The Perfect Travel Journal (And the Most Expensive)

by Neil Woodburn on

A proper travel journal is essential for any long trip. I’ve never purchased anything special for mine, just a hardbound edition with blank pages. But, looking back on them now, I do wish I had spent the money on a much nicer looking journal at the time.

We’ve posted before about the best journals one can purchase for their travels. Of course, it mostly comes down to personal preference. Fellow Gadling blogger Erik, for example, loves his Moleskin journal.

If you’re the type who wants the very best, however, we’ve got a tip for you. Epica produces some of the most luxurious journals in the world. Each is handmade and dressed in fine Italian leather. And the pages, oh my the pages! To really capture their true quality I must quote from the website; “fabric like ultra-thick handmade and hand-stitched pages, hand-crafted torn edge pages for sensual appeal, unlined for freedom of use, fresh cream color, heavyweight 36 lb acid-free/archival writing stock with heavy texturing, exquisite artisan watermarks on each page.”

Wow. That’s enough to make a librarian all hot and bothered. Too bad my poor penmanship will utterly destroy everything that such a fine piece of bookmaking aims to achieve.

Cost: $110

One For the Road (04/16/07)

by Kelly Amabile on

In the early 1990’s, English professor Michele Morano spent a year working as a university English teacher in Oviedo, Spain. She then returned to the country on several occasions as a traveler, continuing to unfold links between her love of the Spanish language and the role grammar played in shaping her life. In her new book, Grammar Lessons, Translating a Life in Spain, Morano has gathered thirteen personal essays that draw from both these experiences of living and traveling in Spain.

Throughout her collection of stories, Morano connects universal truths about vocabulary and verb tense that have impacted her sense of place in the world. With humor and humility, she explores the ways in which travel, translation and cultural interactions have led to the discovery of her own voice as well as a deeper understanding of the power of language.

After only a month traveling through Spain last year, I fell madly in love with all things Spanish, including the melodic language that I had disregarded so easily in high school classes. So I can understand how Morano (and others) have developed long-term love affairs with such a beautiful language. This is a book I’ll be sure to read. (I wonder if there’s a Spanish translation version as well?)

Named by Time Out Chicago as one of their “People to Watch” in 2007, Michele Morano is an award winning writer who currently teaches English at DePaul University. She has a few author appearances scheduled in the New York area this week, including stops in Brooklyn, Rhinebeck and New Paltz.

One for the Road (04/15/07)

by Kelly Amabile on

It makes sense for me to mention Marie Javin’s Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik as today’s featured book, for those of you looking to learn more before the upcoming NYC storytelling event I wrote about earlier. Or for anyone searching for something refreshing and different to grab from the shelves of the travel section. Marie’s memoir of her overland trip from Capetown to Cairo is an insightful and at times, hilarious, collection of tales from her courageous journey.

Solo ground travel through Africa requires a resilient spirit and creativity when plotting an endless series of bus-train-car connections. Marie’s misadventures are peppered with plenty of both. And what’s truly amazing about this book is that it tells only part of the story of Marie’s ambitious efforts to travel around the world by surface transport. Her worldwide experiences make for great stories, and she’s also an excellent resource for travel tips. Keep up with the latest foreign tales from this funny lady at her No Hurry blog and check out the recent chatter from her two week guest gig over at The Well.

Where Have You Been? At Bluestockings

by Kelly Amabile on

Back in January, writer Marie Javins and I met up on the Lower East Side to attend a monthly travel event at Bluestockings, a radical bookstore and activist hangout on Allen St. We were treated to live storytelling from three travelers, who shared tales about clowns in Africa, artists in Amsterdam and tall bikes in Thailand, which seemed to be the crowd favorite that night (because of the monkeys…but I digress…)

Where Have You Been? is a monthly storytelling event that was started last year by Jeff Stark, interviewer extraordinaire and “dork” behind the Nonsense NYC newsletter (pictured above in the hat). He created this monthly venue for travelers to share personal stories of adventure and activism with other globally-minded folks, as well as those who may just not get the chance (or have the desire) to go very far. Stark’s style definitely reminded me of Ira Glass, and I liked the way he introduced each guest, moderated the Q & A, and connected the three unique stories around a common theme. (Which I can’t quite remember now, but it was clever…)

No matter, the important news to share is that the next Where Have You Been? is coming up this Wednesday, and one of the three featured guests will be the one and only Marie Javins, just back from Cairo, with a huge arsenal of personal travel tales to choose from. Maybe she’ll share something from her African adventures? Or her epic 2001 World Tour? She’s currently pondering this exact question. Feel free to weigh in and help her decide. And be sure to stop by Bluestockings on April 18th at 7 pm to hear Marie and the other storytellers. A parting tip: arrive early if you want a seat, the place was packed when we attended in January.

One for the Road (04/14/07)

by Kelly Amabile on

Although we focus lots on travel for leisure here at Gadling, we definitely look at it from other angles as well, and recognize that not all journeys are for fun. Or for real, for that matter — Today’s book choice is a fictional adventure about an unemployed schoolteacher in Bolivia on a desperate quest for an American visa. Journalist and author Juan de Recacoechea was born in La Paz, Bolivia, and after almost twenty years working as a reporter in Europe, returned to his native land, where he has focused instead on fiction. American Visa is his first novel to be translated into English. In this recently released thriller, former high school teacher Mario Alvarez’s dream of emigration leads him on a series of mysterious and corrupt twists and turns as he tries to escape his past and chart a new course to America, with hopes of a reunion with his grown son in Miami. Although fictional, this book touches on many of the issues surrounding the immigration debate, as seen from the Latin American perspective. The author is appearing at D.C.’s Politics and Prose today at 3 pm and will then quickly make his way to Florida for an event at Books & Books in Coral Gables tomorrow at 6 pm.