Reflections: Travel Writers Tell Their Personal Stories

A little girl on a carousel looks at her reflection in a mirror - photo by Alex Maher
Photo by Alex Maher

The stories in this section are not intended to provide information about travel destinations. They're primarily about the travelers themselves.

All travel stories tell us something about the teller, but in these pieces, the authors take the insights gained from travel and reflect on what they've learned about themselves -- hence the name.

These stories show the ways in which travel can change us. As GoNOMAD Writer Sony Stark has observed, "Nobody warns you that when you travel, your mind stretches and never returns to its original size."

Loafing in Croatia: Even Travel Writers Need a Vacation

And within the ancient walls of Dubrovnik, I am to spend my days exploring an island so magical it seduced Odysseus, have breakfast with Bosnia and wander into the newly established nation of Montenegro.

But like any well-intended plan, mine quickly unravels.

The plan begins its long spiral towards oblivion in Zagreb, where Kara and I realize this is the first time in months we are able to spend the greater part of the day together.

**Exploring the walls of Dubrovnik**

No early morning buses to catch. No Internet and emails to check. No errands to run and, most importantly, no work of any kind to be done... Read more

Ah, But You Are Americans, Aren't You?

Driving in England is a sport best left for the man grown jaded with the old, worn-out things of this world and is ready to taste the golden apples of Paradise. Or more to the point: Who would have thought that a brief excursion to the United Kingdom for the purpose of finding out who REALLY wrote all those marvelous Shakespearean plays would prove to be, instead, a dangerous and embarrassing primer in British highway etiquette?

For anyone who has only driven in America and who has furthermore tended to regard the fashions of the Mother Country with a certain air of condescension, a first-time sortie onto one of Great Britain's M-Roads can be a mortifying experience even if he manages to persuade himself that he has not bought a one-way ticket to perdition itself!

On a semester abroad in Niger, a US student visits a local 'zima' or fortune-teller who seems to know a good deal more about her than she ever suspected.

"I knew that American psychics looked for suggestive responses to seemingly routine introductory questions," she writes, "but the zima didn't speak English and I knew only limited Zarma, so our conversation had never advanced beyond basic greetings" Read more

A Brief Tour of the Holy Land

"I hesitate to make pronouncements about the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict," writes Iraq veteran Roman Skaskiw. "I’ll only say that I found it very easy to tour this part of the world. I did so with little money and without much planning.

Being an American in Iran makes you the most popular kid in the village.

I’d encourage anyone interested in America’s policies in the area to do the same, to see it with their own eyes. Doing so put the conflict on a human level for me, as opposed to a historic, or even biblical one... Read more

Touring Scenic Afghanistan: Climbing in Kunar

I don’t imagine too many people would vacation nowadays in Afghanistan, especially not in Kunar Province, but maybe. The most likely (and cheap) way for an American to get there is to be in the Army, or, as in my case, called back to the Army after three years of civilian life for one more combat tour... Read more

Rick Steves Visits Iran: "Death to Hatred and Militarism"

I’m working in Iran, part of the “axis of evil” (as defined by my president) in a land whose own president leads chants of “Death to America.” This has me thinking about bombast and history.

Of course the word “axis” conjures up images of the alliance of Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito that our fathers and grandfathers fought in WWII.

Many locals in each country believe that each president maintains his power only by his ability to stir the simplistic side of his electorate with such bombast. Bombast hogs the headlines, skewing understanding between the mainstream in each country... Read more

A little girl selling soft drinks in Cambodia

Cambodia: A Little Girl in a Tiny Tin Boat

Suddenly, our boat comes to a halt as our captain guides us alongside a young girl who’s anxiously paddled over to sell us cans of soft drinks.

She’s about four years old and she has sad eyes, tattered clothes and a smile that would melt anyone’s heart. I wonder where her parents are, and how she managed to stay afloat with a cooler full of soft drinks on the floor of her tiny tin boat.

As we continue our journey down the river toward the restaurant for dinner, I take out my camera and re-examine her photograph. Her downcast eyes seem to represent everyone’s story here. A story of struggle, years of poverty and an innocence lost amidst the cloudy waters of the Tonale Sap.

It’s mind blowing to imagine that this youngster has probably never owned a Barbie, a new pair of shoes or a pretty dress. Instead her family probably worries where she’ll get her next meal, or if she and her tiny tin boat will return home safely after a hard day’s work.

I turn around to see if I can still see her, and manage to catch a glimpse of her silhouette before she’s finally consumed by the darkness... Read more

**The Hall of the Forty Columns in Esfehan, Iran - photo by Julian Worker**

Iran: A Conversation in the City of Poets and Nightingales

Shiraz is called the city of poets and nightingales in Iran. I had been in this city of nearly one million people for three days since arriving from Esfehan.

I was walking towards the bazaar in the late afternoon, when a voice suddenly said, “Ex’coose me, do you speak Engleesh?”

“I am English,” I said, turning towards the speaker who emerged from the crowd. He, a Shiraz youth of late teens with dazzlingly white teeth and wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt, looked confused by my answer.

“Engleesh,” I said pointing at myself.

“Ah, you Engleesh, ah good, me speak Engleesh with you?”

“Farsi balad rustam,” I repeated from memory, telling him I didn’t speak Farsi.

“Ah good,” he said, “My name is Ahmed, what is your name?” Read more

Marie Javins World Tour:

GoNOMAD Transports Editor Marie Javins travels around the world using only surface transportation "by land and sea, ship, train, bus, and donkey — anything but a plane."

First Installment
Crossing the USA by Train and the Pacific by Freighter

Second Installment
Dilly Dallying on the Banana Pancake Trail

Third Installment
Bugs and Slugs from Siem Reap to Beijing

Fourth Installment
Crossing Siberia

Fifth Installment
Crossing Africa

Sixth Installment
From Nairobi to New York