco Chanel, and a mélange of writers, filmmakers, and friends. Erin Byrne goes deep to discover little-known aspects of French culture and by doing so, uncovers long-buried qualities of herself. She is transformed and her stories may transform you.
100 Places in Greece Every Woman Should Go
Discover Greece’s Best Places for Women
With style, intelligence, and personal anecdotes gleaned from years of working in Greece, archaeologist and award-winning writer Amanda Summer is your personal guide to the best of Greece. In crisp and often humorous storytelling she introduces you to the temples, shrines, grottoes, and churches of this magnificent country, intricately weaving in stories of the women—from goddesses of mythology Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite to goddesses of cinema and the arts Melina Mercouri, Irini Papas, and Maria Callas—who have molded the history and culture of Greece itself.
The Soul of Place
In this engaging creative writing workbook, novelist and poet Linda Lappin presents a series of insightful exercises to help writers of all genres—literary travel writing, memoir, poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction—discover imagery and inspiration in the places they love.
Lappin departs from the classical concept of the Genius Loci, the indwelling spirit residing in every landscape, house, city, or forest—to argue that by entering into contact with the unique energy and identity of a place, writers can access an inexhaustible source of creative power. The Soul of Place provides instruction on how to evoke that power.
The Best Travel Writing, Volume 10
CELEBRATING GREAT TRAVEL WRITING
Travelers’ Tales publishes books about the world and life-changing experiences that happen on the road. The Best Travel Writing, Volume 10 is our latest collection of great stories guaranteed to ignite your wanderlust.
Includes Grand Prize Winners of the Solas Awards.
The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 10
“Tell me,” poet Mary Oliver once wrote, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Oliver’s quote opens the The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 10: True Stories from Around the World. And to answer the question, thirty celebrated and emerging writers invite you to ride shotgun as they travel the globe to discover new places, people, and facets of themselves. The essays are as diverse as the destinations, the common thread being fresh, compelling storytelling that will make you laugh, weep, wish you were there, or thank your lucky stars you weren’t. The Best Women’s Travel Writing speaks to the reasons why we travel—and how travel changes our lives.
Shopping for Buddhas: An Adventure in Nepal
25th Anniversary Edition!
“A wonderful travel companion for anyone who wants to view afresh the wonders and oddess of humankind.”
— Amy Tan
“Asia is a mythical jubilee,” writes Jeff Greenwald, “full of characters more strange and entertaining than anything you’ll find in Star Wars.” On his quest for the perfect Buddha statue, Greenwald treks to a lofty nunnery to meet “one of the most powerful women in Tibet—known to fly through the air.” He visits Kathmandu’s first indoor shopping mall (where a ride on the country’s first escalator is a near-religious event), and befriends a sly ...
Deer Hunting in Paris
Deer Hunting in Paris is an unexpectedly funny exploration of a vanishing way of life in a complex, cosmopolitan world. Sneezing madly from hay fever, a Korean-American preacher’s daughter refuses to get married, travels the world, and ends up learning how to hunt from her boyfriend’s conservative family. As she navigates the perils of an unlikely romantic relationship from Paris, France, to Paris, Maine, Paula Young Lee skewers human foibles while she celebrates hunting, DIY food culture, and what it means to be a carnivore.
She finds herself trying to keep from being “mistaken” for a deer and getting shot at the clothesline, while also avoiding becoming dinner for bears. Along the way, this former vegetarian finds lessons about life, love, and loss in a hacksaw and a haunch of venison.
Kin to the Wind
“A most diverting and picaresque tale, one that reads like a sentimental journey of a hundred years ago.”
—the late Norman Cousins
In the early 1960s, a young, self-taught musician set out to travel the world with no money, equipped only with his guitar, his voice, and his belief in the goodness of people. Along the way, blown by the winds of fortune, guided by instinct, he played for kings and paupers, soldiers and servants, artists and terrorists. His name is Moro Buddy Bohn, and his unlikely and powerful story will uplift you and inspire you to live the life you want.
