As a traveler, there is nothing more annoying to me than having nothing to do. I am on bed rest for the next few days for a minor health issue. I am fine... but, the doing nothing thing is killing me. It has become so boring that it had me start thinking about all of the people that cannot travel. People who are sick or care for them... or people who just do not have the means to get away.
Everyone knows that I am a TV addict and believe me...I have had my share of Gossip Girl, The Bachelor and Oprah this week! However, the one thing that really did the trick for me was a good book. Right now, I am in the middle of The Shiksa Syndrome by my good friend, Laurie Graff. This is a novel about a Jewish girl looking for a good Jewish boy in New York. I also loved re-reading Eat, Pray, Love. Elizabeth Gilbert is a wonderful storyteller who immerses her readers into a story within a destination. There is nothing more vibrant than imagining her in an ashram in the middle of India as she describes the "prayer" part of her story. It is the perfect way to escape the everyday... on the couch.
Since I really have a lot of time this week, I thought I would compile my travel reads for 2009... because even when you are not traveling... anyone can use an escape. Here's what I have on my list... please send me your suggestions.
(1) Wetlands by Charlotte Roche (born in High Wycombe but living in Germany) is a graphic portrait of a young woman's sexuality, and has been a European sensation, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. A woman I was sitting next to on a flight was reading this and we talked about it. Her copy was in German... Now it's available in English.
(2) "The Bad Girl's Guide to the Open Road" by Cameron Tuttle is full of sarcastic and sassy tips on how to take a highly adventuresome, Thelma-and-Louise-like road trip. I am also a fan of "Sand in My Bra"... another compilation of hilarious stories from women on the road.
(3) "Lonely Planet Unpacked" compiles hilarious travel disasters. There is nothing better than reading and learning from other traveler's mistakes. Here's one of mine... Back when we were shooting Passport to Latin America with Samantha Brown, I was trying to meet the crew up in Cusco, Peru so that I could be there for our Macchu Picchu shoot. I was in LA on another project and I was trying to figure out my travel itinerary. So, I called the producer and told her that I would fly into Lima and just "drive up" to Cusco and will meet them up in Macchu Picchu. Yeah, not so much... Cusco is a flight from Lima and at a little under 11,000 feet above sea level I also forgot about the reccomended acclimation period in Cusco before heading up to Macchu Picchu. Nice work, Lori.
(3) "Testosterone Planet: True Stories from a Man's World" is a compilation of daring stories by male adventure-seekers, including Tim Cahill, Jon Krakauer, Frank McCourt and Sebastian Junger. I love reading these adventure stories and the amazing skill and endurance that these guys have. An inspiration to try something new this summer.
(4) I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, by Giulia Melucci. (Not released yet...) This memoir chronicles the food Melucci made to entice men -- and console herself when they left her broken-hearted. Anyone who makes a ziti during a crisis is my kind of girl.
(5) A Fortunate Age, by Joanna Smith Rakoff. (Not released yet...)This novel is about the lives of a group of Gen-Xers in pre- and post-9/11 New York City. My generation... my home city.
Also, mentioned above and two of my faves from 2008...
Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. The story of a travel writer who, after a painful divorce, uses travel as her therapist. She heads to Italy to eat and to learn a little Italian, India to find inner peace by living at an ashram, and then to the Island of Bali in Indonesia to lay by the sea, study with a medicine man, and look for Love. If this does not give you the travel bug, nothing will.
The Shiksa Syndrome, by Laurie Graff. A story of a Jewish Girl who after a makeover looks a little less Jewish and finally lands a nice Jewish boy. Adorable and a perfect escape to the very "oy vey" world of dating in New York.
What are you reading? Let me know.
Travel on.
Loriwt=e
1 comment:
I just read 'Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?' by Thomas Kohnstamm. It is the story of a Lonely Planet Guidebook writer, exploring Brazil for the publication and as the writer describes it " A Swashbuckling tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics and Professional Hedonism'. I thought it was a hilarious account and very interesting (as a female), to read from a male point of view. As long as you don't mind the odd 'f bomb' I'd recommend it to anybody that has ever dreamed they might become a travel writer!
I also recommend ' No Touch Monkey! and other travel lessons learned too late' by Ayun Halliday. It is a familiar and funny collection of travel stories. I was attracted to it because my husband and I also learned that lesson the hard way:)
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