Transform Your Travels Into Meaningful Memoir
(Published in Eclectica Magazine) When I noticed the old man looking out onto the Sea of Gibraltar from our riad rooftop in Tangier, I wanted him to like me in that gushy, breathless way that people like you. I wanted him to be impressed by the off-handed way I might mention all the languages I […]
(Published in Two Cities Review) One hazy morning in Yogyakarta, I stumbled out of bed and into the shared bathroom— fairly confident that the cockroaches had vacated the premises by daylight. I looked in the mirror and let out a sharp gasp. My right eyelid was completely swollen. I had been exhausted for days, pinned […]
Learn how to write a travel memoir story about a meaningful encounter through examples and tips.
(Published in FUSION) Every Tuesday and Thursday at dawn, I rode the 57 Bus into Kenmore Square–home of Fenway Park, the Citgo Sign, and Landsdowne Street, the center of Boston’s nightlife. By the time the sun peaked through the gray buildings on Commonwealth Avenue, I’d persuaded myself into believing I’d made the right decision moving […]
I began to write One Italian Summer about six months after returning to Australia. I missed Italy, and I wanted to understand what the journey had meant for me, and for my family. It was not, in the end, just a unique travel experience requiring a bit of hard work and child management.
When you think of a typical travel memoir, what kind of journey comes to mind? For me, it’s the picture of a woman on her own, travelling to a new place in search of something, often ineffable, and discovering something unpredictable about herself along the way. Yet, we don’t always travel on our own. There are plenty of family travel memoirs, and the latest is Pip William’s One Summer in Italy.
What was the trip that changed you, inside and out? That made you see the world differently? That made you a different person? Most likely, it was an early trip, perhaps your first ever. Often, those first trips plant the seeds for a love of discovery. They are the ones that can install new perspectives in our […]
Meet me in Gaza: Uncommon Stories of Life Inside the Strip by Louisa B. Waugh is a absorbing story and a terrific example of a travel memoir without a gimmick. There is no ‘one year of living like a Gazan’ project or specific mission to uncover the secrets of Palestinian cooking or hospitality or their indomitable […]