“Endings are hard.” That’s what my friend Eileen once told me. She writes sitcoms, but I find that her quote applies to just about anything. When I got around to writing about the final week of my book tour for They Only Eat Their Husbands, I was already home and...
U.S. Travel
GETTING ON WITH IT – What a Traveler Picks Up and Lets Go
On every journey, I pick new things up and leave old things behind: belongings, attitudes, friendships. I love Alaska so much that it wasn’t until after my talk in Bellingham, Washington that I realized something had dislodged inside me on my last visit to the Last...
WE NEVER STOP BECOMING – Even After the Story Ends and the Book Tour Begins
If I were a visual artist, I’d draw my book tour for you in a series of sketches: half-finished lines and curves full of electric highs and exhausted lows, the faces of old friends softened by nostalgia, the faces of new friends clarified by discovery. My friend Angie...
AM I THERE YET? – Days Melt Together on Mad Road Trip
This story ends at the Seattle talk show New Day Northwest, where I appeared right after musician Lukas Nelson, son of Willie Nelson, and a unique talent in his own right. I’d never heard him before and I was impressed: Lukas Nelson is the son of Willie Nelson, and a...
TURN RIGHT AT SHOSHONI – On the Road, Is a Long Day a Wrong Day?
I’m not doing this right. Every time I travel, that thought occurs to me at some point. I woke up yesterday morning at 7:30, and was ready to go by 9:00, which made me feel so grownup and responsible. Then I remembered I hadn’t yet checked the driving directions from...
FIRST STOP: CHEYENNE – Just 17 More Stops for “They Only Eat Their Husbands”
It was only two hours to Cheyenne, Wyoming - a drive I’ve made before. The first time was just over twenty years ago when I interviewed for a reporting job at a local TV station. I suppose it’s for the best that I never got that job, or I wouldn’t have become a...
JOIN THE ADVENTURE! – “They Only Eat Their Husbands” hits the road today
The day is finally here, the first day of my four-week book tour, and as usual, despite my careful planning and preparation, I'm still running around at the last minute: paying that last bill, printing up those workshop handouts, changing my mind about today's...
LITTLE COUCH-SURFER GIRL – A Shoestring Book Tour for a Shoestring Travel Memoir
Like many inveterate wanderers, I’ve done my share of couch surfing. But never until now have I asked complete strangers if I can spend the night on their couch. Like many new authors, I have a marketing budget of zero. But how could a traveler sell an adventure...
SNOW BUMS & ELITISTS – Is Skiing Still Worth It?
I had my skis tuned over the weekend, and when I picked them up on Sunday, the young woman who took my money stared at my skis with disdain and said, “Wow, those skis are old. How long have you had them?” “About seven years.” “Wow,” she repeated, and not in a tone...
LEARNING TO BREATHE: How Adventure Helped me through a Personal Crisis – by Guest Trekker Kim Kircher
DRESS REHEARSALS Adventures are like dress rehearsals for the real thing. I have spent my life careening from one adventure to the next - always looking for the next big trip to tick off my list. Whether climbing Kilimanjaro, trekking through Bhutan or scuba diving...