This week’s prompt: July is a month for getaways and adventure. What is your favorite book that takes the reader on an exciting journey or transfers them to a captivating destination?
I enjoy reading travel memoirs. Partly I love the vicarious dopamine of reading about people dropping everything in their lives, packing a backpack and hopping onto the nearest form of transport. Doesn’t much matter if it’s a plane, boat, train or camper van, as long as it’s moving. I love imagining that feeling of stepping out into a new city in a new country – the new smells, sights and sounds and the intangible feeling of there-ness that each place holds all to itself. So reading about people who do just that is a huge draw for me. I’ve read all kinds of different types of travel memoirs, and I’ve loved almost all of them. But if it’s adventure I’m thinking of, there’s one that sits top of the pile: Along the Inca Road by Karin Muller. It’s been decades since I read this book, but the feeling of it has never left me. It’s the story of a woman who decides to follow the ancient route of the Inca Road through the Andes from Ecuador to Brazil. This is the book that introduced me to Machu Picchu, the vicuña and the history of this remarkable part of the world. Her writing transported me so that I felt like I could feel the sun on my skin, see the bright colours in the clothing and buildings and smell exotic spices on the air. That she was a woman traveling alone just made this book that much more special. It was given to me as a gift from a family friend who was visiting and stayed with me in my early 20s, and I will be forever grateful. It’s an all-time favourite.
What about you? Do you also love travel memoirs? Which is your favourite? If you chose a less literal interpretation for this week’s prompt, which direction did you take it?
The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly blog link-up that gives participants a different book-related question to ponder each week, and allows them to share their thoughts, find new blogs to follow and connect with new readers. The Hop was originally created by Jennifer at Crazy for Books and is now hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. To see a list of upcoming prompts go here.
I love that you love travel memoirs so much, i can feel your passion through your writing. I went a less literal route, because I mostly read fiction, and I believe the most good fiction should transport the reader somewhere else. I may pick up Along the inca road next time i’m in the mood for nonfiction, it sounds good.
https://getlostinlit.blogspot.com/2024/07/friday-book-blog-hop.html
I love your description of good fiction. You are exactly right, and it’s exactly what I love about reading so much! I adored Along the Inca Road when I read it – a long time ago, to be fair – and I also want to read it again an adult.