His audiences have included Queen Elizabeth II of England, King Frederick IX of Denmark, Pablo Picasso ...
Writing Away
“Lavinia Spalding has given travelers a witty, profound, and accessible exploration of the hows and whys of keeping a journal. Novices and veterans alike will find inspiration and fresh ideas on every page, along with practical suggestions to bring out the best writer in anyone…. Buy two copies—one to meditate on at home and another to dogear, underline and carry alongside your own journal en route.”
—Anthony Weller, author of The Siege of Salt Cove and Days and Nights on the Grand Trunk Road.
Two major trends have recently swept the travel world: the first, an overwhelming desire (thanks to Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestseller, Eat, Pray, Love) to write one’s own memoir; the second, an explosion of social media, blogs, twitter and texts ...
Antarctica
"What is it like to live and work in the coldest, harshest climate on Earth? The stories in this book reveal the challenges and rewards of exploring the otherworldly continent of Antarctica. Through a rich range of wise and funny essays, twenty writers introduce us to a wild cast of characters, share intimate details of daily life on the Ice, take us into a fantastic landscape, and capture the spirit of a fascinating, forbidding land. Explore places where your footprints will outlive you, Survive a blizzard of historic proportions, Find dinosaur bones while on a hunt for krill, Contemplate the fate of the Adélie penguin, Live through the “day it rained chickens”, Search for meteorites emerging from the ice, Spend your honeymoon working on Antarctica’s only newspaper, Take the dreaded “psych test” all Antarctic workers must endure, Watch the sun rise for the first time in six months at the South Pole…and much more.
The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2007
“Travelers’ Tales books luxuriate in that complicated, beautiful, shadowy place where the best stories begin, and the most compelling characters roam free.”
—Foreword Magazine
Since the publication of A Woman’s World in 1995, Travelers’ Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2007, the third collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day. These 32 stories cover the globe, from wandering the Sinai desert with small children, learning to salsa in Cuba to climbing a volcano in Ecuador. The perspectives are global and themes encompass spiritual growth, high adventure, romance, and encounters with exotic cuisine.
100 Places Every Woman Should Go
“An amazing feat…Griest manages to impart the essence of some of the world’s most remarkable places. Reading the book is like catching the colors of a tropical sunset, a whiff of an almost tree in bloom, a hint of a melody from a late night jazz bar.”
— Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of Omega Institute and author of Broken Open. Seeking the tranquility of a Buddhist meditation center? The raucousness of a rumba club? 100 Places Every Woman Should Go will not only inspire but compel you to hit the road—in a group, with a friend, or solo. Divided into sections such as “Powerful Women and Their Places in History,” “Places of Indulgence,” and “Places of Adventure,” this guidebook includes contact information, resources, and recommended reading. Its “Ten Tips For Wandering Women” features safety advice and pointers on how to stop departing airplanes and avoid getting tossed off Trans-Siberian trains.
Stories to Live By
Simple Truth, Simple Wisdom
“The mythologist Joseph Campbell said that every culture needs ‘myths to live by,’ sacred and timeless stories that lend a sense of ultimate meaning and purpose. This book rests firmly in that venerable tradition of providing stories rooted in lived wisdom, grounded in earned compassion. Stories that even teach us, simply and humbly, how to live.”
—Phil Cousineau, author of Once and Future Myths
From the time we learn to talk, we tell stories to amuse, teach, frighten, or inspire. When friends, family, or strangers are suffering, we reach into that ancient bag of treasures for comfort. Here, in Stories to Live By, three award-winning editors have chosen some favorites.
The Gift of Travel
Change Your Life Through Travel
“The Travelers’ Tales series is altogether remarkable.” —Jan Morris
Travel brings extraordinary gifts that help you break through the crust of old patterns and reawaken to the joys, mysteries, and miracles of everyday life. Whether you’re gaining a new understanding of a foreign culture or having an epiphany that opens new inner worlds, travel is a catalyst for living a richer, more loving life. The stories in The Gift of Travel reflect the simple yet profound gifts travelers have received from people and places around the world.
A Woman’s Path
Women journey on a variety of paths to understand both the geographical and the spiritual. This remarkable ensemble of women write about their spiritual awakenings, sharing the experiences that led to their spiritual growth and transformation. How difficult it can be to talk about what is spiritual. We experience moments of "connection" to a "higher power"; times of "communion" with what we sometimes call our "soul." Yet the language we use doesn't come close to capturing the depth of the experiences themselves. Almost by definition, what takes place in the spiritual realm eludes description. How difficult it can be to talk about what is spiritual. We experience moments of "connection" to a "higher power"; times of "communion" with what we sometimes call our "soul." Yet the language we use doesn't come close to capturing the depth of the experiences themselves. Almost by definition, what takes place in the spiritual realm eludes description.
The Road Within
This is a very different kind of travel book. It is a guide for the soul, a primer for the journey that is the archetype of all journeys: the road within. It is a book of transformation and of spiritual blessings bestowed on that great and hard teacher--travel. You'll understand and appreciate what the great mystics and saints have always known--that you are closer to yourself and the world than you can possibly imagine, and that wonderous things await you in your journeys. Notable authors in this collection: Annie Dillard, Huston Smith, Natalie Goldberg, Andrew Harvey, and Barry Lopez.
The Spiritual Gifts of Travel
The Spiritual Gifts of Travel: The Best of Travelers' Tales strives to inspire and remind readers of the power and importance of transformation through travel. The humorous, touching and at times challenging accounts in this collection are taken from the award winning Travelers' Tales series. Notable authors include Jan Morris, Kim Chernin, Marianne Dresser, James D. Houston, Phil Cousineau, David Yeadon, Richard Halliburton, Laurie Gough, Mikkel Aaland, Donald W. George, Andrew Harvey, and many more.
365 Travel
Take a Trip Every Day of the Year 365 Travel is a yearlong companion for all who dream of travel and the magic of other places. Drawn from classic and contemporary writers, each day's selection offers a reflection or anecdote to fuel your wanderlust. Whether kept on the nightstand, in your briefcase, or tucked in a backpack, 365 Travel celebrates the adventurer within us all.
The Way of the Wanderer
Award-winning author David Yeadon uses the world as his catalyst for inner exploration, reflecting upon those experiences that have deeply opened him to life and led him to discover his many hidden selves. Whether it's the hero, the coward, the clown, the warrior, the gourmet cook for the dancer, all are unveiled through travel and serendipity.
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage comes in all forms: traditional and unconventional, religious and secular, intended and unintended. It includes trips to world-famous sites, as well as visits to places sacred, perhaps, only to the individual. Yet, solemn or playful, to somewhere far or near, or simply within, pilgrimage entails mindfulness-a soulful presence that summons meaning to the surface. Pilgrimage showcases an exquisite, diverse array of such spirit-renewing journeys, as told by pilgrims of all kinds. From Egypt's Mount Sinai to Tibet's Mount Kailash, from the birthplace of the Virgin Mary to the site one's brother "fell to the earth," from the Sacred Ganges to sacred New Mexico soil, come make a pilgrimage with this inspiring ensemble of writers.
The Ultimate Journey
Description
An inspirational look into the journey we all will ultimately take. This remarkable collection of stories about death and near-death experiences from around the world are, above all, inspiring and life-affirming. Each story reveals the mystical side of travel, as each writer is transformed by a profound life-and-death experience.The Gift of Rivers
Rivers represent the quintessential metaphor for life, reaching back into the past, streaming toward the future, always vital in the present. The Gift of Rivers makes the metaphor real through exhilarating and thoughtful stories of exploration, white water, fishing, spiritual encounters, and more.
The Gift of Birds
There are more people involved in birding in America than in any other recreational activity. This remarkable collection of avian encounters will appeal to the millions of bird lovers everywhere. Notable authors include: Louise Erdrich, Barry Lopez, Diane Ackerman, Terry Tempest Williams, and Peter Matthiessen.
The Sword of Heaven
